Michael Jaber and his wife Emma are the owners of AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes, which opened last fall at 1025 Century Drive in Edwardsville. The new restaurant features Mediterranean food and Japanese-style cheesecakes.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
The hummus deluxe with chicken shawarma at AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes in Edwardsville is served with pita bread. Other topping choices include saujok, gyro, or vegan saujok.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
The kibbeh at AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes in Edwardsville features three fried pieces of a beef and bulgur shell stuffed with more ground beef and onions. It is served with yogurt sauce.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes in Edwardsville features Lebanese food along with Japanese-style cheesecakes.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes in Edwardsville features Lebanese food along with Japanese-style cheesecakes.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
One wall at AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes in Edwardsville features pictures from Lebanon while the other wall is adorned with pictures from Japan.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
The menu at AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes in Edwardsville includes a variety of Mediterranean and Lebanese dishes with meat as well as plenty of vegan options.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
One wall at AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes in Edwardsville features pictures from Japan while the other wall is adorned with pictures from Lebanon.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
Japanese-style cheesecake is among the dessert options at AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes in Edwardsville.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
Japanese-style cheesecake is among the dessert options at AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes in Edwardsville.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
The menu at AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes in Edwardsville includes a variety of Mediterranean and Lebanese dishes with meat as well as plenty of vegan options.
Scott Marion/The Intelligencer
A new restaurant offering a unique combination of Mediterranean cuisine and Japanese desserts has quickly become a favorite among diners in Edwardsville.
AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes, at1025 Century Drive, features Mediterranean food along with Japanese-style cheesecakes. The restaurant is the creation of the husband-and-wife team of Michael and Emma Jaber, who live in Glen Carbon. They are also the owners of Taste of Lebanon, which Michael Jaber opened in 2010 at 331 N. Euclid Ave. in St. Louis.
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The restaurant had a soft opening in late September and had its official grand opening (with live music) in early October, and the response from the community has been even better than what Jaber expected.
“I have nothing to complain about, and in a year from now I’d look back and see how far we’ve done in becoming a big part of Edwardsville/Glen Carbon community,” Michael Jaber said. “I like to walk around and talk to the customers and ask then about the food and how their experience was.”
Fresh food is the focus at AJ’s Mediterranean, as nothing is processed and everything on the menu is made in house except for the bread, which is baked locally. AJ’s is not a fast-food place and everything is made fresh.
What’s on the menu
Sandwiches available at AJ’s Mediterranean include:
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Chicken shawarma (marinated chicken breast, pickles, and French fries wrapped in fresh pita)
Beef shawarma (layers of marinated beef prepared on a rotisserie and shaved into pita bread),
Combo chicken and beef shawarma
Saujok (homemade spicy Lebanese sausage made of ground beef and lamb)
Vegan saujok (made with vegan meat)
Falafel (fried falafel balls wrapped in pita, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and turnips)
Tabouli and fries
Gyro
Entrees, which are served with two sides, include chicken shawarma, beef shawarma, falafel, a gyro and kofta kabob gyro (juicy beef and lamb meatballs) and kofta kabob (juicy beef and lamb meatballs).
Items sampled during a recent visit included the hummus deluxe with chicken shawarma, which is served with pita bread. Other topping choices include saujok, gyro, or vegan saujok.
Kibbeh, meanwhile, features three fried pieces of a beef and bulgur shell stuffed with more ground beef and onions. It is served with yogurt sauce.
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For those who don’t eat meat or simply want something lighter, vegan versions of the hummus and the kibbeh, are available.
Soups, salads and sides are also available. Bakery goods include baklava, choclava, namoura (semolina cake drizzled with syrup) and pita bread.
The cheesecake selection includes regular tanuki cake, large tanuki cake and extra-large tanuki cake with a choice of toppings (Nutella, blueberry, strawberry, chocolate, caramel and raspberry).
16-ounce smoothies (all vegan) are also available.
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In addition to the various meat options on the menu, AJ’s Mediterranean offers a large choice of vegan items, which Jaber said reflects his Lebanese heritage.
“We do have dishes with chicken, plus lamb and beef, but our list of appetizers is mainly vegan, including hummus, baba ghanoush, grape leaves, falafel and vegan kibbeh,” Jaber said.
“Grape leaves are our top-selling appetizer at our other restaurant, but we don’t sell as much of it here, probably because people don’t know about it. It’s very good and I’d like more people to try it.”
A meal for lovebirds
Among the non-vegan items, one of Jaber’s favorites is the Combo, which is known as A Taste of Lebanon at his other restaurant. The Combo, which is easily enough for two people, includes beef and chicken shawarma on a bed of rice, with one kibbeh, one falafel, tabouli, hummus, and baba ghanoush. It is served with garlic sauce, tahini sauce, yogurt sauce, and pita (no sides).
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Jaber came up with the idea just before Valentine’s Day in 2013, when he wanted to create a dish that would be ideal for couples to share.
“I started putting all these things together on a big round plate and it looked appealing. My cook at the time said, ‘Have you not eaten for a week?’ ” Jaber said, laughing. “We had all these single-serving dishes, and I wanted something for Valentine’s Day for two lovebirds to share.
“A lady from a magazine happened to be there eating lunch. She ate it with me, and she loved every bite of it, and she advertised it for free for Valentine’s Day. It was a big hit, and we’ve had it on our menu ever since.”
Turning cheesecake vision into reality
Beyond the appetizers, sandwiches and entrées, the restaurant is a great place to sample sweet treats, whether it’s the Japanese cheesecakes or traditional Mediterranean fare such as baklava.
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“A lot of people ask me why we serve Japanese cheesecake in a Middle Eastern or Lebanese restaurant, and I tell them that we’re all in Asia,” Jaber joked. “A friend of mine went to Egypt and she tried the cheesecake there and she loved it. She came back to the U.S. and tossed me the idea of serving it here.”
Jaber liked the idea, but it was a long process turning his cheesecake vision into reality.
“I had to buy all the equipment from Egypt or Dubai, and it took me a year to do it because I wanted to have my own company and didn’t want to go through a franchise,” Jaber said. “Our cheesecakes are known as Tanuki, but around the world it’s known as the Uncle Fluffy franchise.
“They send you the recipes and the videos, but you must figure out things on your own to get it right and it took me about two weeks. At one point I was almost giving up on it and my wife suggested I should fly to Japan or Dubai and learn how to do it, but I kept on trying and now I can make it with my eyes closed.”
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Jaber’s favorite dessert, though, is baklava, or choclava, which is his own special variation.
“Baklava is special with almonds, pistachios, cashews and walnuts,” Jaber said. “I created choclava, which is Filo pastry filled with peanut butter, milk chocolate, walnuts and coconut flakes with dark chocolate on the top.”
‘When you try something new, you’ll like it’
Beyond the appetizers, sandwiches and entrées, the restaurant is a great place to sample sweet treats, whether it’s the Japanese cheesecakes or traditional Mediterranean fare such as baklava.
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Our cheesecakes are known as Tanuki, but around the world it’s known as the Uncle Fluffy franchise.
Jaber’s favorite dessert, though, is baklava, or choclava, which is his own special variation.
“Baklava is special with almonds, pistachios, cashews and walnuts,” Jaber said. “I created choclava, which is Filo pastry filled with peanut butter, chocolate, walnuts and coconut flakes with dark chocolate on the top.”
Jaber encourages people to try something new when they visit AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes.
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AJ’s Mediterranean and Tanuki Cakes is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week during the winter, with the closing time likely to extend to 9 p.m. when the weather gets warmer.
The restaurant offers 10% off all orders for first responders and veterans as well as SIUE faculty and students with a valid ID.
For more information, visit https://www.ajsmedandtanuki.com/or call 618-307-5284. Online ordering is available for pickup or delivery through DoorDash or Uber.
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For information on catering, call 314-562-7187 or email emma_3141@yahoo.com.