Passion Cafe & Lounge, Encino

Cuisine Type: Mediterranean-Persian fusion
Established: 2014
Reservations: Not offered
Handicap Accessible: Yes
Number of Tables: 25–50
Parking: Parking lot
Most popular offering: Kebabs, hummus, fresh laffa bread, hookah
Alcohol: None
Delivery / Take-out Available: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Pro Tip: Weekend evenings [there's a] live DJ, therefore after 9 p.m. there is a crowd. Hookah is served only after 6 p.m.

This past March, Passion Cafe & Lounge got a new owner and a new a chef. Educated at the Culinary Institute, Chef Josh uses his classical training to fuse Mediterranean and Persian influences into a single extensive menu. His specialties include beef schnitzel, hand-breaded filets of meat served over basmati rice, and the simple yet delicious tomato and egg shakshuka, two poached eggs in a hearty tomato-vegetable sauce flavored with garlic, onions, and saffron tea, and ingredient normally only found in cups of hot water and recently pranked hot springs.