{"id":2850,"date":"2016-09-22T07:30:25","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T11:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=2850"},"modified":"2016-09-22T07:30:25","modified_gmt":"2016-09-22T11:30:25","slug":"the-pinto-bean-tuts-is-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2016\/09\/22\/the-pinto-bean-tuts-is-king\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pinto Bean: ‘Tut’s’ is King"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY JASON PINTO – STAFF WRITER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Danville is not on the top of the charts when it comes to culinary variety, but I will not let that stop me from bringing you quality food reviews from some of the hottest new places popping up in the area.<\/p>\n

This week, Jake McGuirk and I hit up \u2018Tut\u2019s, A Taste of Egypt\u2019, the new addition that came to Main Street in June 2016, near the Community Arts Centre.<\/p>\n

The interior of Tut\u2019s is small and a little cramped and reminded me of a dive I would find in New York. There are a few tables and a bar along the wall to sit down and eat at, but it seems more appropriate for takeout or a quick bite.<\/p>\n

The decor was spot on with the average American\u2019s perception of Egypt; there was a large sarcophagus and Ancient Egyptian artwork along the walls. If I had not previously known this was a restaurant, I would have thought I had walked into an amateur museum exhibit.<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/p>\n

The owner of the restaurant, Ashraf Ramadan Emam, is from Cairo, Egypt, and all of the dishes served at the restaurant are his mother\u2019s recipes.<\/p>\n

The first items on the menu are the lamb and chicken kabobs which are staples of Mediterranean fare. The chicken was a bit bland and overcooked, but the lamb was money: good texture, absolutely delicious. Tut\u2019s serves up huge portions, most meals coming with a small salad, rice, and pita.<\/p>\n

The falafel was lightly fried and touched the palate with subtle herb flavors and an explosion of garbanzo bean goodness. It was straight falafelistic<\/em>. Speaking of garbanzo beans, the hummus was surprisingly tasty. The was a nice lemony finish with an unexpected heat.<\/p>\n

To offset the heaviness of the falafel, I dove into the salad next. I am not a huge salad fan, but I can appreciate a well composed salad. This salad was just sad \u2013 there was nothing really interesting about it. It reminded me of a salad from Pizza Hut buffet with a handful of sliced olives sprinkled on.<\/p>\n

The dish Ramadan Emam is proudest of is \u201cMom\u2019s moussaka\u201d which is a lamb dish similar to shepherd\u2019s pie. The moussaka was, as expected, quite superb. The lamb base was flavorful, and the topping was creamy. It took comfort food to a whole new level.<\/p>\n

By far the highlight of the entire meal was the Omali<\/em>, an Egyptian dessert similar to a bread pudding. It was prime time. The bread part of the Omali<\/em>, Ashraf told me, was made of phyllo dough, which gave it a distinct texture and even consistency. The texture of the nuts contrasted with the soft phyllo, and syrup made this dessert on par with some of the best.<\/p>\n

I give this restaurant four stars out of five. There is a variety of hearty, authentic Egyptian fare that is filling and satisfying. Jake was a fan; he commented, \u2018The Kebab was popping, and the Omali sent me to Flavortown.\u2019<\/p>\n

Tut\u2019s is soon offering a 10% discount to Centre students. If you are nearby or looking for something new to eat other than the typical Danville fare, hit up Tut\u2019s. It is interesting, unique food at a good value.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY JASON PINTO – STAFF WRITER Danville is not on the top of the charts when it comes to culinary variety, but I will not let that stop me from bringing you quality food reviews from some of the hottest new places popping up in the area. This week, Jake McGuirk and I hit up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2840,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}