Last month, Aljazeera became the latest offering in the burgeoning African/Middle Eastern food scene developing on the 4400 block of Chestnut Street. The latest eatery to take over 4403 Chestnut Street, former home to the short-lived Sudanese joint Al Khartoum Echo, might be also West Philly’s first-ever Middle Eastern buffet.

Owned by Samir Kassem of Upper Darby’s Falafel Exotic Cuisine, Aljazeera features an all-day, all-you-can-eat Halal spread of Middle Eastern staples like moussaka, yellow rice, stuffed zucchini, chicken curry, and beans with lamb meat for a flat price of $10.95. But guests visiting the new restaurant won’t taste dishes from just one Middle Eastern nation. According to the 48-year-old Kassem, who also acts as cook and manager, the daily-changing buffet menu represents the flavors of all countries in the region (he said he named the buffet Aljazeera, which means “The Island” in Arabic, for this fact.)

When West Philly Local visited Aljazeera yesterday, we had found ourselves standing in a dressed-down joint with a few tables and chairs, a simple buffet set up, and a few local residents chatting away. We had a chance to sample some of those buffet dishes upon the owner’s request and found ourselves noshing on hearty (albeit a tad greasy) home-style delicacies with just the right amount of salt, and a subtle but lingering kick. In the words of Kassem: It’s like your mama’s cooking.

But, as we found out on our visit, Aljazeera is actually two restaurants in one. Kassem, a native of Lebanon who immigrated to America 18 years ago, also runs Falafel out of the space (he closed his Upper Darby location), and continues to offer its popular Halal menu for takeout and delivery. According to Kassem, he moved Falafel to West Philly because the bulk of his delivery orders were from this neighborhood.

While the sign at 4403 Chestnut brandishes Aljazeera, he plans to integrate the new name into his website and menus for Falafel in the future (both the website and Grubhub listing are under the name of the former Upper Darby joint.)

Aljazeera is open Sunday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Delivery hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.

– Annamarya Scaccia