Location:

733 E. Main Street

El Cajon, CA 92020

Menu:

http://harvestinternationalmarket.com/Assets/HI_021218_ToGoMenu_EC.pdf

Hours:

Daily:

7:00am - 10:00pm

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Video Transcript:

- Where can you get authentic Mediterranean cuisine along with groceries from all over the world? Today we're at Harvest International Market in El Cajon. I'm Arash Rokni with Whissel Realty and this is East County Eats.East County Eats is all about showing you the coolest restaurants in and around East county. I'm Kyle Whissel with Whissel Realty and this is East County Eats. Johnny.

- Arash.

- Thanks for having us.

- Yeah welcome to Harvest International Market.

- Thank you, thank you so much. So tell us a little bit about the place.

- Well, my family's been in the grocery business for over 20 years. So we're a traditional grocery store first and foremost. We have our produce. We have our meat. But we're also a Middle Eastern market so we have a you know, an olive bar, a fresh cheese bar, our fresh bakery, our homemade desserts and of course, our scratch homemade kitchen.

- Nice, nice. Yeah I'd smelled the shawarmas coming in. It smells terrific.

- Yeah it's lunch time. Let's go get a bite.

- Yeah, let's go.

- So Johnny, tell me, what is it we're going to be eating today?

- Today, we're going to be eating shawarma.

- Nice.

- It's a staple in Middle Eastern cuisine. It's something special. Nobody eats shawarma at home. Well, some people try to make it as best they can. But it's really something you go out and eat. Something you eat from a cart in the street on the weekends. And it works for everything, breakfast lunch or dinner, no matter what. So it's pretty simple. You know, you start out with some premium cuts of meat. Okay. Special Mediterranean blend of spices which, you know, we put our spin on because this is what we do. And we just layer it on a cone like this, one layer at a time. And that's really it. You put it right on the spit. And you let it rotate. It cooks one layer at a time. It keeps the inside ready to go so you always get something hot to eat.

- So I heard one thing that's pretty unique about you guys, you guys offer catering and what, you take this out with you?

- Yeah absolutely.

- Tell me about that.

- Well that's how we do it. Well, the same that it's not something you eat at home, we want to bring it to your home.

- Right.

- So you give us a call. We pack everything. We bring the shawarma. We bring fresh bread that we bake here. All the fixins. All the delicious sauces. And you just have your party and you let us do the work.

- So today we're going to be eating the shawarma plates. So tell me, how is that all prepared? Well, the shawarma's the star. But we also started with fresh baked Tandoori bread that we make here. A pickled vegetables, fresh vegetables, Tahini sauce, garlic sauce. And you know, if you don't want to go for the plate, you can always get it in a sandwich or with fries. But today we're going to be doing the traditional way with the plate.

- Hi guys. About to dig in. This all looks amazing. I mean there's, I mean look so tender. So let's go ahead and dig in and check it out. I mean this bread is just so fluffy. I mean you could just feel the freshness put some of this sauce on here try a little bit of this meat. Let's try to get everything in this bite. Alright here it goes. Oh wow. You can just taste the juiciness of the meat. Everything looks terrific. Guys if you want some amazing food. Definitely come check this place out. Harvest International Market in El Cajon. Staff is great. Family owned operation. I mean they do catering. They got all the bases covered. You can do all your shopping here. Again, thanks for tuning in. My name's Arash Rokni with Whissel Realty. This is East County Eats. See you guys next week.