Foodie Friday: The Halal Project

Get lost in the sauce.

That’s The Halal Project’s slogan and it’s easy to do so with the food this new San Marcos restaurant is serving.

This fresh eatery dishes out tasty wraps and rice dishes. The Halal Project serves halal cuisine, which is a term often used in the Quran to designate categories of subjects that are lawful. Islam often considers foods as halal that are made, produced, manufactured, processed and stored using machinery, equipment, and/or utensils that have been cleaned according to Islamic law. Additionally, foods considered halal are those free from any component Muslims are prohibited from eating according to Islamic law.

The Halal Project says it brings quality meals both in the restaurant and to-go. “We always love to see you in person, but even when we can't we ensure that your dining experience is top notch,” the restaurant says on its website.

“We refuse to compromise on quality in our restaurant,” The Halal Project says. “That's why we only source our ingredients from only the best vendors, all our spices are as middle eastern as it gets, all shipped from overseas to ensure the authenticity. No matter what time of year, you can be sure you're eating the best of the season.”

What to get:

Food often brings back memories. Halal food does just that for me. Back in my college days — they often happened to be Thursdays — there was a halal restaurant located near the office of The Daily Texan, the student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin. We’d often frequent this restaurant while working in the office and it was always quite delicious.

So, peering over The Halal Project’s menu, it looked very similar to the restaurant I went to back in the day. Naturally, I went with the same order I used to get in college — a combination over rice ($10.99) and loaded French fries ($3.99).

The combo over rice came with beef, lamb and chicken shawarma served with a side salad and topped with white sauce and hot sauce. The loaded fries came topped with white sauce, hot sauce and ketchup.

All of this was excellent. The meat was nice and tender and paired well with the white and hot sauces. The spiced basmati rice had a good flavor and the side salad rounded out the meal. It reminded me of all those meals I had in college. The perfect nostalgia feast.

My dining companion chose a gyro wrap ($8.99), which came with gyro meat wrapped in pita bread with tomato, lettuce, cucumber, white sauce and hot sauce.

The restaurant has several other rice plates. There's a gyro over rice plate ($9.99) served with gyro meat over basmati rice and a side salad served with white sauce and hot sauce.

You can also get chicken shawarma over rice ($11.99), beef shawarma over rice ($12.99), chicken over rice ($9.99), lamb shawarma over rice ($12.99), which are all served with spiced basmati rice, side salad, white sauce and hot sauce.

You can also try the lamb kebab over rice ($12.99) — marinated, grilled lamb cubes served with basmati rice, side salad, white sauce and hot sauce. There’s also kofta kebab over rice ($12.99), which is marinated ground beef and veggies, chargrilled on a skewer over spiced basmati rice and a side salad topped with white sauce and hot sauce.

The Halal Project has falafel over rice ($9.99) as well, which comes with mixed vegetables, special spices combined to create deep fried veggie balls served over spiced basmati rice and a side salad.

The new San Marcos halal spot has several wrap options, including chicken wrap ($8.99), chicken shawarma wrap ($9.99), beef shawarma wrap ($10.99) and lamb shawarma wrap ($10.99.)

To view the full menu visit https://thehalalproject.com/menu.

If you go:

The Halal Project is located at 312 University Drive, Unit 312 A.

The restaurant is open daily from 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Phone: 512-216-6076

Website: https://thehalalproject.com/