Aksum

Great BYOB. Nice atmosphere and décor. The menu has a nice selection and the plates are large servings.

One of the best Mediterranean meals I have ever had.
Roasted beet salad with goat cheese, greens and walnuts… sautéed Brussel sprouts with figs, nuts, bacon and crème fraise (OMG!), rosemary chicken with asparagus, and a magical vegetable tajin with couscous.
WOW.
Reasonable prices, excellent service (love the owner!)
We will make it a point to come here whenever we are in Philadelphia!

Food wise, this place is 100% a hit or a miss.
First off, go here for brunch. While this place has decent Mediterranean food in the evening, it’s really known for its BYO brunch. We ordered hummus for the table as an appetizer, combined with the warm pita, and I was in heaven. I could have eaten 10 more and called it a day.
Tip #1: get the hummus.
The wait is long. like really long. so long that this restaurant loses a star and a half. Eat a little before you come here or ask for an appetizer that will come right away because you will be so hungry before your entrée comes out. Combined with the hummus, the sangria is a good choice and keeps you full until your food comes out. Warning, it’s sweet.
Tip #2: get the sangria.
Foodwise, we ordered the Moroccan Chicken and Waffles, Green Eggs and Ham, Turkish Scramble, Almond/​Crème Brulee French Toast, and Shakshuka Eggs. The food was actually delicious, but unclear if because of taste or hunger from waiting. Better than Bui’s, second to Gold Standard, no where near Sabrina’s. The french toast was the biggest redeeming quality of this restaurant.
Tip #3: get the french toast.
Definitely worth a visit to cross off on the Philly bucket list, but most likely won’t be a regular anytime soon.

This is my second time dining at Aksum. This time It was my grams 69^th birthday and she wanted fried shrimp. Though fried shrimp are not on the menu, the Chef was kind enough to accommodate her by making some adjustments to one of the dishes. She in turn was quite happy with her meal and overall experience. Thank you.
Both food and service here are great. Meals area cooked to order, no left over messed over mess. Plus it’s a BYO which adds to the awesomeness of this establishment. I’ll be back again, soon.

I’ve walked past Aksum countless times and always found myself thinking «I need to try this place!»
I finally came for dinner last Friday and really enjoyed myself. My boyfriend and I had a delicious dinner and can’t wait to come back.
We ordered the Med East Platter as an appetizer — which I HIGHLY recommend. It was a great sampler of lentil/​mustard salad (so good), roasted garlic hummus, stuffed grape leaves, pita, and tzatziki sauce. Everything was great.
For my entrée, I ordered the Aksumite Vegetable Tajine (per our server’s recommendation) and my boyfriend ordered the roasted lamb shank. My entrée was pretty good — if not a little underwhelming. It had great flavor and the cous cous was really tasty, but things were kind of one note. It was also very warm (both temperature and spice-​level), and in the hot, humid afternoon sun, it was a bit much. My boyfriend’s lamb was delicious and incredibly tender.
The BYO aspect is a huge plus, too!

One star is too high.
Bad food.
Poor service.
Terrible management.
One of the worst dining experiences I have ever had.
May never again cross the bridge from South Jersey to Philly to eat again.
Save your money, do not patronize this joint.
I will not!
HF

Awesome byob mediterranean restaurant with crazy reasonable prices. Brussels sprouts were crispy tender with morsels of perfectly crisped pork belly bacon morsels –so awesome we had to have 2 orders … Lamb shank and eggplant chickpea tajin were perfectly seasoned flavorful stewy tender deliciousness. Kale spanakopita was a great variation of the usual spinach version. Fattoush salad was not the best I’ve had — sadly not garlicky enough. But overall we loved our meal here and will return!!!

Good tasty food Excellent for your money
Spices that you do not know Gourmet? Probably no
You need to enjoy richly spiced not necessarly hot food but I do

I came for brunch and ordered the blueberry pancakes. Service was great, the manager brought us a complimentary chicken and waffles, which if you’ve never liked, you MUST try this one. It takes the dish the next level with a firm crispy chicken skin, well marinated spiced chicken, the waffle tastes great alone, you’ll forget there’s syrup! Don’t ask for tobasco a sauce, try their delicious homemade hot sauce!

Interesting Mediterranean twists on classic brunch favorites. However the slowest service I’ve ever had of any brunch place and it wasn’t even as busy as other places such as Sabrina’s and Green Eggs. My food came out cold and my friends dish was half cold after around 35 minutes of waiting – not the best impression. The food itself was pretty decent but my choice of Moroccan eggs didn’t amaze me. The chicken and waffles looked a lot more appetizing though! Because of the huge variety of eclectic dishes I’ll probably be back to try something else before I decide not to make the trek out again.

Aksum is a great gem tucked away in West Philadelphia. Boasting an impressive Mediterranean brunch menu, they also add a Moroccan twist on classics such as chicken & waffles.
My friends and I came here on a Saturday without a reservation, and we were still seated right away. The service was fast and friendly. We started off with iman baildi, a Turkish eggplant appetizer that was served hot with a side of pita. Then came the entrees: I ordered the Moroccan eggs, and I could not have been more pleased. 3 sunny-​side up eggs on a bed of spicy beef, served with a side of potatoes. I described it to my dining companions as «taco seasoning but better.» It was incredibly flavorful and a little spicy, without being overwhelming. Would definitely recommend!

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a sunset with your phone? The picture never looks as good as what you saw with your eyes. That’s what it’s like trying to describe their brunch in words. Their food tastes like happiness.
The Moroccan Chicken and Waffles!!! The chicken looked dry when it came out. I was kinda glad that my friend got it instead of me. Then she let me taste it. I didn’t know that human beings could make things that taste like this. Not only was the chicken moist, it tasted like nothing I’ve ever had before.
I looked down at my little Monte Cristo sandwich with regret. Then I tasted the potatoes that came with it. I’ve never had potatoes that made me blaspheme against french fries. They tasted like garlic and herbs or something. My palate isn’t developed enough to make out what it was. Hell, it could’ve just been salt mined in heaven. All I know is that they were delicious. I made my way over to the sandwich…
I just sat and shook my head as I ate. The entire sandwich was good enough to make me take a knee in my mind and just thank every god I’d ever heard of for making the food possible. I would’ve eaten the plate if I didn’t know any better.
The food is good, and I’m sad because I live 150 miles away from it.
Oh, and my kid had a pancake that tasted like a funnel cake! I didn’t even know that was a thing.

I’ve walked into Aksum before it opened on Sunday morning once. The waitress was so kind enough to let me in and let me have a seat while I wait for my friends. The service is always amazing here which makes the food taste even better :) This place is perfect for people who are not really into sweet brunch.

A pleasant enough restaurant in Philadelphia serving mostly-​authentic Mediterranean food. However, the menu can be a bit expensive given the locale of a working-​class West Philadelphia neighborhood.

This place is amazing!!! The almond-​crusted french toast = OMG. It was not too buttery or too sweet (I normally don’t like french toast much because it always tastes so buttery inside and the texture was just too soft for me). But THIS french toast, wow… The whipped cream was really thick and fresh. My sister thinks this was the best french toast she’s ever had, even better than Sabrina’s!
The shrimps and grits dish was great too. I really liked the shrimp, and the grits was pretty good. The brussels sprouts were pretty good too but a bit sweeter than I would’ve liked (what with figs and candied walnuts). It was a tapas dish but was quite big, basically like an entrée.
This was a great, very filling brunch. We were already full after the french toast and the shrimps and grits. We probably shouldn’t have gotten the brussels sprouts, but everything was delicious here. There weren’t many people (I don’t think it’s as well-​known as other brunch places, and it isn’t near bakeries/​cafes, like brunch places in Center City, so it was a bit too isolated for people, but I like how it’s not crowded here. Kind of like a hidden gem). The house interior was really nice, clean, and spacious but also cozy. Good for romantic dates too.

My friend and I decided to stop by here instead of Sabrina’s for brunch & I’m so glad I did!
The ambience is wonderful, it’s a smaller cozier restaurant. And the colors and designs inside were stunning enough to be classy but simple enough to not be over the top. The waiter and staff was also extremely accommodating so my friend and I really appreciated that!
Our immediate thought when my friend and I looked at the menu was «what the heck do I get?» When you read the descriptions for the menu options, you’ll want to taste test every single one. I was debating between five I swear. My friend decided on the almond French toast option and I chose the Moroccan chicken and waffle. I also heard the Brussels sprouts were good so I have to remember to try that another time when I visit! I think it was nice because my friend and I are always debating whether to go sweet or salty/​savory. Each of their menu options included both of those to satisfy your taste buds. For example, my friends French toast came with a side of sausages. And my chicken came with waffles and a small side of fruit and pistachios.
Oh my goodness. First of all, the plating is fabulous. Insta-​worthy quality for sure haha. But my chicken was… AMAZING! Wow, that meal filled me up so fast while we were both devouring it. The spicy sauce was incredibly spicy though, just a warning. But the waffles were made perfectly as well. My friend also immensely enjoyed her French toast as well!
Overall, extremely satisfied with the location, ambience, service, and food! I would recommend this as an amazing destination for brunch. I haven’t tried their dinner options, but my friend said this is also a popular and perfect date night dinner spot as well :)

I was craving some non-​American breakfast. After consulting Unilocal,we narrowed it to Café La Maude, which had 40 minutes waiting time, minimum. And Aksum with no wait time. There was no wait-​time for a reason!
MY friend and I decided to go with Aksum, as we wanted to have an easy brunch on a leisure Sunday, not to wait for a table.
We called, they said reservation was NOT needed.
We went, they said only outside seating was available, at that moment, since we got NO reservations!!! Interesting.
I love shakshuka, (pronounced shack-​SHOO-​ka,) I believe I order it everytime I see it on the menu. I love it, that it may show up on my breakfast, lunch, brunch, or dinner plate. If it was offered.
So, I ordered my shakshuka, Turkish scrambled eggs for my friend, and ful medames (stewed dried beans) to share. I only have one thing to say: The food was beautifully presented, but too bland to enjoy.
Pro advice: if you are obsessed with Mediterranean food, this is an OKish place.
P.S:The known form of shakshuka is poached eggs over tomato sauce, and that how I had it at Aksum. Where I come from, we prepare it differently, its more of scramble eggs mixed with copped tomatoes, onions and you may add hot green papers if you like.
Three Unilocal

Step aside, Sabrina’s and Green Eggs, I think I’ve found my new favorite brunch spot. My sister and I came here on Saturday around noon and got a table next to the bar. The place was packed with families, couples and graduating seniors celebrating their last weekend together as undergrads so it was very lively (but not overly loud)!
We shared the almond-​crusted French toast and the shrimp and grits. When it comes to brunch, I prefer savory over sweet 99% of the time, but I will gladly make an exception for this French toast. The almonds added a nice crunch to the fluffy Challah bread, and the chantilly cream and fruit complimented it nicely since it wasn’t too sweet! The dish also comes with a side of turkey sausage — def appreciate something salty and meaty to balance out that sweetness!
I stopped by for brunch again recently with a larger group at 10:30am. I definitely recommend making a reservation for larger groups, since the restaurant filled up pretty quickly after we arrived. This time, I split the Moroccan chicken and waffles and sweet corn griddle cakes with one of my friends. The chicken and waffles were deeeelicious — not quite sure what was «Moroccan» about it and the chicken was ever so slightly dry, but the breading was so crunchy and yummy, and the waffles were perfectly fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. The sweet corn griddle cakes were good but I wasn’t blown away. Probably wouldn’t order it again (although I did like that it came with eggs and turkey sausage so you get sweet and savory in one dish — cue Hannah Montana’s «Best of Both Worlds»).
Service was very friendly both times. Overall, a really good deal for brunch! I will be back, and often.

You should definitely give this place a try ! I came here for brunch with a party of 8 ladies and ordered the Almond Crusted French toast, turkey sausage and a green tea. I was definitely of fan of how the green tea was loose leaf.
My only gripe is that the turkey sausage was a bit salty for my taste and the syrup for the French toast was too sweet. Otherwise the service and prices were decent and the food was very tasty and presented well.
Our server recommended the chicken and waffles and 2 of the ladies opted for that as their meals and they thoroughly enjoyed it. I would definitely try that next time.
I’ll be back.

This is a 3.5 star rating, mostly for the atmosphere and the variety of food.
A group of 10 of us came on a reservation on a Sunday morning, having found no other place that would take reservations. It turned out that we made a mistake in the reservation, but the staff was extremely flexible and accommodating in making room for us anyway.
The menu is long and extensive, with many vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-​free options. I was excited to see all the «interesting» (ie not American.) brunch options, such as Moroccan eggs, Turkish eggs, etc, as I was glad to go out of the typical comfort zone.
I also absolutely loved the atmosphere – everything feels clean, crisp, and comfortable (for brunch time, at least). Nothing was hurried, and everyone had a good time catching up and being excited over the menu.
I ordered a smoked salmon omelet, as a huge salmon lover, and friends around me all ordered different dishes. I was highly disappointed at the size and quality of the omelet, as it tasted good enough but seemed like something I could create myself in my own kitchen. There was only a tiny bit of potatoes too :(I also tried a bite of my friend’s french toast, which wasn’t too sweet but still a little bland and tasted like sugared bread. Portions, overall, were disappointing.
However, high ratings because of how conveniently they take reservations, the kind service, and interesting food options.