Until its abrupt closure around three years ago, few restaurants in metro Detroit belonged in same breath as Sullaf, the small Iraqi spot that was the last restaurant standing in what residents once called “Chaldean Town” along Seven Mile Road between Woodward and I-75.
As I wrote in my 2017 review of Sullaf, the restaurant didn’t have much of a menu — owner Safaa Momika, kind of a gruff dude until you get to know him a little, would simply ask, “What do you want — lamb or chicken?”
Behind him, flames leapt from a charcoal grill holding some of the best kofta — smoky and popping with cumin — that I’ve ever had. The chicken kebabs were excellent, and the lamb quzi, a super tender, massive lamb shank, has lived on in my memory long after Sullaf closed.
The restaurant was mostly carryout, and it was loud, a bit chaotic, and filled with people on lunch break who were excited to be there — the best kind of vibe.
From my 2017 review:
Among Sullaf’s best plates is the lamb shank, and though I ordered “lamb shank” on two separate trips, different dishes arrived. During one meal, the shank looked like a white club bearing a huge bulb of slide-off-the-bone meat laced with glorious lamb fat. A second version arrived in a bowl with a large shank with super tender pink and red meat. Sullaf submerges it in a volcanic-looking stew with whole cooked tomatoes, onions, oil, and serves it with triangles of pita bread. It’s a piquant and lemony dish — the kind that you think about for a week after the meal.
I had heard a rumor that Momika had to close the restaurant after being diagnosed with cancer, so I was thrilled when this week I drove by Sullaf and unexpectedly found it was open. Inside, the new owner ran a mop over the floor prior to opening. He said he grew up in the neighborhood long ago and couldn’t stand to see Sullaf closed, so he took it over. He declined to share his name with Metro Times.
Regardless, he reopened Sullaf around two months ago and the first difference one will notice is a full menu. That includes a range of kabobs, lamb shank, shawarma, chicken cream chop, and several sandwiches. There are also salads, which I don’t recall ever seeing at the first Sullaf, and a menu of Iraqi breakfast staples. There seem to be more booths than before, and the new ownership has spruced the space up a bit, but all told, it looks like the original spot.
Sullaf is one of a handful of awesome Iraqi spots in metro Detroit, rejoining Saj Alreef and Ishtar, both in Sterling Heights, and several in Dearborn. We didn’t have a chance to try it yet, but check back for a full review of the new Sullaf sometime in the coming months.
