Mezza

Last night, we headed with A to Mezza to grab a late Xmas eve dinner. For some reason, I just haven't been that into the Christmas season this year, which is sad because it's really my favorite. Normally on Xmas eve, I like to have lobster, but we were lazy to go out and J had fallen asleep on the couch around 5.30pm so I was feeling particularly blah.

We decided to get the sampler platter which consists of 3 veg, 2 non-veg, 2 salad, 1 baked or special, and baklawa. Mezza is all small plates and they say that typically one person will have three, so this seemed perfect for us.

#7 - balila: garbanzos marinated in garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice.
Also mixed with tomatoes and sauteed onions. I think this was my favorite dish of the night. The balance was so delicious. The clean taste of olive oil and lemon really made this dish. Wonderful. I see us getting this every time.

#17 - grilled halloumi: aka "squeaky cheese", grilled and served with tomato slices and olives
How odd, a cheese that doesn't melt! Tasted like a salty mozzerella. Tasty, and it really does squeak! I was less excited about the tomato slices. Didn't try the olives. One was purple, two were green.

#18 - muhammara: a mix of ground red bell peppers, walnuts, pistachios, lemon juice, garlic, and cayenne pepper
Like most things with red peppers, I wasn't in love with this dish. It was tasty enough, but I didn't eat much of it with all the other tasties on the table.

#41 - lamb kebabs: marinated, grilled, and served on vermicelli rice
The lamb was tender and good. The rice was fluffy and big grains.

42 - beef shawarma: thinly sliced sirloin marinated in spices, cooked, then topped with tahini and served on vermicelli rice
The beef was very tender but overall, I wasn't a huge fan of this dish either. I really think that it's the veg dishes that shine here and would be perfectly happy to get all veg foods when we come here.

#70 - sfiha: pies topped with ground beef, parsley, tomato, onion, and spices. served with plain yogurt.
A little dry, but overall, not bad.

#21 - tabbouleh: finely chopped parsley, cracked wheat, diced tomatoes and onions. dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, spices.
Delicious. Absolutely delicious. Though after eating a massive amount of it, I found myself wishing it weren't quite all parsley. Definitely one of the new regular items.

#25 - al raee: smoked eggplant, diced tomatoes, onions, and garlic, dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.
A tasty dish, though I thought the eggplant was a bit too smoky for me. Maybe next time I will mix it all together to help the balance. Great with the flatbread.

All in all, we had a great dinner at Mezza. I was stuffed. The baklawa was, as A put it, "a lazy man's baklawa" since it was piles of filo on the top and bottom with a fat layer of nuts and honey in between. It did make it easier to eat and it wasn't overly sticky.

I look forward to going again. Soon!