Lexington Ky Restaurants

Middle East

Your Guide to Fine Dining

Oasis

Middle Eastern cuisine is new to Lexington. Only five restaurants have opened. Four are small storefront places with a dozen tables each. Their original clientele was the Muslim population , which has certain dietary restrictions imposed by the Islamic religion. However, this is delicious food, very healthy, inexpensive, served in plentiful portions. Slowly but surely, the following has grown. Four eateries are in malls, and shoppers began dropping in for lunch. Many became regulars, and brought their families and friends back for dinner. They spread the word, and over the noon hour and the 6-8 dinner hour those dozen tables are now full. Lunch Specials are common, averaging $5.65.

There are plenty of meats on these menus, but no other cuisine offers as many vegetarian choices. Middle Eastern cooking is very creative with such greens as chickpeas, eggplant, grape leaves, spinach, fava beans, olives, mint, yogurt, lentils, and falafel. All five restaurant menus feature complete vegetarian sections, additional salad sections, and appetizers half of which are vegetarian. Weight watchers, cardiac rehab patients and fitness lovers can become regulars at these establishments without worry. But you have to watch the desserts. Baklava, Kazan Dibing, Nammoura and Rice Pudding are sinful. Turkish Coffee is a rich, sultry drink, nothing like American coffee. Doogh is an Iranian yogurt milk, like liquid custard. Flatbread is an unleavened, thin crust. With these and other new tastes to try, Middle Eastern restaurants offer a delightful new culinary adventure.

The Grape Leaf is Lexington's newest Mediterranean restaurant. It replaces Istanbul Palace and has the same convenient location for UK students and restaurant goers in the Waller Avenue area. It retains many of Istanbul Palace's popular Turkish menu items. Chef Adnan ("Eddie) Ahmad has had 25 years cooking Mediterranean food at various restaurants in Lexington and elsewhere. There's Turkish Coffee, which if you've never had it, you have to try. If not, at least try Turkish Tea. Whether you're a vegetarian or meat lover, you can find something on this menu which you'll like. There's Lentil Soup (lentils, onion and lemon), or Chicken Lemon Rice Soup. Lunch offers 10 sandwiches : beef, lamb or chicken shawarma, shish tawook, shish kabob, kafta kabob, falafel (with tahini sauce, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles), taboulah (with either hummus or babaganoush), and grape leaf. Of the seven appetizers we like the hummus, baba ghanoush, kubbah balls (ground sirloin mised with burgul, onions and pine nuts), and Stuffed Grape Leaves (rice, ground beef and tomato). Greek, Fatoush and Taboule salads are good but we recommend the Fatoush Beef Shawarma Salad. There are 15 entrees, but the best deal on the menu is the Grape Leaf Platter for a party of two or the Grape Leaf Dish for a party of five. They're samplers of all the other entrees for $15 or $45. Among the items on the Dish are three skewers each of kefta, chicken and kabob, five kubbah balls, five stuffed grape leaves with meat and falafel pieces served with rice. This is A LOT of food. However, there are three seafood dishes (shrimp, tilapia and salmon), four kabob skewers (beef, chicken, kefta, or lamb), and three shawarma dishes. Save room for dessert : Baklava and Kanafa. There is a Lunch Buffet from 11 to 3 for $7.95 and a Saturday Buffet from noon to 4 for $9.95 (both including 16 dishes to choose from) . 393 Waller Avenue. From downtown, take South Broadway to The Campbell House / St. Joseph Hospital. Turn left onto Waller, left at the first light, right into the mall and look to your left. They also do takeout and catering for any size group. The menu is Halal. The Grape Leaf is closed on Sundays.