As a long-time aficionado of the Boston-Cambridge Middle Eastern dining scene, I’d like to share a few jewels. The following is just a taste of the culinary offerings from the wider Middle East in the area—we hope that CMES folk will chime in with reviews of their own favorite establishments in future issues of e-cmes.
Helmand
Let’s ignore the politically fraught question of how Afghanistan has come to be considered part of the Middle East—Helmand’s exquisite cuisine makes the case for me. At this well-appointed restaurant in East Cambridge (just across from the Cambridgeside Galleria mall), you’ll taste a strong influence from Turkish/nomad cuisine in tender kebabs and yogurt dishes combined with a sophisticated Persian palate mixing meat and fruit and delicate combinations of spice.
Three of our favorite picks are on the appetizer menu: baby pumpkin with a garlicky yogurt sauce (kaddo borawni), aushak or Afghan ravioli filled with leeks (both vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions available), and bowlawni (pastry stuffed with leeks and potatoes). For an entrée, if you get that far instead of just ordering more appetizers, the dwopiaza (marinated lamb with a yellow split pea sauce) is delicious, as is the chapendaz (grilled beef tenderloin with yogurt sauce and rice with spinach).
The service can be very spotty at Helmand, but the food has never disappointed us.
Lala Rokh
Run by a brother and sister team hailing from Azerbaijan, Lala Rokh is a wonderful night out on Beacon Hill. It may seem a bit pricy on a student budget, but it is well worth the splurge. You feel spoiled on entering, both by the art gallery-quality hangings on the walls (we’ve seen calligraphy, old maps, photographs and miniatures on various visits) and by the attentive, surprisingly knowledgeable and friendly service.
The kitchen at Lala Rokh not only authentically recreates the delicate flavors of Persian home cooking, but goes so far as to offer regional specialties. We love to start with hot, delicious bread with a plate of white goat cheese and fresh herbs and spring onion. Another favorite appetizer is kashk-e bademjan, a smokily fragrant puree of eggplant enriched with beef, yogurt and onions.
Sometimes you just want the perfect kebab, and chelo kebab with marinated and tender beef, perfect rice with butter and egg yolk, topped with sumac, grilled tomato and sweet raw onion is about as perfect as it gets. If you’re looking for more variety, there is always a selection of ash (vegetable and meat stews) on the menu, and the lamb shank is to die for. I’d go for any dish that features the tart explosion of zereshk (dried barberries) played off against the mellow taste of perfectly cooked rice. There’s also a great wine list.
But wait - there’s more. Here you MUST leave room for dessert. Lala Rokh serves bastani, a saffron ice cream with chunks of pistachios and pure cream that will have you craving a second dish before you’ve finished the first. When parents are in town, or you want to impress on a date, or you deserve a real treat after handing in your thesis, head for Lala Rokh. Express an interest in Iran or the Middle East and you may get the pleasure of a table-side visit from the voluble and perceptive Babak Bina, one of the owners.
Casablanca
At Casablanca, right on Brattle Street in Harvard Square, the murals are a hoot and the food is nouveau Moroccan. Which means what, exactly? Well, there’s usually a dish featuring preserved lemons and olives, you might find an appetizer of grilled figs, there are always meza and olives on the menu for the table. But the Mediterranean ingredients are often reinterpreted in surprising ways, usually quite successfully. The menu changes often and features seasonal ingredients, so it’s worth dropping in occasionally to see what’s new.
Sultan's Kitchen
The Turkish food scene in Boston has changed quite a bit over the past few years, with area restaurants closing, moving and reopening with alarming frequency. I hear that the Anadolu Café, a long-time favorite of Harvard’s Turkish students, has recently reopened near Boston University, which is good news. But for my money, the best Turkish meal in Boston is still to be had at Sultan’s Kitchen, now located at 116 State Street right in back of Quincy Market.
It’s like dropping into one of the cafeteria-style restaurants in Istanbul’s Beyoglu district. Behind the glass you can see tray after tray of the various hot and cold meat and/or vegetable dishes, including Anadolu Ispanak Kavurmasi (braised spinach with pine nuts and currants), barbunya (Turkish red beans), and imam bayiildi (stuffed baked eggplant). The yogurt kebabs are delicious, and of course you can get döner kebab or the spicier Adana kebab. The menu is extensive and the food fresh and plentiful.
Owner Ozcan Ozan takes his food very seriously, and has even published a cookbook featuring Ottoman-style and Turkish home cooking.
Afiyet olsun, fi hana wa shifa, etc., etc. Enjoy exploring the Middle East through food around town, and publish reviews of your best finds by contacting e-cmes editor Kris Evans at kevans@fas.harvard.edu.
Barbara Petzen is outreach coordinator at CMES, and an avid cook and consumer of Middle Eastern food.