A while ago I went to for Levant dinner, and I had a nice meal. I had a sore throat the time I ate there, so I did not imbibe alcohol, but it had a flavorful and soothing house-made lemon beverage with crystalized ginger as a garnish. I began my meal with the sauteed squid, which had a very nice blend of flavors with the preserved lemon, a light pepper sauce, and yogurt. The chickpea salad was a large portion to the appetizer. Yet, the chickpeas where fully cooked, which made a comparable texture with the squid. The dish would have been much more pleasant had they slightly undercooked the chickpeas to give more varied textures. For my entree, I had the hearth roasted lamb, which was wonderfully prepared and very well paired with the various sides. The addition of the harissa really brought out a vibrant contrasting companion with the lamb. Unfortunately, the walnut baklava for desert was not too memorable, so I would definitely encourage another choice. All in all, the meal was very good, but it is a bit on the pricier side.
I also ate at Khun Pic's Bahn Thai a while ago, and I had a very nice meal. Firstly, the restaurant does not accept credit cards, so one must pay with cash or checks. Secondly, it is a small husband and wife team, the wife cooks while the husband serves. The single server may lead to slower service at times, but one must be prepared for a very casual experience. (When I arrived, the server was not present for a while, but I was told by a patron that he sometimes doesn't hear the door bell, so I should just seat myself.) Thirdly, the prices may seem high to some, but you get a lot of food. For example, I would recommend that two diners share an appetizer and entree, as I made an extra meal from my leftovers. Lastly, medium heat is likely sufficient for most diners, which gave me a runny nose but did not detract from the flavor of the meal. For my meal, I started off with the special soup with prawns. The broth was very flavorful, and the prawns were still nicely tender. I then had the evenings curry (green) for my entree, which had an extraordinary depth of flavor with a hint of sweetness. Sadly, the chicken - there is the choice of chicken, prawns, or tofu with the curry - was bland, but still moist and tender at least. Overall, it was a very nice meal, and I plan to go again at some point.
Finally, I had a very nice lunch at Tabor Tavern recently. It has a nice rotating tap selection, so I went for a nice robust stout. I began my meal with the kale caesar salad. The gave a much more texture than the traditional romaine lettuce, and the minced bacon topping gave a very good salty smokieness, that anchovies lack. I ordered the small salad, which I thought was still on the large-side. For my entree, I had the fish and chips. The fish came our wonderfully moist, flakey and of a substantial size, but it could have been seasoned a bit more. The chips/fries could also have been seasoned a bit more, but the fries were done very well and paired very nicely with the malt aioli. The minted peas was a beautiful medley of sweetness with just the right hint of mint, which did not conflict with the other items of the dish. I would have gotten dessert because the sticky toffee cake sounded very nice, but I was too full from the salad and entree. The restaurant is a wonderful lunch spot, but it is open for dinner as well as a weekend brunch.
