SAIL AWAY TO PHOENICIA SKILLFULLY PREPARED LEBANESE FARE WORTH A TRIP TO GLENDALE.Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic Phoenicia isn't at all a strange, new name for a Glendale restaurant. It's actually a revived name. Back in its same but expanded location after a prolonged absence, Phoenicia has moved to a traditional and contemporary Lebanese culinary direction, much changed from its original continental menu. With the same owner, Ara Kalfayan, at its helm, Phoenicia replaces Kalfayan's former Kix cafe and private catering facility with a spacious, fully redecorated interior and dramatic exterior extension, which includes a hookah and cigar smokers' patio. In its comfortable confines, where some 200 can be seated when all tables are taken, the Phoenicia kitchen serves up a slew of familiar and unfamiliar Lebanese exotica ex·ot·i·ca pl.n. Things that are curiously unusual or excitingly strange: such gustatory exotica as killer bee honey and fresh catnip sauce. highlighted by a plethora of under-$10 hot and cold starter appetizers that range from a couple of enjoyable soups ($3.95 each) to a pair of seasoned, pan-fried quails ($9.95). Small plates writ large It's easy to make a meal of these smaller plates and forget entrees altogether. There are the familiar and semi-familiar goodies: hummus hum·mus also hum·us or hom·mos n. A smooth thick mixture of mashed chickpeas, tahini, oil, lemon juice, and garlic, used especially as a dip for pita. ($5.50) and baba ghanoush Baba Ghanoush or Baba-Ganouj (Arabic بابا غنوج), babaganuş, eggplant salad (Turkish), melitzanosalata (Greek ($5.95) dips, kabis pickles ($4.95), warek enab stuffed grape leaves Noun 1. stuffed grape leaves - well-seasoned rice (with nuts or currants or minced lamb) simmered or braised in stock dolmas dish - a particular item of prepared food; "she prepared a special dish for dinner" ($5.95) and kibbeh nayeh Lebanese tartare
Examples are
And cheese turnovers like rekakat ($5.95), meat turnovers like san bousek ($5.95) and crunchy beef dumplings called kibbeh makli (also $5.95), the latter two enhanced with pine nuts. Sausages? Phoenicia offers the spicy Armenian soujouk ones ($6.50) and the fragrant, lemony, Lebanese maanek sausages ($6.50), equally good in their own way. Cool salad dish? There's the fattoush ($5.95) bowl of fresh greens bolstered with sumac and sprinkled with toasted pita triangles and the traditional tabbouleh tab·bou·leh or ta·bou·leh n. A Lebanese salad made with bulgur wheat and finely chopped scallions, tomatoes, mint, and parsley. [Arabic tabb ($5.95) with chopped parsley. The main event Lamb is, of course, the main meat here. The Phoenicia kitchen cooks its marinated baby lamb chops ($19.95) very nicely. Yes, both lamb shank shank (shangk) 1. leg (1). 2. crus ( 2). shank n. The part of the human leg between the knee and ankle. ($15.50) and lamb shish kebab ($17.50) are available. Even lamb brains two ways. I like the lightly battered lamb tongue slices ($6.50), gently sauteed in olive oil with a lemon juice finish. For a less expensive, thoroughly satisfying main course, either the skewered ground beef or ground chicken kafta plates ($12.95 each) with broiled broil 1 v. broiled, broil·ing, broils v.tr. 1. To cook by direct radiant heat, as over a grill or under an electric element. 2. To expose to great heat. v. tomato, a chopped onion and parsley accompaniment, rice or fries, pita bread, hummus and a house salad provide a true bargain meal. And from the ocean, market- priced fresh fish like sea bass or red mullet mullet: see silversides. mullet Any of fewer than 100 species (family Mugilidae) of abundant, commercially valuable schooling fishes found in brackish or fresh waters throughout tropical and temperate regions. is cooked how you like it (pan-fried, oven-baked or grilled) while reasonably sized shrimp ($13.95) is deliciously prepared with garlic, lemon and cilantro. Desserts ($5.95 each) here are usually shareable, a good choice being the ashta creation of fluffy boiled milk curd curd the proteinaceous part of milk precipitated by rennin. Usually contains some fat when whole milk is used. topped with sliced bananas laced with honey and pistachios -- a welcome, sweet finish. Larry Lipson, (818) 713-3668 larry.lipson@dailynews.com PHOENICIA Food: Three and one half stars - Service: Three and one half stars - Wine: Three and one half stars Where: 343 N. Central Ave., Glendale. Phone: (818) 956-7800. www.phoenicia.us Meals/hours: Open from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, to midnight Friday and Saturday. Food type: Lebanese. Cost: Starters from $4 to $10, entrees from $13 to $20, shareable desserts $5.95 each. Special 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. dine/dance/show menu prices Friday ($38 per person) and Saturday ($43 per person). Credit cards: All major. Patio dining: Yes. Parking/valet: Free parking in rear lot. Full bar: Yes. Wine/corkage: Well-rounded selection of 48 labels of thoughtfully acquired international bottlings ($20 to $450), including a trio ($28 to $35) of well-crafted Lebanese red wines. Ten wines by the glass ($5.50 to $9.50) consist of one sparkler spar·kler n. 1. One, such as a highly polished metallic surface or a virtuoso performer, that sparkles. 2. Informal A diamond. 3. A firework that burns slowly and gives off a shower of sparks. , two whites, two reds and five ports. Corkage cork·age n. A charge exacted at a restaurant for every bottle of liquor served that was not bought on the premises. corkage Noun a charge made at a restaurant for serving wine bought elsewhere : $15 (Sunday through Thursday only). Music/entertainment: Friday and Saturday featuring live band, singers and belly dancers. Admission fee charged if no dinner ordered. Takeout/delivery: Yes on takeout, no on delivery. Reservations: Suggested. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Mediterranean sea bass and red mullet combine for the Sultan Ibrahim dish at Phoenicia, in Glendale. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion