I’ve probably never thought that Middle Eastern food is the type of food that needs innovation and modernization. Give me some well-executed schwarma nearly any day of the week and I will be a happy man. Yet, Pita Jungle not only exists in the Phoenix area, but it has multiple locations that demonstrate a pattern of success. Oh, and it just oozes modern Middle Eastern.

Sure, hummus and schwarma are on the menu as old standbys, but it would be kind of silly to order them. Instead, we started out our meal with Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus. It was a beautiful thing to behold, aside from the random diced tomatoes and onions in the middle of the dip. Moreover, it weirdly only came with one piece of pita and any extra was an upcharge.

For my main course, I ordered the Asada Lavash Pizza they were offering as a special that night. Lavash Pizza is always on the menu, which is another one of their modern takes, but the asada aspect was unique to that night. It included the aforementioned asada, crema, avocado, some of that cilantro avocado hummus and a few veggies that I had no interest in. The result looked like a really sexy matzah pizza, and tasted even better than that. There was plenty of beef which tasted like you would expect Mexican beef at a Middle Eastern restaurant to taste (solid, but confusing) and the rest of the ingredients melded together really well.

Pita Jungle is essentially the Middle Eastern food you never asked for, but are glad to have. I’m still on the lookout for the more traditional side of Middle Eastern (which Pita Jungle has, but at a premium), but I have no qualms with what Pita Jungle has been able to do to bring the old into the new.

Persian food is a special type of Middle Eastern food, and thus I was very excited to learn that Scottsdale has its own Persian restaurant, appropriately named the Persian Room, because it’s basically one big room. With Persian food. And like any Persian restaurant worth its salt, its menu was vast and filled with all sorts of meats and rice. Essentially it was the kind of place that was made for an unvegan.

It began with Tah Dig, which is a must-eat if you have never it. Essentially, it is overcooked rice, but in the best of ways. It’s oily and crispy and then covered in choice of two stews. Or, if you’re like me, you get both. One is the gheimeh and the other is the ghormeh sabzi. The gheimeh is more legumey, and the ghormeh sabzi is more herby. I preferred the ghormeh sabzi, but you can’t go wrong with either.

As for my main course, I snagged the Naderi Sultani. This took the classic Sultani to another level by combining filet mignon, chicken and koobideh (ground beef). I also decided to upgrade the rice to zereshk polo rice instead of normal basmati rice. This means barberries (a tart and sweet berry) and saffron were mixed in with the rice. The whole plate was a beautiful feast and I set to work on it. By far, the best was the filet mignon, which was perfectly seasoned and tender. The chicken and koobideh were plenty good as well, but just couldn’t compare with the filet mignon.

As far as rooms go, this Persian Room was definitely one of my favorites. There aren’t many other rooms you can go to for incredible meats and incredible rice, so the Persian Room is the right place to get that fill.

You know what’s great about being Jewish? No Lent. No Ramadan. Sure, there’s been thousands of years of persecution and an annual fast or two, but nothing that compares to the longevity of the institutionalized pain of those two holidays. Worse still, sometimes Ramadan falls in the summer and you can’t even drink water. With all of these thoughts in mind, I found myself in Malaysia in the summer in the middle of Ramadan. And in Sandakan in Borneo, this meant the nightly Ramadan Market. The most impressive part about it is that observant Muslims somehow manage to walk up and down the market and order food without eating a bite of it until the sun goes down. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait.

Some of the goodies are unique to the region, like the banana leaf-wrapped Nasi Kuning Ayam, which is essentially yellow rice with fried chicken. It’s both simple and complex at the same time.

Portable grills like this can also be found all over the market, giving the whole place a delicious smoky haze. They’re mostly used for grilling up chicken.

You can also find roti canai all around the market, which is essentially a fried flatbread. Here, it’s used more like a wrap so the vendors fill it with things like cabbage, eggs and even beef or chicken.

Amazingly, I could only find one tent that came close to resembling Middle Eastern food. They had a bunch of prepared “burgers” and a spool of chicken. However, while the cooking style was Middle Eastern, the flavors and spices of finished chicken pita I had tasted more Japanese than anything else – aside from the pita itself.

A bunch of vendors were pushing noodles in mass quantities that kind of blew my mind. There were generally a couple options to choose from and I had myself some traditional Hokkien-style, which were brown and fried. For spice, they kind of depended on whatever I added to the mix and they also had an option to add an egg, which is almost never a mistake.

But it wasn’t just about the food, stalls were showing off some pretty beautiful drinks packed with strong flavors like bubble gum, chocolate, taro and more. The bagged versions of these drinks were called ABCs and the big cupped versions were called Halo Halos, which is originally a Filipino word, but The Philippines are literally a short boat ride from Sandakan so this kind of made sense.

More than anything, there was an amazing spirit at the Ramadan Market. Smiles abounded, patience was never a concern and cleanliness really never felt like a concern. So maybe there is something to a month-long fast. It gives people an excuse to get together every night, to build up community events and to take down some tasty food and drinks.

Food court food isn’t typically known to be great, but then food court food isn’t generally Middle Eastern. Massis has kind of built a food court empire around LA, dishing out mostly Middle Eastern food with a sprinkling of random things like Argentinean Skirt Steak and Idaho Trout. I found myself at the Santa Anita mall and went looking for kabobs.

My kabob of choice was Persian Koubideh because I couldn’t get that stuff out of my mind after my recent visit to Raffi’s in Glendale. I watched as they grilled the ground up beef in the background of the stall, and it took a surprisingly long time for a food court spot. I assumed this meant there was a certain amount of attention to detail correlated to the preparation.

Eventually it arrived on a bed of rice, with the Russian Bean Salad I had chosen for my side and a tomato and pita for some reason. The koubideh turned out to be pretty great with some solid seasonings and plenty of it. Everything else, though, was somewhat disappointing. For one, the rice was plain. And I know that’s how rice generally is, but not Persian rice, which can have amazing things mixed in. Then there was the side, which I guess tasted okay, but it was pretty disappointing that hummus was not an option.

Regardless, Massis served me pretty well for a food court. The centerpiece of the meal was very good and fit into my expectations of food court prices. If only the sides were better, I would consider making Massis my go-to food court spot.

Hailing from the closest thing to the Middle East outside the Middle East (Michigan) I often crave me some schwarma. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh wasn’t satisfying this craving until I heard about Salem’s Market & Grill in the Strip District. The restaurant is set up kind of like a cafeteria, but with the addition of spinning spools of meat. There was Indian food as well, but I was at Salem’s for one thing only.

I ordered some Chicken Shawarma (since that’s how they spell it) and asked what it came with aside from the chicken and garlic sauce. The guy listed a veritable salad’s worth of vegetables and I asked to have them all removed. He happily complied by writing “No Veggies” on my ordered sheet and I watched as he put together a fully-loaded pita of chicken and sauce. I also snagged a side of hummus.

The results were just as I had hoped. The garlic sauce was delicious and the chunks of spooled chicken were deliciously seasoned. I wouldn’t have minded more garlic sauce, but that happens pretty much always. Plus, the fresh hummus was a nice touch after months of store brands. And, it was damn cheap. My sandwich was only $6.50 and could have been plenty filling for a meal if I weren’t trying to taste a little more.

Salem’s definitely lived up to its billing and I now know where I can go to get my Middle Eastern fix when the craving comes.

Straddling the campuses of Carnegie Mellon and Pitt, Craig Street is where ambitious students can often be found eating lunch or dinner between classes. On that street is a little Middle Eastern restaurant called Ali Baba, which I found myself eating at based on a high recommendation. The recommendation was mostly based on something that have called Kibbee Nayyee, which is a raw lamb dish that is apparently pretty hard to find.

Hard to find or not, I think you have to be in a pretty special mood to crave raw lamb, so I ignored the recommendation and went with hummus as an appetizer and a Chicken Pita Pocket. This pocket comes filled with spiced chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and their special yogurt sauce. I ordered mine without the lettuce and tomatoes and was eager to see what I would get.

But first came the hummus, which was pretty tasty. It was thick and creamy, with just the right amount of paprika and oil.

Then came the Chicken Pita Pocket, which somewhat resembled schwarma, but wasn’t quite there. I was definitely a fan of the chicken seasoning, but the chicken itself was kind of weirdly soggy. Then there was the yogurt sauce, which tasted pretty good, but the pita could have used more of it.

Without having eaten their Kibbee Nayyee, Ali Baba seemed to me just an ordinary Middle Eastern restaurant. It’s not bad by any means, but also not a place I would rush to return to either.

Look at the picture to the left, ignore the title of this post and tell me what you see. If you are like me, you probably think that is a burrito. It has the signature Chipotle foil, a nice fold and the grill marks that usually come with a tortilla. But this is no burrito, this is a chicken schwarma wrap from Pita Kitchen in Sherman Oaks, a hole in the wall to be remembered.

At $7.50 the wrap is a bit on the pricey side, but it is definitely an appropriate price for the size. The wrap came packed with chicken, tahini and hummus, and if Pita Kitchen had had their way with their regular ingredients, it also would have included lettuce and a salad. I’m not sure what the difference between lettuce and a salad is, but as they were both certainly vegetables, I wanted none of it.

As for the taste, I was definitely happy with the chicken. It had been nicely seasoned and cooked. The tahini sauce was also pretty good, but definitely took a back seat to the hummus. And while the texture of the hummus was good, it lacked the oomph of flavor that makes me love great hummus. This could have been a lack of garlic, lemon or both, but it was definitely noticeable and a little sad due to the awesomely creamy texture.

If you’re wondering why I keep rambling about the texture, it’s because I ordered a side of the hummus, which ran at a steep $5 bucks. And while the portion was once again huge, I wouldn’t have minded a smaller and more manageable portion. It came with three pieces of pita, which was a fair amount, but still nowhere near enough to take on the copious amounts of hummus.

While I was glad to have stumbled upon a nice little hole in the wall like Pita Kitchen, I could definitely see some areas for improvement. Maybe I’m just spoiled or crazy.

While LA has its fair share of Middle-Eastern restaurants, Kabab Grill in Palms boasts something I haven’t seen elsewhere: its own pita oven. Growing up with the Middle-Eastern restaurants of southeastern Michigan, I just kind of assumed every place had their own oven, but in LA I learned this was not the case. Yet, a pita oven alone does not make a place great, so I was eager to see how this Syrian-flavored place would taste and hoped it didn’t taste like the blood and tears of civil war (too soon?).

The first thing I tried was their Zaatar Cheese Safeeha. This Syrian specialty was a special baked pita-like bread cooked with thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and olive oil with cheese melted over it. It was definitely a good choice. It came out of the oven kind of crisp and the cheese had a bit of a chewy mozzarella texture to it, but a stronger taste that went well with the other seasonings. It also went well with the hummus, garlic sauce and chili dips that came with the rest of my meal.

And as for that rest of my meal, I ordered the Chicken Shawarma Plate. This came with shaved off chicken from a spool in the back, plus two sides. Like any good unvegan, I chose hummus for both sides. It also came with the aforementioned garlic sauce and one piece of pita. The result was fantastic. The only vegetable to be found was a giant lettuce leaf that I can only assume was place in the styrofoam box to prevent the chicken from melting the styrofoam. The hummus was pretty damn good and the garlic sauce was nearly as good as Zankou’s. The chicken was good and tender and really my only complaint about any of the meal was the pita.

No, not like that. The pita itself was delicious, but there just wasn’t enough of it. Only one paltry piece for all that chicken and hummus? When I finished the pita, I was left with a lot of loose hummus and chicken that had to be dealt with with a fork.

So, if you go to Kabab Grill and order one of their plates, be sure to ask for extra pita. You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll also be glad you tried out Kabab Grill. Just don’t go if you are in a rush. It has the look and feel of a fast restaurant, but they put a lot of care into preparing everything and that can mean a bit of a wait.

When my buddy recommended heading to a place called Mantee in Studio City, I was really excited to eat a sea cow and hoped the manatees were farm-raised (because we all know they are endangered in the wild). But he quickly corrected me, saying that the restaurant was lacking that all-important second “a” and was actually Mediterranean. And one look at the menu showed this was not your typical Mediterranean. There were no schwarma wraps to be seen here and instead items like that were replaced by unique Lebanese, Turkish and Armenian delights.

We decided to go big and started off with a nice round of appetizers. A couple had vegetables and I did not partake in such things, but the others were nothing short of delicious. The first was the Hummos Cocktail, which came topped with filet mignon and pine nuts. This was a great way to start things up and was quite tasty. It wasn’t too oily like some hummos can get, but was not at all dry and had great flavor. Plus, it never hurts to have meat on top. Next was the labne, which is a thick yogurt dip flavored with a little mint and olive oil. It is awesome with pita and while not as popular as hummos in general, it is definitely awesome.

The third appetizer I got into was simply called Mantee’s “Traditional.” Here’s where things got pretty interesting. This dish fell under the category of Hot Appetizers and consisted of oven-baked boat-shaped “ravioli” (really more like dumplings), filled with ground beef and topped with a garlic yogurt sauce and some sumac. I’ve got to say that this is a must-eat at Mantee. The dumplings were decadent and the garlic yogurt sauce struck a perfect balance of garlic and tart. This appetizer really had it all. I really could have made a meal out of this and the other appetizers and I would have left Mantee a happy man. Yet, I did not stop there, and I still left Mantee a happy man, just a more stuffed one.

I followed up the trio of appetizers with their Yogurt Kebab. I hadn’t seen a yogurt kebab anywhere since visiting Turkey nearly three years ago, so I was really happy to see it again. Until seeing it on the menu, I didn’t even realized I missed the thing, but I knew it had to be mine. And it was a wise choice. This kebab consisted of seasoned beef that had been removed from the stick and doused in that same delicious yogurt sauce as Mantee’s “Traditional.” In this case, though, the yogurt sauce not only held its own, but served to temper the strong seasoning of the meat. It was bliss on a plate and I was one happy unvegan.

So would I recommend Mantee? Oh hell yes. Just be sure you’re ready to spend a bit of money. It’s not overpriced and not really expensive for LA, but things can add up and you don’t want to miss out on their delicious offerings. I’m looking forward to returning one day for lunch and bringing any adventurous eater who wants something more than your typical Mediterranean fare.

On Friday night, I was lucky enough to be invited to an all-expenses-paid dinner courtesy of the Chulews. We headed to a place in a strange part of town that isn’t quite West Hollywood and isn’t quite Beverly Hills called Cayenne Cafe. Not to be confused with the pepper or vehicle, Cayenne was a sort of upscale Middle Eastern restaurant with a side of steakhouse. Being Passover, I was a little bit limited by the menu, because I couldn’t get anything with pita. Fortunately, there was that whole steakhouse thing going on and I could take advantage of that.

I went with their Steak Bearnaise ($20), which was a top sirloin steak with bearnaise sauce, garlic herb fries and something ridiculous called haricots verts. I asked the waitress what this was and she told me it was green beans  Seriously? Then call them freaking green beans. Stop trying to trick me with your French shenanigans! And speaking of shenanigans, my water came to me with a slice of cucumber in it  Who wants cucumber in their water? I’d rather drink from the LA River. Fortunately, the water hadn’t yet been poured in the glass and the cucumber was just sitting on the ice. I carefully removed this intruder and went on with my life.

Oh, back to the steak. Once learning that the haricots verts were green beans, I was ready to order without except that the girlfriend volunteered to eat them. Well at least they wouldn’t be going to waste. My medium rare top sirloin didn’t take too long to arrive and looked monstrous. This thing was cut like a filet, but however it was cut, I was excited to get involved with it. I started slicing away and each time I cut a piece off, I felt the need to cut it again because of the size. What I tasted was a perfectly cooked steak. It was nice and juicy, and although tougher than a filet, it still had great flavor. The bearnaise sauce went great with the steak because it had a very subtle taste that complemented the meat rather than overwhelmed it like some sauces are known to do.

The fries were a delicious side and almost had a fast-food-like crispiness to them. This may sound bad, but think about eating McDonald’s fries with garlic and herbs you’ll find you’re in a pretty happy place.

So Cayenne done me good. The cucumber and fancy words for green beans were a little bit frightening, but they were overcome by a tasty steak at a good price. The fries made a great side and if they can cut down on their green shenanigans they could really go far.