RESTAURANT REVIEW: Khoury's Mediterranean Restaurant

Mezze Mania: With its little dishes, Khoury's Mediterranean rises above the rabble

By HEIDI KNAPP RINELLA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Another day, another Mediterranean restaurant to review.

While I've speculated before on the reasons for the unprecedented growth of this genre in the Las Vegas Valley, speculation is about all we have to go by. But holy moley, they're popping up faster than Lindsay Lohan's ex-boyfriends, and in the same way, it's easy for one to get lost in the crowd.

Except for Khoury's Mediterranean Restaurant, which does a stellar job of rising above the rabble. Part of this is due to its airy, pleasant decor, part to the excellent service we received from our young, busy and very energetic waitress.

But the largest part was due to the food. Unlike many of the others, Khoury's food isn't a Mediterranean mishmash but is Lebanese in nature, and as such mezze -- which are to the Middle East what tapas are to Spain -- hold a primary role. As the menu points out, "it is a tradition to eat mezze at every meal," and to accommodate that, Khoury's offers a wide variety of the little dishes, in a mix of the familiar (falafel, anyone?) and some that aren't frequently seen on area menus, such as baby eggplants stuffed with walnuts and seasonings.

To try as many as possible, we chose the House Mezza ($25) selection. We expected a broad variety; what we didn't expect was that we'd be brought 12 small plates, which our excellent waitress scattered across the table like so many colorful, oversized poker chips. With a refill of our basket of hot, pillowy pita (the first basket had disappeared along with a little dish of sesame-oil dip), we settled in for what looked like it was going to be a treat. And indeed it was.

Yes, there was falafel, crisp and delicate and served with a pool of tahini sauce.

And the requisite hummus, which in this case was smooth and nutty and enriched by a float of extra-virgin olive oil.

And labni, thick (hung or strained) yogurt brightened with garlic and mint.

And tabouleh, the minted cracked wheat that in this case was nicely crunchy.

And foohl, a hummuslike (but in consistency only) blend of fava beans with garlic and olive oil.

And bamieh, which was the best okra either of us have ever tasted (cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic and cilantro), and we both did time in the South.

And loubieh, crisp fresh green beans with onions and tomatoes.

And mtabbl, mashed eggplant with sesame oil.

Plus vegetarian stuffed grape leaves, and a plate of pickles and olives, and one of cheeses and one of fresh vegetables -- cucumbers and tomatoes that we didn't even touch. Because this was a lot of food, so much that we could've easily stopped there and gone quite happily on our merry way.

But we wanted to see what Khoury's does with meat, so the Meat Combination ($19) seemed like a good counterpart. Indeed it was: shish kabobs of rib-eye beef, kafta (seasoned ground sirloin), kibbi (ground sirloin and cracked wheat stuffed with more ground sirloin), sujuk (spicy beef sausage) and maanik (pork sausage), all of them tender and deftly seasoned and served on a bed of gently browned rice that was way above average.

As I said, this was a lot of food, and to help it go down we considered one of the Lebanese wines on the list, but settled on a decidedly Mediterranean sangria instead. We opted for a pitcher ($18), of which we managed to finish but half. It was full of fruit, but also notably smooth and surprisingly strong -- thanks, a server told us, to a complement of brandy.

And still we soldiered on, with a dessert of Shabiet ($4) that sounded similar to the Greek galatobouriko but was softer, its filo layers enfolding a layer of soft custard.

Yes, Khoury's offers hookahs as well; we saw an attractive variety of them standing ready on a shelf.

But at this stellar example of a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurant, it's clear that it's the food that's in the spotlight.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.