Best Middle-Eastern Food Prepared By
STAFF PICK: Of the nearly dozen Middle-Eastern eateries to open in the past two years, one in the small shopping mall anchored by Pier One just west of El Dorado Theater calls to the lover of this cuisine--Shish Kebab House of Tucson. Owners Reina and Jeff Wer produce some of the best Middle-Eastern cuisine in Tucson. Their version of baba ganoush, which they call motabal, is especially good. In this version, the eggplant is grilled over open flame, smoky taste adding to the silky texture of the mash, completely unlike any baba ganoush you've ever had. Together with a deftly light and lemony version of hummos, and the cracked-wheat dish tabouli, studded with a fine chop of fresh cucumber, onion, tomato, and redolent with fresh parsley, it makes for a refreshing meal. Grilled meats are also well cooked and finely flavored. All the kebabs are succulent and flavorful (all $3.95 as pita sandwich, $5.95 on a plate with salad or rice pilaf). The Kafta is ground beef with a hint of ginger. The chicken is marinated breast meat, expertly grilled. And the shawerma of either chicken or beef, with the occasional lamb special, is flavored with a brilliant and seductive sesame sauce that makes the name tahini seem insufficient. Reina is queen of the kitchen, she's from El Salvador cooking Lebanese like a native. Could that account for the mole-like texture of her motabal? Meals at Shish Kebab House, 5855 E. Broadway, are all available to-go, and with seating for no more than 30, that seems a good plan.
An El Salvadoran Cook
