Lebanon II

In this case H&K is not referring to the firearms company but hummus & kebabs.  My last run at Lebanese food was at a great restaurant in Columbia, SC (see the post).  I decided to try a Lebanese place marginally closer in Matthews, NC called Kabab-Je.

They are located in a very busy shopping complex and you have to look closely to find them among all the other restaurants and shops.  They have a large outdoor seating area and if the weather had been just a few degrees cooler I’d have opted to enjoy al fresco dining.  The interior has plenty of seating and I was immediately shown to a table.  In the middle of the restaurant is a rectangle of display cases showing food available to take out as well as what you can order to eat in.

Even though I was by myself I ordered the hummus appetizer because, well hummus.

It did not disappoint.  Their hummus is thinner and creamier than most of that you find in grocery stores.  When the young lady brought it there was a well of space in the center that was designed to hold some additional olive oil if you wanted it.  I did.  The hummus was served with a warm, fresh pita that proved to be a delicious hummus delivery system.  I got about half way through the hummus before my kafta arrived.

The kafta was two skewers of spiced minced lamb and beef charcoal grilled.  They were served with grilled vegetable and basmati rice.  The vegetables; peppers, zucchini, onions, carrots, green beans, and yellow squash were soft and lightly seasoned.  The rice was basmati with saffron and topped with some carrots and some golden raisins that added a bit of sweetness.  The kafta was excellent.  It slid off the skewers easily and still had plenty of juice that enhanced the seasoned meat quite well.  It was fork cutting tender as you’d expect from properly grilled ground meat. The mixed lamb and beef had a nice flavor and was complimented by the rice and vegetables.  I’m not sure the photo does justice to the size of the portions but there was a lot of food here and after eating half the hummus I had to walk away with significant amount of rice still on the plate.  Oh, the lettuce was sacrificed as well.

The food was top notch and the server was friendly, attentive and fast.  That was something I noticed.  They had plenty of staff and none of them were dawdlers. They got people in and out without making anyone feel rushed at all.  If they were closer I’d be a regular.

If you missed the last Tell Me More page for Lebanon click the link now.