Tanoreen

Gourmet Middle Eastern (Palestinian) / $$

7704 Third Ave. at 77th St., Bay Ridge (Brooklyn)
R train to 77th St. & Fourth Ave.
(718) 748-5600, fax -4956
www.tanoreen.com

Tue-Sun 10:30 AM-10:30 PM (closed Mon)
Limited seating, reservations for 5+ people
Takeout, delivery in Bay Ridge, catering
Visa, MC, AmEx, Discover

If you don't think Middle Eastern food can compete with the world's finest Asian and European cuisines, try Tanoreen in quiet Bay Ridge. Best are the spiced dishes that slowly develop on the tongue. At first taste, they deliver one set of sensations. Ten seconds later, more flavors emerge. In this category, at the top of the appetizer menu, is a baba ghanouge that imparts a smoky flavor to the pureed eggplant—like good pipe tobacco. Makdous is pickled baby eggplant with walnuts, garlic, and bright masses of red pepper, fiery but also complex. There are lots of attractive ways to consume lamb including stuffed cabbage rolls that are long, thin, compact, and savory. Ask about daily specials—and if one of them is baby squash stuffed with lamb, grab it. Service is attentive. Call first when making the long train ride from Manhattan.

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