Taste: Hummus!!!

So Mediterranean Deli and Catering in Chapel Hill won't win any awards for name originality, but they certainly have some of the best Middle Eastern food in the area. I was introduced to the restaurant a couple of weeks ago by a friend, who I had previously dragged to several new spots. I must admit to much trepidation when I followed his lead and ordered the shawerma - a chicken or beef sandwich marinated with Lebanese spices served in a pita. But the beef was pleasantly spicy without being heavy, so I decided to return for an official review.

To expand my Mediterranean horizons, I sampled three new dishes, along with a couple of desserts. In my experience, falafel is a dish that's really hard to get right. Ninety-percent of the time it ends up being way too dry and crumbling entirely in your mouth. Mediterranean Deli's hummus and falafel pita sandwich beats the odds. It's soft and moist, and similarly to my first visit, the spices were well-balanced and the hummus didn't overwhelm the flavor of the falafel. In fact, hummus is one of Mediterranean Deli's strongest assets - it's very creamy with no bitterness at all. My friend, who had recently returned from Israel, pronounced it extremely authentic.

Next I tasted the hummus and gyro - a plate of hummus under spiced lamb and beef with a pita on the side. My friend and I took turns tearing pieces of the long, flat slices of beef and lamb, dipping them in the hummus and pairing them with tears of pita bread. We couldn't distinguish between the lamb and beef, but it didn't really matter because the whole dish was all wonderful.

The only dull spot of the evening was the spinach pie. The dough was slightly gummy, and the spinach was far too bitter.

For dessert, I indulged in walnut baklava and a date-stuffed cookie. The baklava was good, but no better than any other restaurant's in the Triangle. The sugar cookie shell surrounding the dates tasted as if the recipe had been stolen from Pepperidge Farm.

Mediterranean Deli may not be worth a separate trip to Chapel Hill, but if you're headed in that direction, stop by and try the hummus.