Cheap Eats - A wish for shish fulfilled

Sub & Shish Kabob’s setting belies its astute eats

Cheap Eats

“Hello? Hello?”

I’m not sure this place is even open. Sub & Shish Kabob, a Mediterranean eatery highly recommended by a friend, is dead empty and I feel a wee bit of unease. A table in the corner is piled with dirty dishes and trays. The radio is set to an easy listening station, and the drab dining room is lit with a depressing fluorescence. I’m ready to hoof it out of there when the owner appears. His friendly, slightly shy manner and disclosure that I’ll have to wait 15 minutes for a freshly grilled shish tawook are reassurance enough that I’ve come to the right place for a pita-and-kabob craving.

One-man show:

Sub & Shish is an operation run single-handedly by Fakhir Ail, the gentlemanly owner who prepares all the kabobs, sandwiches and salads to order. He’s also the one who tallies up the checks and eventually buses the tables. Even on a sunny day, the restaurant’s gloominess can be a bit heavy, yet the dishes we tried sparkled with bright, fresh flavors. The shish tawook plate ($6.99) is a healthy combination of grilled chicken breast kabob, rice and a sumac-dusted salad of romaine, cucumbers and tomatoes so icy-crisp you’d think the veggies had been plucked straight from the garden. Lean yet moist and flavorful, the shish tawook’s nuances of ginger and garlic perfectly complement its acidic lemon and yogurt marinade.

Gold plated:

Proudly touted as the best of its kind ever, Sub & Shish’s falafel plate ($5.49) with accompanying pita wedges, tabbouleh and hummus is at the very least the best within a long stretch of memory. The hummus is as smooth, thick and rich as Greek yogurt, with a perfect balance between tahini nuttiness and a smack of lemon. Falafel are impressively crunchy and so ungreasy you could be tricked into thinking they’d been baked, with a chickpea earthiness that would make a carnivore forget flesh entirely. Caramelized so deeply and darkly that the eggplant is practically rendered into custard, baba ghannouj ($3.49, half-pint) has a T-bone’s meaty smokiness. Spring for the full pint for only a handful of change more.

Grand old okra:

On a second visit, rich aromas beckon us to the steam table’s offerings. A stew of okra ($5.99) is bracingly tangy with tomatoes, mellowed by slow-cooked onions and an intense, sweet garlic bite. Served over rice, the hearty, homey stew’s rustic character and simple flavors seem crafted by a grandmother’s hand. A layered Mediterranean take on shepherd’s pie that includes mashed potatoes, ground beef, spinach, onions, parsley and mozzarella under a crumb crust ($5.49) is better than a feathered quilt on a freezing day. The pie’s softness and comforting mildness make me want to curl up under the table and sleep the rest of the afternoon. An incredible baklava ($1.49) that will make you forget all the other over-sweet, goopy versions is made in-house, with a rosewater kiss and sublime shatter of buttered phyllo that yields to rich, honeyed nuts. Each bite is a transport away from the dismal strip mall and the encroaching gray winter.

cynthia.wong@creativeloafing.com?