Mtabbal proves to be an excellent Dimashq-up.

I think this week might end up being Brooklyn-only – last night, I went to the 21st entry on the list, Damascus Gate, on 5th Avenue at 72nd Street in Bay Ridge, and following after the delicious Greek-stravaganza of Sunday night, I feel like I’m on a roll.  

Not because the roll that came with the (store-bought) pitas and the Damascus Platter ($10.95) was necessarily that great, mind you, nor because the waitress was a cute relief from the often-surly and almost-always-ancient wait staff of many of my destinations.  It’s because I was hot and hungry, and the food was (mostly) cool, and, just like Sunday night, totally delicious.

Indeed, the platter was an excellent sampler of the meze dips of Syria, sided with two falafel nuggets and two stuffed grape leaves.  The obvious hummus and babaganouj were excellent, but the mtabbal, which seemed to be comprised of garlic mashed up with eggplant and peppers, was good and unique enough that I considered taking home a gallon.  Also worthy of appetizer consideration in summer homes everywhere: the yogurt-y concoction that resembled a cross between tzatziki and cacik (the name escapes me, of course – I didn’t see any takeout menus, and the whole note-taking operation seems so…professional).

As to the grape leaves and falafel – the former were good, and I haven’t historically been the biggest fan (something about them sitting around for days on end, perhaps).  The falafel were, thankfully, freshly deep fried, and provided excellent leverage for the dips when the bread ran out.

After the meal, I grabbed the B63 bus all the way up 5th Avenue to Bergen Street (it took quite a while, let me tell you).  I’d never seen Sunset Park’s 5th Avenue strip before, and there are a TON of possibilities for eating there.  The park looked quite nice, too – maybe on a cooler weekend day, I’ll mosey on down and grab some picnic tacos.