Dinner at Zaytoon's

The Zaytoon's in Prospect Heights (594 Vanderbilt Ave., at the corner of St. Marks Ave., 718-230-3200) is almost the opposite of it's sibling on Smith St. in Carroll Gardens. It's spacious and brightly lit, but offers the same great food at incredibly affordable prices. The best is to go with a couple of friends so you can get a bunch of things and share everything. At least, that's how I like to do it. Of course you have to start with a Combination Plate - your choice of five of the 9 or so salads and dips available. We picked the Foul, Cucumber Yogurt Salad, Hummus, Babaganouj and Lentil Salad. Everything is fresh tasting, tangy, hearty and wonderful to scoop up with warm, right-out-of-the-oven pita.



I love the Pitza with Beef Bacon too. The meat is tender and perfectly salty, although I feel like there's too much scallion. Lots of melty cheese makes up for that though.



My boyfriend ordered the Kafta Kabob - charcoal grilled ground Beef & Lamb with onion, parsley & spices with a side salad, rice, green salad and pita bread with your choice of hummus or babaghanouj. It was flavorful, tender and plentiful. The hummus is creamy and zesty too.



My friend ordered the Shrimp Kabob - grilled Shrimp served over couscous with sauteed vegetables. I was surprised at how tender and juicy the shrimp were; and nicely flavored. I'm not a fan of couscous, so I'm not a fair judge and the veggies were mostly peppers, but good.



The Zaytoon's in Prospect Heights was great, and is a better choice for larger groups than the Carroll Gardens branch, but the food was just as good.