The Pita Spot in Mystic Offers Tasty Choices

At in Mystic, there are so many alluring Lebanese and Mediterranean dishes, most made from scratch from family recipes, that it’s difficult to choose. Thirty dollars can buy plenty of dining pleasure.

Foodies could spend hours debating just over the appetizers.  The Pita Spot offers 21 choices (13 hot, eight cold) of mezza, small dishes that create, as the menu promises, “an awe-inspiring array of colors, flavors, textures, and aromas,” from falafel and stuffed grape leaves to tabouli and moussaka.  None costs more than $7, and, for added spice, customers may choose any three in more modest portions for $10. 

After considerable agonizing over all the possible permutations, I chose a sampler of Mediterranean lamb sausage, “Meat Lover’s Hummus,” and foole moodammas, an Egyptian fava beans specialty with many alternative spellings.  The mezza came with warmed pita bread, soft as an 800-thread-count pillowcase, which the waiter replenished without asking as soon as it disappeared.

The lamb sausage had me talking the most afterwards. Normally $7 for eight links, it lived up to and exceeded the menu’s promise.  About the size of an index finger, each reddish-brown link warmed the palate with nutmeg and mild cinnamon.  The first bite snapped a little, and then the dense texture makes for pleasant chewing. 

Sautéed with butter and lemon, the sausage was truly mouth-watering and would make an incredibly popular party dish. In fact, the next time you think about making pigs-in-a-blanket, scold yourself for being so lazy and look up a recipe for these sausages instead.  

Equally hearty, the foole moodammas really impressed me for a bunch of beans.  In fact, I christened this dish an honorary meat.  Curvaceous fava beans and plump, toothsome chick peas wore a dressing of garlic, olive oil, and subtle lemon with onion, diced tomato, and parsley. Tearing off small pieces of pita, I wrapped them around spoonfuls of the mix and drizzled them with the oil before devouring them like tiny sandwiches. 

The Meat Lover’s Hummus, meanwhile, proved once again than any dish is better with meat.  The Pita Spot’s hummus is no doubt smooth, creamy, and just garlicky enough.  It is also extremely tangy thanks to a robust dose of lemon juice.  Less would be more in this case.  But the Meat Lover’s version cuts the tang with crunchy pine nuts and savory crumbles of minced beef, and nearly makes a meal out of a Middle Eastern classic that so often is dismissed as a glorified dip.

All of the above cost only $10, so I couldn’t resist sampling a small serving of the baba ghannouj for $3.50 ($6 for a full appetizer).  An acquaintance who has traveled in the Middle East insists this is the best baba ghannouj she’s ever eaten, over there or over here, because of its unmistakable smokiness.  That’s a bold claim, but I certainly enjoyed it. 

The kitchen creates this smoky flavor when it roasts the eggplant, skins-on, and then purees the peeled flesh with tahini, lemon juice, and—once again—just the right amount of garlic.  After so much tang in the hummus, I was relieved to find in the eggplant a gentler dose of lemon juice.  I’d choose this baba ghannouj over hummus every day, and it’s so much more fun to pronounce.

Less memorable was the spicy pepper soup, a special that day, made from a chicken stock base, pureed chick peas or similar bean, and peanut butter.  The flavor turned out to be surprisingly plain, although with a formidable heat.  The waiter suggested trying it on a cold, rainy day, which would make sense.  The soup’s best feature was its velvety texture.  From the look of the soups I saw at other tables, $4 buys a decent-sized bowl at The Pita Spot and $5 will buy a small birdbath.

To round out my feast, I took home a beef shawarma wrap, otherwise known as a gyro ($8).  One word sums up its intense flavor: cloves.  The marinated strips of beef scream out “cloves,” making the wrap thrillingly pungent.  Grilled with bits of onion and tomato, the meat is topped with tahini and a smear of yogurt dressing.  The thin, soft pita wraps the entire mix tightly in pleasing layers of chewiness.  Shawarma are also available with chicken, lamb, or beef and lamb.

Adding up my bill, I spent $27 after tax on a meal that could easily feed two people.  You could certainly spend more than that at The Pita Spot and walk away just as happy, perhaps after devouring an entrée of seafood kebab or lamb chops for $18.  I’ve got my eyes on the marinated, charbroiled “Lala Chicken,” named for the owners’ Uncle Andre from Beirut and prepared with the family’s recipe--$9 for half a chicken, $15 for a whole one.  The choices abound.