October 14, 2005

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A step above

by Mandy Erickson

The lunch of choice during my college years was falafel, usually purchased from a street cart and eaten on the way to class.

I thought those fried chickpea balls were pretty tasty, with their crispy crust and chewy interior. Never a fan of pita bread, I used to extract the falafel from their nest of lettuce and pickles and eat them with my fingers, licking off the tahini.

But when I tucked into the falafel on Cafe Baklava's mixed appetizer plate ($8.95 for two), I realized I didn't know the dish at all. This mezze, or appetizer, fresh out of the fryer, managed to be nutty, crunchy, dense and light all at the same time. A slightly tart yogurt sauce drizzled over them added a welcome dimension.

And this, for the most part, was what I encountered at Cafe Baklava: classic Middle Eastern dishes, excellently prepared. I even liked the pita that arrived with dinner.

The restaurant, which opened on Castro Street in Mountain View in February, serves food from Turkey, the homeland of owner and chef Iliana Yuksel, and Greece. The two countries, though separated by religion and assigned to different continents, share a common language when it comes to cuisine.

Our mixed appetizer plate, for example, featured dolmas, which are usually associated with Greece but are prevalent throughout the Middle East. And both Greeks and Turks savor kebabs, pilaf, yogurt and baklava.

Besides the dolmas and falafel, the appetizer plate contained the usual suspects, all wonderfully good: hummus, sharp with a pleasant consistency; baba ganoush, smokey and full of eggplant flavor; tabouleh, lemony and toothsome.

One character on the plate, cevizli peynir, I had never encountered before. This was a thick dip of ground walnuts and sharp goat cheese. The walnuts had clearly been toasted, improving and eliciting their flavor, and the cheese leant a terrific tang.

The only disappointment, and it was a mild one, were the dolmas, which I found a little gooey.

We ate the appetizers with pita, which arrives on every table along with a small plate of pureed avocado -- Yuksel's nod to the restaurant's California location. The pita was nothing special at lunch, but at dinner it arrived warm and tasting almost sweet. Yuksel sometimes makes his own pita; other times he buys it.

Cafe Baklava's spanakopita ($6.95) made its appearance on my friend's plate as a triangular, doughy turnover rather than the phyllo pastry-encrusted square. Looking a bit like grocery-freezer appetizers, it had me worried at first. But it needn't have: Rich with a buttery dough, the spanakopita featured young, sweet spinach and a mild feta.

Another ubiquitous dish, the Greek salad ($6.95), was the best I've had. A mix of chopped romaine, sweet onions, tomato, cucumber, kalamata olives and a mild, grated feta in a perfectly balanced dressing, the salad had a bright, crisp flavor. My sister and I couldn't stop picking up just one more forkful.

Though not a deli item, kebabs are a mainstay of Middle Eastern restaurants. These are generally well done, but at Cafe Baklava, once again, they were a step above. My combo kebab dinner ($15.95) featured tender chunks of chicken breast; a spicy, salty hamburger patty; and juicy lamb sausage. Orange bell pepper, zucchini and cauliflower -- all blackened yet without any bitterness -- accompanied the meat. These were served on a bed of Turkish rice, which is similar to the narrow, fragrant Basmati rice.

The one special we tried, lamb kavurma ($15.95), consisted of stewed chunks of lamb swimming in yogurt that had been swirled with a tomato sauce. The lamb was tender, the yogurt -- house-made with whole milk -- was sweet. With the tomatoes adding a richness, it made a superb combination.

Cafe Baklava took the place of a sandwich shop, and it's easy to see how the long, narrow restaurant functioned as a deli counter. Though it's small, it avoids a claustrophobic feel with its vast windows, some of which look onto an alley. The counter, which runs nearly the length of the restaurant, is stacked with bottles of wine and wine glasses. Accordingly, Cafe Baklava has an extensive wine list, featuring many varieties from Turkey and Greece as well as California.

Photo montages of Turkey punctuate a faux brick wall, and ersatz grapevines hang from the ceiling. The cafe, like many on Castro Street, spills onto the sidewalk, where umbrellas shade lunchtime diners and heat lamps warm evening visitors.

The service at the restaurant was excellent. Our waitress was a step ahead of us throughout both meals, replacing a knife before we realized it was missing and whisking away grease-stained placemats. She warned us that one dish would take a few minutes, but still updated us on its progress.

Alas, the food wasn't all good. An appetizer of fried mussels ($7.95) featured a soggy coating; we suspected that the oil in the deep fryer was too cool. Half of the French fries, which came with the spanakopita (diners can also choose a salad), were similarly limp, though the rest were crisp. And the moussaka ($8.95), a casserole of potatoes, mushrooms and eggplant with an oregano-flavored bechamel topping -- all drenched in tomato puree -- was only OK.

As for dessert at Cafe Baklava, the restaurant founders spectacularly. The quinces in syrup ($4.95) were so vibrant red (Yuksel adds food coloring), yet their flavor so lacking, I wondered if my senses had somehow crossed wires. The top of the rice pudding ($4.95) was dreadfully burnt, lending a bitter taste to the barely sweet pudding underneath. Even the namesake dessert ($5.95) proved to be dull, lacking the sweetness typical of baklava.

A better choice for ending the meal was a cup of sallep ($2.50). Made with milk, flour, sugar and ground orchid root, it's a thin pudding, fragrant with cinnamon and nutmeg, and has the just the right amount of sweetness. It arrived in a teacup accompanied by an espresso spoon. Another choice is a small cup of black or orange muscat wine ($4.50). The heady, sweet liquor is an ideal finish to a very fine meal.

Cafe Baklava
341 Castro St., Mountain View
(650) 969-3835
Hours: Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Sunday from noon to 9:30

Reservations - yes
Credit cards - yes
Lot parking - yes
Alcohol - yes
Takeout - yes
Highchairs - yes
Wheelchair access - yes
Banquet - no
Catering - yes
Outdoor seating - yes
Noise level - medium
Bathroom cleanliness - very good

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