Head To Meze For Mediterranean Taste

Restaurant review Meze the Mediterranean Taste, 935 Sixth St. S., Kirkland, 828-3923. Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. No smoking. Checks and major credit cards accepted.

Meze is a friendly little deli in Kirkland's Houghton Plaza. The restaurant serves fresh Turkish foods - vegetarian, vegan and meaty. A flyer for the restaurant reads: "Food is art. Come and taste the artwork."

Ibrahim Pekin and Sedat Uysal engineered Meze as their first restaurant. Both are native Turks, Pekin from Istanbul and Uysal from Ankara. Uysal previously ran an espresso stand in Lake Hills.

"Now I do this," Uysal says, with understatement. The restaurant also does catering.

Meze means appetizer and is pronounced "meh-zay." Around the eastern Mediterranean, often a wide variety of mezes will be served as a substitute for a main meal.

The restaurant has its own espresso cart out front. It operates as a take-out stand and also supplies Meze's sit-down guests.

After browsing a bit inside the delicatessen, I ordered the Mucver Plate ($5.75), Pekin's rendition of Turkish zucchini patties (called pancakes). The zucchini was shredded and mixed with feta and spices, then molded and fried.

My friend went for falafel ($4.75), a pita bread sandwich of chickpea croquettes with lentils, parsley, garlic and lots of turmeric, a bit messy to hold.

The borek ($3.95) was especially good, a combination of feta and fresh spinach in flaky pastry dough. A sprinkling of sesame seeds coated the top. Another type of borek is offered with chicken and mushrooms.

Uysal's version of baba ghanouj brought out the subtle flavors of this eggplant puree. It's sold by the pound or as an appetizer with cracker-like pita bread.

Other appetizers include humus, tabbouleh, cacik (Meze's homemade yogurt with cucumber and dill) and dolmas.

And then there were the salads. The sun-dried tomatoes in my papyon were delightful, together with chilled butterfly pasta, bell peppers and vinaigrette.

The Shepherd Salad left the biggest impression - I can still taste the fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. As in all of Meze's offerings, the ingredients were organically grown and wonderfully flavorful. The Shepherd incorporated feta cheese and olives, all dressed in olive oil and lemon juice.

On a sunny day at one of the outdoor tables, a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade hit the spot.

A large selection of desserts helped finish off the meal. I had pistachio baklava ($1.50). There also were cheesecake and revani (lemon sponge cake and sutlac ($2.50), a very sweet Turkish rice pudding with currants and nutmeg.

Meze isn't quite two years old and is still learning how to be a full-fledged eatery. Pekin and Uysal have applied for a license to sell wine and beer.

By appointment, Meze's Rose will read your fortune.