I tend to obsess much more than needed about restaurants (well, about *everything* really, but let's just focus on the one): I'll research them online, ask around, check reviews, and generally wait months or years before I actually try one. Something about being risk-averse (because the amount of time and money it takes to try a new restaurant is soooo much...).

In an effort to exorcise those daemons, I thought I'd do some reviews of places I try. 

On the list today is Meze. The reviewers (all 3 of them at press time) *loved* the hummus, it is close to work, so I thought I'd give it a try.

The place is tucked in a strip mall and run by a little Turkish guy who wanted us to stay all afternoon drinking wine (a very appealing notion...). It had all the usual Turkish paraphernalia: those handled turkish coffee makers, a decked-out, circa 1900, portable tea set (for tea merchants to use around the crowded souks of Istanbul), plates and wall-hangings from the homeland. It was clean (a very important observation!) with a nice display of the food options in a case by the counter.

The prices were a bit high for a falafel and a side of pita/hummus, but it *is* Kirkland and everything costs more. He's not really set up for our "to go" order (my co-worker had a 1:00 she had to get back for) and it took a bit longer than I would have liked. 

So, the food. Well, the hummus is very different from what I'm used to. It was thinned with some vinegar (I think) so the result was a less thick, more acidic hummus than I normally like. Had the right amount of garlic, though, and that's important. For myself, I liked the result, though I couldn't eat it every day.

The pita was fresh, soft-but-chewy, and worked well for dipping. However, it did not work for the falafel (fell apart, tahini everywhere, I needed a fork).

The falafel was a bit messy (as one expects) but not my favorite falafel overall. It was just re-warmed, not made fresh (deep-fry chickpea batter: how hard is that?!?!) and had raw bell-peppers and broccoli on it. I like both of those and they worked well, but my memories of falafel are from my time in Israel where they used fresh tomatoes and cucumbers and onions and the pita was sturdy enough to hold it all.  

Avoid the tabouleh, just walk away, don't touch (way too much vinegar).

So In the end, I'll go back when I'm craving hummus and pita and want to drink a bottle of wine, and use utensils.