Bazar Vest ★ 4.3
The bazaar in Brabrand is one of the most genuinely multicultural food destinations in Denmark. Kitchen leans middle eastern and asian market food.
Signature: Turkish lahmacun, Afghan bolani, Somali sambusa
Middle Eastern cuisine is an umbrella term covering the cooking of a region that stretches from Morocco to Iran and from Turkey to Yemen, though in most Western usage it refers to the eastern half of that range: the Levant, Egypt, Iraq, the Arabian peninsula, Persia, and Turkey. There is no single Middle Eastern cuisine, but there are shared grammars: flatbread at every meal, rice pilafs as a foundation, lamb as the prestige meat, yogurt as both ingredient and condiment, and a spice cabinet that includes cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, sumac, saffron, baharat, and ras el hanout in regional blends.
What unites the region is also a hospitality tradition built around mezze, communal platters, and tea or coffee that closes every meal. The cooking is generally slow and ingredient-led, with stews simmered for hours, breads baked daily, and rice prepared with the precision of a fine craft. Sweets are syrup-soaked and often built around nuts, semolina, phyllo, and rose or orange blossom water.
Within the umbrella, the regional kitchens are distinct enough that 'Middle Eastern restaurant' as a category is usually a Lebanese-Palestinian-Israeli hybrid in practice, with Persian, Egyptian, and Iraqi food typically requiring their own dedicated restaurants to find authentically. Travelers who use the broad label as a wayfinding device often miss the most interesting cooking, which sits inside the regional kitchens rather than at their intersection. A serious eater treats Middle Eastern as a starting point rather than a destination, and learns to distinguish a Damascene from a Beiruti from a Tehrani table within a few meals of arriving in the region.
Regional variations
Levant
Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan. Olive oil-led, herb-forward, mezze culture, grilled meats, sumac and za'atar. The most internationally visible Middle Eastern kitchen.
Persia
Iran. Rice as the centerpiece (tahdig, polo), saffron and dried lime, slow stews (khoresh), kebabs over charcoal, herb-heavy soups. Distinct grammar from the Arab traditions.
Egypt
Ful medames and ta'ameya (the original fava-bean falafel) as breakfast staples, koshary as the national street food, mahshi (stuffed vegetables), molokhia, hamam mahshi (stuffed pigeon). Heavier use of legumes and grains.
Turkey and the Anatolian-Arab borderlands
Often grouped with Middle Eastern in Western markets though geographically and culturally distinct. Kebabs, meze, pide, lahmacun, and an Ottoman legacy that shaped much of the Levant's restaurant culture.
Iraq and the Gulf
Masgouf (grilled river fish) in Baghdad, machbous and kabsa (spiced rice with meat) in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, biryani-influenced rice dishes in the eastern coast, dates as a sweet and savory ingredient throughout.
Defining middle eastern dishes
- Hummus
- Chickpeas pureed with tahini, lemon, garlic, olive oil. The signature shared across the Levant and increasingly served region-wide as a starter.
- Falafel
- Deep-fried chickpea (Levantine) or fava-bean (Egyptian) fritters, served in flatbread or as part of mezze with tahini, pickles, and salad.
- Shawarma
- Spit-roasted marinated meat shaved into flatbread. The street food of the modern Middle East from Beirut to Dubai.
- Kebab
- Grilled marinated meat on skewers, in dozens of regional forms: shish (cubed), kofta (ground), Adana (spiced ground lamb), tikka (Persian and Indo-Persian), kabab karaz (Aleppo's cherry-sauce version).
- Tabbouleh
- Levantine parsley and bulgur salad with tomato, mint, lemon. The benchmark herb salad of the region.
- Baba ghanoush
- Smoke-charred eggplant with tahini, lemon, garlic. The smoky cousin of hummus.
- Kibbeh
- Bulgur and lamb shells, fried, baked, or eaten raw (kibbeh nayyeh). The most technically demanding Levantine dish.
- Manakish
- Za'atar flatbread, the Levantine breakfast, often eaten folded around fresh vegetables and labneh.
- Mansaf
- Jordan's lamb-and-jameed national dish, served over rice and shrak bread for communal eating.
- Koshary
- Egypt's national street dish: rice, lentils, macaroni, chickpeas, fried onions, tomato sauce, vinegar-garlic dressing.
- Baklava
- Layered phyllo with nuts, butter, and syrup. Turkish, Levantine, and Persian versions all claim heritage; the gold standard is Gaziantep's pistachio baklava.
- Kunafa
- Cheese pastry soaked in syrup, with shredded phyllo or semolina topping. The defining Levantine dessert.
How to order
A Middle Eastern restaurant meal almost always begins with mezze. Order five or six small plates (hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, fattoush, labneh, muhammara, stuffed grape leaves) for the table and ask for warm flatbread. Then choose one or two mains: a mixed grill (mashawi mishakal), a stew (khoresh in a Persian restaurant, yakhneh in an Arab one), or a rice dish (kabsa, machbous, maqluba) to share. Sides are not really separate; vegetables, pickles, and rice come with the main.
The rookie mistakes: under-ordering mezze (the plates are small, the meal is built on them), ordering one of every protein on the grill platter for one person, expecting individual plated courses (this is a sharing cuisine), skipping the tea or coffee at the end (it is part of the meal, not an option), and treating bread as a side rather than a utensil (in much of the region, bread is the spoon, the fork, and the plate-cleaner). Pace yourself; a Middle Eastern dinner can stretch over two or three hours, and ordering everything at the start is the most common foreigner mistake.
What to drink with it
Tea, mint tea, or cardamom-scented Arabic coffee are the universal accompaniments to a Middle Eastern meal. Alcohol varies sharply by country and community: arak in the Levant, raki in Turkey, Lebanese and increasingly Israeli and Jordanian wine, and almost nothing alcoholic in the Gulf states. With grilled meats, a medium-bodied red works well; with mezze, a crisp white, rose, or arak with water is traditional. Fresh juices (pomegranate, sour cherry, tamarind) and yogurt drinks (ayran, doogh) are the non-alcoholic table options.
Where to eat it
Beirut for Levantine; Tehran and Isfahan for Persian; Cairo for Egyptian; Istanbul for Turkish; Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the broadest pan-regional scenes. Outside the region, London is now the best Middle Eastern food city in the West, with serious Lebanese, Persian, and Palestinian restaurants. Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Toronto, and New York all hold strong scenes anchored by their respective diaspora communities.
A short history
Middle Eastern cuisine descends from the agricultural civilizations of Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean, with continuous written recipe traditions going back nearly four millennia. The medieval Arab cookbooks of Baghdad (Kitab al-Tabikh, 10th century) document many dishes still recognizable today. The Ottoman Empire (1299 to 1922) standardized much of the modern mezze and kebab vocabulary across the region.
Frequently asked
Is Middle Eastern the same as Mediterranean cuisine?
Overlap, not equivalence. The eastern Mediterranean (Lebanon, Syria, Greece, Turkey) shares ingredients and techniques with the wider Mediterranean. Inland Middle Eastern (Iraq, Persia, Gulf) is distinct and not Mediterranean by any measure.
Is all Middle Eastern food halal?
Most restaurants in the region serve halal meat by default, but the cuisine is not exclusively Muslim. Christian, Jewish, and Druze communities have shaped the regional kitchens for centuries, and pork appears in Christian Lebanese and Coptic Egyptian cooking.
What is the difference between Middle Eastern and Mediterranean diet?
The 'Mediterranean diet' as a nutritional concept refers to the eating patterns of southern Europe and the Levant. Middle Eastern food includes the Levantine kitchen plus inland traditions (Persian rice cookery, Gulf rice dishes) that are not part of the Mediterranean diet framework.
Middle Eastern by city
Middle Eastern in Aarhus
Middle Eastern in Amsterdam
Bazar Amsterdam ★ 4.1
Bazar on Albert Cuypstraat is the cavernous, soaring Amsterdam North African-Middle Eastern room set in a converted church, all halal, all-day from breakfast.
Signature: Mezze platters, Tagine, Couscous royal
Order: The full mezze platter with the chicken tagine to share.
Tip: Halal-certified. Big room, walk-in friendly. Pre-market breakfast is the value.
Middle Eastern in Boston
Oleana ★ 4.8
Ana Sortun's Inman Square room has run an Eastern Mediterranean kitchen in Cambridge since 2001. Turkish, Syrian and Lebanese plates from Siena Farms produce.
Signature: Sultan's delight, Spiced chickpea fritters
Order: The sultan's delight: tamarind-glazed beef on smoky eggplant cream.
Tip: The garden patio in summer is one of Cambridge's best outdoor seats. Books out three weeks ahead in season.
Sarma ★ 4.8
Cassie Piuma and Ana Sortun's meze room on Pearl Street in Somerville has run Turkish-style small plates since 2013. Kitchen leans eastern mediterranean.
Signature: Meze plates, Lamb manti
Order: Lamb manti, Turkish dumplings with yogurt and chili butter.
Tip: Order the chef's choice tasting; the kitchen will send the best of the night unprompted.
Middle Eastern in Brisbane
Gerard's Bistro ★ 4.5
Gerard's Bistro is the long-running modern Middle Eastern room tucked into the James Street arcade. Sharing plates, wood-fired flatbreads, deep wine list.
Signature: Lamb shoulder, Fatteh, Wood-fired flatbreads
Naïm ★ 4.4
Naïm runs Middle Eastern brunch and dinner from a Paddington worker cottage on Collingwood Street. Lamb bacon and baharat waffles, mezze for dinner.
Signature: Lamb bacon, Baharat waffles, Mejadra
Mecca Bah ★ 4.2
Mecca Bah sits in Gasworks Plaza on Longland Street, Newstead. Modern Middle Eastern and North African dishes, mezze plates, Moroccan-chic interior.
Signature: Lamb tagine, Wood-fired pide, Mezze platter
Naïm ★ 4.4
Naïm runs Middle Eastern brunch and dinner from a Paddington worker's cottage on Collingwood Street. Lamb bacon and baharat waffles, all-day mezze plates.
Signature: Lamb bacon, Baharat waffles, Mejadra rice
Mecca Bah ★ 4.2
Mecca Bah sits in Gasworks Plaza on Longland Street in Newstead. Middle Eastern, North African and Mediterranean dishes, Moroccan-chic dining room.
Signature: Lamb tagine, Wood-fired pide, Mezze platter
Middle Eastern in Budapest
Mazel Tov ★ 4.4
Mazel Tov on Akacfa utca in the Jewish Quarter is a Mediterranean ruin garden in an early 1900s courtyard, with mezze, lamb shawarma and live klezmer most.
Signature: Mezze plate, Lamb shawarma
Order: The mezze plate to share, then the lamb shawarma.
Tip: Open noon to midnight daily; book a week ahead for weekends.
Mazel Tov ★ 4.4
Mazel Tov on Akacfa in the Jewish Quarter is a Mediterranean ruin garden in an early 1900s courtyard, with mezze, shawarma and live klezmer most nights.
Signature: Mezze plate, Lamb shawarma
Order: The mezze plate to share, then the lamb shawarma.
Tip: Open noon to midnight daily; book a week ahead for weekends.
Middle Eastern in Cologne
Adieu Paris ★ 3.8
Adieu Paris on Aachener Strasse in Cologne's Belgisches Viertel serves plant-based döner and creative Middle Eastern fast food for the vegetarian Belgian.
Order: Vegan döner in house-baked flatbread with grilled halloumi or seasoned falafel
Tip: Good for a quick lunch or early dinner; the seating is limited but the food is fast.
Middle Eastern in Detroit
Yemen Cafe ★ 4.5
Yemen Cafe on Joseph Campau in Hamtramck serves Yemeni cooking in metro Detroit. Halal counter, mandi and saltah are the canonical orders. Priced at $$.
Signature: Lamb mandi, Saltah
Order: Lamb mandi with saffron rice and the bubbling cast-iron saltah stew.
Tip: Open from 08:00 to 01:00 daily; cash is welcome, cards work. No alcohol served.
Yemen Cafe ★ 4.5
Yemen Cafe on Joseph Campau in Hamtramck serves Yemeni cooking in metro Detroit. Halal counter with mandi and saltah as the canonical orders.
Signature: Lamb mandi, Saltah
Order: Lamb mandi with saffron rice and the bubbling cast-iron saltah stew.
Tip: Open 08:00 to 01:00 daily; cash welcome, cards work. No alcohol served.
Middle Eastern in Dublin
Brother Hubbard South ★ 4.4
Brother Hubbard South on Harrington Street in Dublin 8, Garrett FitzGerald and James Boland's sit-down Middle Eastern room and the all-day brunch reference.
Signature: Shakshuka, Lamb shawarma plate, Cardamom French toast
Order: The shakshuka at brunch, the lamb shawarma at lunch, with a cardamom-bun cinnamon roll to take away.
Tip: Walk-in only Saturday morning; the queue starts at 09:30. Bookings open Sunday to Friday on the website.
Tang ★ 4.3
Tang on Dawson Street in Dublin, an all-day Middle Eastern counter, the city's most reliable lunch-grab and weekend brunch in one room. Priced at €.
Signature: Halloumi wrap, Shakshuka, Chia bowl
Order: Halloumi wrap with house slaw and a turmeric latte to go.
Tip: Two-floor venue; the basement is the table service room. Walk-in only at lunch; book the basement for weekend brunch.
Middle Eastern in Edinburgh
Baba ★ 4.4
Baba on George Street in Edinburgh's New Town, opened in 2018 by the Kyloe steakhouse group, a Levantine small-plates kitchen serving mezze.
Order: Baba ghanoush, the lamb shawarma flatbread and the house pita with za'atar.
Tip: The mezze deal at lunch (four plates plus a drink for £22) is one of George Street's best value menus.
Middle Eastern in Kansas City
Habashi House ★ 4.4
Habashi House in Kansas City's City Market runs a family-owned Middle Eastern counter with halal meats, including beef shawarma and falafel platters.
Signature: Beef shawarma, Falafel platter, Combination plate
Order: Beef shawarma platter with rice, hummus and salad.
Tip: Open Mon-Tue 10:00 to 14:00, Wed-Fri 10:00 to 17:00. Cash works fastest; takeaway is the move at peak lunch.
Middle Eastern in Los Angeles
Saffy's ★ 4.6
Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis's Saffy's in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, is a wood-fire shawarma room from the Bestia team. Open since 2023.
Signature: Lamb shawarma, Hummus
Order: Lamb shawarma off the rotating spit, with hot pita and hummus.
Tip: The bar serves the full menu walk-in; reservations are for the dining patio out back and book three weeks ahead.
Middle Eastern in Lyon
Nafas ★ 4.1
Nafas in Lyon's 1er is the Rue Rene Leynaud Middle Eastern counter cooking hummus bowls, wraps and daily falafel plates with house pickles and tahini.
Signature: Hummus bowl, Wraps
Order: The hummus bowl with kebab and sumac onions.
Tip: Lunch and early dinner only; closed Sunday.
Middle Eastern in Melbourne
Zareh ★ 4.6
Zareh on Smith Street applies Armenian and Lebanese heritage to a wood-fired menu that was one of Melbourne's most talked-about openings of 2025.
Order: Wood-roasted lamb with spiced rice and labneh
Zareh ★ 4.6
Zareh on Smith Street brings Armenian and Lebanese cooking with a charcoal focus that makes it one of Melbourne's most exciting casual rooms of 2025.
Order: Chargrilled flatbread with yoghurt and lamb fat
Middle Eastern in Paris
Chez Omar ★ 4.0
Chez Omar in Paris has plated couscous royal under brass lanterns on Rue de Bretagne since 1978. Located in 3E. Kitchen leans north african.
Signature: Couscous royal, Tagine
Order: Couscous royal with merguez, lamb and chicken; baklava for dessert.
Tip: Cash only. No reservations; arrive before 20:00 to skip the line on Saturday.
Middle Eastern in Portland
Tusk ★ 4.4
The bright, plant-forward Middle Eastern room on East Burnside in Portland, open since 2016 with Pacific Northwest produce on every plate. Priced at $$$.
Signature: Lamb shoulder, Mezze platter
Order: The slow-roasted lamb shoulder with sumac and pomegranate
Tip: Open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday. The covered patio is the best seat in summer.
Middle Eastern in Portland
Evo Kitchen + Bar ★ 4.4
Evo Kitchen + Bar at the Hyatt Place Old Port opened 2016, with a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern menu of wood-fired flatbreads, mezze and grilled kebabs.
Signature: Wood-fired pita, Lamb kefta, House mezze plate
Order: The full mezze plate with wood-fired pita, plus lamb kefta off the grill.
Tip: Daily from 17:00. Reservations via OpenTable; bar seats hold for walk-ins.
Evo Kitchen + Bar ★ 4.4
Evo Kitchen + Bar at the Hyatt Place Old Port, since 2016, runs a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern menu of wood-fired flatbreads, mezze and grilled kebabs.
Signature: Wood-fired pita, Lamb kefta, Mezze plate
Order: The full mezze plate with wood-fired pita, then lamb kefta off the grill.
Tip: Daily from 17:00. Reservations via OpenTable; bar seats hold for walk-ins.
Middle Eastern in Reykjavik
Mandi ★ 3.9
Mandi on Ingolfstorg square serves halal shawarma, kebab and falafel from a fast counter in central Reykjavik, a reliable cheap feed in a pricey city.
Signature: Shawarma, Falafel wrap
Order: A chicken shawarma wrap, or the falafel plate for a meatless option.
Tip: Fully halal and open late around the square. Good value when the sit-down rooms feel out of budget.
Middle Eastern in Rotterdam
Restaurant Bazar ★ 4.2
Three floors of Moroccan, Persian and Levantine cooking in Hotel Bazar on Witte de With. The souk-panelled interior and long terrace make it one of the street's most photographed dining rooms.
Order: Mezze platter and the lamb tagine.
Tip: Book ahead for the terrace in summer; the interior is loud but lively on Friday evenings.
Bazar ★ 4.2
Three floors of North African and Middle Eastern cooking in Hotel Bazar, open from 08:00 through the small hours. Located in Witte De Withstraat.
Order: Mixed mezze spread and the slow-roasted lamb.
Tip: Breakfast here is surprisingly good: eggs shakshuka, fresh flatbreads and strong coffee from 08:00.
Middle Eastern in Sydney
Aalia ★ 4.6
Paul Farag's two-hat modern Middle Eastern room on Martin Place, Sydney. Saj manakish on the open hearth, Iraqi masgouf and slow-roasted shoulder of lamb.
Signature: Hummus with smoked lamb, Saj manakish, Iraqi masgouf
Kepos Street Kitchen ★ 4.4
Modern Middle Eastern cafe on Kepos Street, Redfern, Sydney. Chef Michael Rantissi's shakshuka for breakfast, mezze plates and lamb shawarma at dinner.
Signature: Shakshuka, Lamb shawarma, Falafel plate
Order: Shakshuka and the lamb shawarma plate.
Tip: Daytime walk-ins, evening bookings; the Friday set menu is a sleeper hit.
Middle Eastern in Utrecht
Carmel Market ★ 4.2
Carmel Market on the Janskerkhof serves Mediterranean sharing plates spanning Italy to Lebanon, with a spacious courtyard terrace open in summer.
Signature: Mediterranean mezze, Lebanese small plates
Order: Mixed mezze sharing board for two with house carafe
Carmel Market ★ 4.2
Mediterranean sharing plates from Italy to Lebanon on the Janskerkhof square. Large courtyard terrace in summer; all-day kitchen at weekends.
Signature: Mediterranean mezze, Lebanese small plates
Order: Mixed mezze to share with a carafe of house wine
Middle Eastern in Warsaw
Tel Aviv Urban Food ★ 4.3
Tel Aviv Urban Food on Poznanska in Warsaw opened in 2010 as the city's first strictly plant-based room. Kitchen leans middle eastern vegan.
Signature: Hummus, Falafel pita, Shakshuka
Order: The hummus mushabbaha with extra warm pita and a side of pickled vegetables.
Tip: Walk-in friendly at lunch. Dinner Friday-Saturday is the harder slot.
Tel Aviv Urban Food (Poznanska) ★ 4.3
Tel Aviv Urban Food on Poznanska in Warsaw is the original 2010 vegan-pioneer location of the three-restaurant Tel Aviv group. Located in Srodmiescie.
Signature: Hummus, Falafel, Shakshuka
Order: Hummus mushabbaha with warm pita and pickled cauliflower.
Tip: Three Warsaw locations: Poznanska is the original, Mickiewicza the Zoliborz outpost.
Middle Eastern in Washington DC
Zaytinya ★ 4.4
Zaytinya in Washington DC is Jose Andres's Penn Quarter Eastern Mediterranean room on 9th Street since 2002, a high-ceiling space drawing from Greek.
Signature: Spicy fries with feta, Wood-grilled octopus
Order: The Greek-style spiced fries with feta; the most-ordered single dish in the room.
Tip: Pre-theatre reservations from 17:00 are the fastest seat; the upstairs bar runs the full menu without the reservation pressure.
More cities are in research. Want middle eastern covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.