When Jude and his family were here at Christmastime, they discovered the Israeli restaurant Tavi. In the few days they were here three meals were taken at Tavi. When he returned mere weeks later for the funeral preparations, he wanted to go back to Tavi. We were busy across the lake so we stopped in at Byblos on Metairie Rd. I have said many times that I am rarely in the mood for such food, but I was dazed by the situation anyway.
Byblos is a cute little place tucked into the shopping center with Aucoin Hart and Porter & Luke’s. The food is not as sophisticated as at Shaya or Tavi. But this gave me an opportunity to compare them. We started with two apps: Feta Fingers, and Spanakopita, followed by a chicken kabob plate and a chicken shawarma plate, with sides of hummus and a Greek salad.
Phyllo dough is something I love but rarely encounter. I love it in Spanakopita and in any preparation I see. I’ve used it myself as a stackable carb between layers of creamy mushrooms, and I have put that same creamy mushroom dip into Beggar’s purses, tying them with a strand of chives.
Here were two apps featuring Phyllo dough. The Feta Fingers contained cream cheese and feta and Monterey Jack cheese wrapped in Phyllo and deep-fried. They were stacked in a nice presentation and coated in pepper jelly, which dripped into a lake beneath them.
These had a nice crunchy exterior and a creamy inside, making a statement of contrasting textures. The inside had the same kind of contrast, this time in flavor. The cheese mixture was slightly tart, but the pepper jelly added spice. I’m over pepper jelly because everyone is doing it, but it worked here.
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Spanakopita is irresistible to me. I love it as a little two-bite pie, which I rarely see. I also love it as a large triangle, which is all I see. None of them are as good as the original taste I had when a former sister-in-law introduced our family to them many years ago. These were fine. Flaky Phyllo wrapped a large mass of cream cheese and feta and spinach into a triangle. Both the Feta Fingers and the Spanakopita were rich enough inside that it was inadvisable to eat too much.
The entrees arrived, and they were quite similar. The chicken kabobs were a nice size with cubes of tender marinated chicken separated by bits of onion, pepper, and tomato. The accompanying salad was more a spinach salad than a mixed lettuces Greek salad. There was plenty of crumbled feta and olives.
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The hummus on this plate was creamy and basic, but not as good as I remember it. There was a decent amount of sumac as garnish.
The other plate of chicken shawarma was overflowing with grilled chicken pieces. The same salad was part of this plate. We both decided that we preferred the kabobs to the shawarma.
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Pretty ordinary toasted pita was part of the meal, and sat on the table untouched.
I remembered liking all of this better the last time I had it. That’s not to say any of it was unpleasant, but I’m not moved to rush back to have it again
