Hummus and Tabbouleh

Today is a miserable, rainy, blustery day.  No good planning an outdoor experience, so off we went to find a new place.  We went to Utica, NY, to go to our favorite Chinese restaurant, Sunny Asian Restaurant.    Alas, they are not open on Monday or they were closed for a private party.  Now it's experiment time!

We drove around for a bit and found an area with several restaurants.  We decided to try Hummus and Tabbouleh.  Hummus and Tabbouleh, 675 Bleecker Street, Utica, NY 13501

We were early for lunch and were the only patrons.  

This is not a type of food familiar to us, so we just guessed at what we might like

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One choice we made was the fish with tahini.

There is a little pile of chopped tomato and a generous sprinkle of parsley.

The flavors and textures were interesting.

I think it was dried fish, though, and it was quite salty.

Delicious, but salty.

It came with a thin pocket-type bread.

D chose Okra.

 It is an interesting mix of rice, okra, lamb, soft tomatoes, garlic, tomato sauce.

 The flavor is flowery.  It was really good.

After dinner, our server brought Arabic Tea and poured it into these small glasses.

She also provided a sugar bowl.

The tea was super hot and very strong.  

An excellent end to a fine meal.

I read in a review that this restaurant is owned by an Iraqi who had been an interpreter in Bagdad after his country was invaded in 2003.  He became a US citizen two months before we went to lunch.  Nice.  I hope other people discover this interesting place.  It deserves to be patronized.  We look forward to returning.