So many people ask me where I get my list of restaurants from and really it's nothing special. I read food blogs like Eater.com and Seriouseats.com and write down interesting places I read about in periodicals like New York Magazine or the New York Times. But I often also get my inspiration from friends who recommend places as well. Despite living in Williamsburg and being "on the pulse" I hadn't heard of Zizi Limona until my friend Lav had mentioned it a few weeks ago. Even though we were supposed to catch the Nets game at the Barclays Center, we figured we'd give this place a try despite being nowhere near the new arena.
My first reaction upon walking in was that it was very cute. It is predominantly a restaurant but they do have a wall of goods that they sell so it's got this quaint market feel to it too. The menu here is Middle Eastern which is a cuisine that I think is so under-rated. A good hummus, falafel or eggplant dish can be just as good as a solid burger or Asian noodle dish in my opinion. Lav and I split the Hummus Masabacha ($11), the charred beet and lentil salad ($11) and the sabih croissant ($11). As you can see the prices here are all extremely reasonable which quite refreshing when dining in NYC. We were first served a starter of warm pita and tahini and it was fabulous. The pita was so warm and soft that it left like it literally just came out of the oven and the tahini was nice and thick and a great starter to the night. They then brought out all 3 dishes at the same time, which was actually fine because we were kind of in a hurry. The hummus masabacha was served with a sliced hardboiled egg, warm chickpeas (ground and also whole), tahini, lemon, cumin and parsley. I generally like my hummus very smooth and the whole chunks of chickpeas kind of threw me off here. It was also a bit heavy handed on the cumin, which wasn't awful but it was just a slightly different flavor to how I usually like my hummus. The charred beets were wonderful. They were grilled perfectly with some nice grill marks on them and served warm. The lentils were a nice combination but I tasted a hint of celery and I hate celery so that was kind of a bummer. Lastly I tried the sabich. For those of you who have read my blog for a while know about my serious obsession with Taim. I mean if I lived near it, I would probably eat their sabich sandwich at least 2-3 times a week. I have yet to find a better sabich anywhere. Zizi's version was good but not mindblowing. There wasn't enough eggplant and a bit too much egg. I did like their twist of having potato salad instead of hummus in there but honestly it was the croissant that just didn't work for me. The croissant was perfectly fine but it just didn't go with the overall concept of the sandwich. If I got this croissant at a bakery or for breakfast, I would have gladly eaten it up (it was flakey and buttery) but a sabich still goes best with a pita.
The staff here was very friendly and attentive. Some Yelp reviews spoke of slow or poor service but I really didn't experience that at all. I would totally come back and try some of their lamb or oxtail dishes at another point. While it's not walking distance from my place, it is nice to know that a solid Middle Eastern place isn't too far away. Total bill: $35 with alcohol, tax and tip per person.
Photo Credit: Yelp
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