I was meeting up with a colleague for lunch in Union Square and wanted something casual and easy but still tasty. Luckily, my favorite food blog, The Infatuation, has started putting together these "guides" or "listiscles" which seem to be all the rage these days with website (I'll be the first to admit that I'm a total sucker for them). One of their top choices in the "Best Places to Eat around Union Square" guide was Taboonette - which I had never been to before, so I decided to check it out.
It was indeed casual but it's less of a restaurant and more of a counter lunch place. But that was actually totally fine because there are still a few communal tables for you to sit at. The food here is Middle Eastern/Mediterranean - lots of kebabs, shawarma, and pitas. There's a lot of variety and you can add on several extra delicious toppings like holoumi and hummus. I went for the lamb kebab pan ($15) with avocado - a pan is basically the meal without the pita, like a burrito bowl at Chipotle. We sat at the counter right by the kitchen which turned out to be a huge mistake because that's where people ended up waiting for their food and during the lunch time rush it got to be really annoying. But the food itself was great - the pan was stuffed to the brim with freshly chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, grilled eggplant with 3-4 nice sized lamb patties and covered in tahini sauce. Yum. It was fresh tasting and incredibly filling. I felt like I was eating something pretty healthy for lunch and it was nice to have it in a deconstructed way without the pita. I love the idea of taking all the pita fillings and putting it in a "bowl" - I don't know why I haven't really seen this at other Mediterranean places since it's seems to easy and obvious.
The place was super crowded from 12:30-1pm and I can see why. If I worked near here or was just in the neighborhood looking for a quick but delicious bite to eat, I would definitely make this a top food pit stop. Total bill: $20 with extra avocado and a lemonade
Photo Credit: Yelp
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