Amy Stocklein
Maqloubah with chicken and eggplant is always satisfying.
When the Yellow Jersey bike shop closed in 2013 after 40 years in business, the space at 419 State St. became a restaurant. Several restaurants, actually — Palmyra Mediterranean Grill, Zandru’s Tapas Bar and Las Palmas Lounge all tried to make a go of it there between 2014 and 2018, serving Middle Eastern, Spanish and Latin American food, respectively.
Miar Maktabi, a native of Syria and former chef at Palmyra, and his wife, Cassy Maktabi, brought the space back to its Arabic roots when they opened Dubai Mediterranean Restaurant earlier this year. The interior is bright and modern, much like its namesake city, with sleek white tabletops and cozy booths. But the food here is all comfort and homemade charm. And unlike in the real Dubai, you can get a generous pour of wine here with no problems.
Arabic cuisine is famous for mezes, or appetizers. A “mix” platter features everything you need: garlicky hummus, slightly sweet maharama (red pepper dip) and the absolute best baba ganoush I’ve ever had (normally I don’t like it!). It’s served with three falafel donuts and plenty of pita bread. An order of grape leaves stuffed with rice also hits the mark.
For lighter fare, there’s an array of salads, including fatoush (a Lebanese dish that comes with grilled bread) and a classic Greek with feta and olives. I particularly loved the side salad that comes with the main dishes. It’s simple — chopped romaine, sliced tomato and onion — but the vinaigrette dressing is insanely good, spiced with za’atar and dusted bright red with sumac. The tabbouleh, however, was aggressively lemony and needed more bulgur to balance out the parsley.
I expected meatballs when I ordered the beef kafta, but the dish that arrived reminded me more of kibbeh — football-shaped croquettes of minced meat, flavored with warm spices like cinnamon. They were tasty (and served atop that delicious salad), but too much time in the fryer gave them a hard texture. Same problem with the falafel on a different visit.
The maqloubah is a mound of perfectly cooked saffron rice with strips of delicately fried eggplant and flavorful chicken seasoned with Arabic spices. On the side, there’s the tangy and intriguingly salty yogurt sauce topped with fresh herbs.
I am a sucker for a good shawarma, and Dubai pulls it off beautifully. This isn’t like your typical street food doner kebab (all shwarmas are kebabs, but not all kebabs are shwarmas), where meat is shaved thin from a vertical rotisserie and wrapped into a pita. Here, you get larger strips of juicy, liberally spiced chicken or lamb served atop pita bread with saffron rice and house-made hummus. The Dubai special comes with the same sides and also features meat cooked on a skewer: This time it’s spiced grilled beef topped with a satisfyingly spicy sauce of tomato and red pepper similar to harissa.
I loved the spiced lamb meat in the gyro sandwich, but I wasn’t a fan of the wrap (too dry) or the tzatziki (not zippy). The wrap on the falafel sandwich had the same problem, and I wished for more pickles to offset the creamy hummus. Sandwiches come with french fries, which are exceptionally good — crispy and light.
I highly recommend both the Arabic coffee and tea. The coffee especially, which comes served in a dallah (the metal pot with a handle); Maktabi says it takes 12 hours to brew and contains 14 spices. Cardamom comes through the most. I was excited for the house-made baklava but found it disappointing — the flaky layers were bone dry other than just a hint of honey near the bottom.
Service was friendly and competent — the only missteps were a forgotten salad and some out-of-sync plate deliveries. There’s also no tap beer, but there is a decent selection of craft beer in bottles.
With the loss of beloved restaurants like Kabul and Hüsnü’s (and Mediterranean Cafe not open for dinners), State Street was in dire need of another good Middle Eastern place. Here’s hoping it sticks around longer than its predecessors.
Dubai Restaurant & Bar
419 State St.; 608-819-8222; facebook.com/DubaiMadison;
11 am to midnight daily; $5-$16
