Taboon

With its bright, white-washed interior, the strong noontime sun, and the puffy, rosemary-flavored focaccia, we almost believed we were sitting alongside the sweet shores of the sea, rather than along noisy Tenth Avenue.

Excited to sample Taboon's self-proclaimed "Middleterranean" flavors, we had a salad, which tasted like, well, most every other salad we've ever eaten, along with a much more inspired dish --- shakshuka murguez, a North African standard of fried eggs and lamb sausage in a spicy tomato, onion, and pepper sauce. As good as it was, our favorite part of the meal was the knaffe, a shredded wheat pastry called kadayif stuffed with cheese and topped with a flowery, light syrup. Wherever that's from, we're happy to have it here.