Mr. Kebab Restaurant

Our area recently got a new Mediterranean restaurant called Mr. Kebab, located at 11201 California Street, Loma Linda, CA 92354 (phone: 909-335-8881).  I heard about it through a a local businessman who is originally from Lebanon and a food connoisseur. In the last year or so I have really come to love Mediterranean food as I have become more familiar with it. Mr. Kebab serves a buffet lunch, with some items that change daily, and they also have a menu to order from. 

I have tried the buffet three times. Hummus, which they spell hommus (the white substance at the front of the plate below) and serve regularly, is one of the 1001 Foods You Must Taste Before You Die. 

It is made of mashed chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, flavored with tahini, garlic, lemon juice and salt. I think their hummus is the best I've tasted. It is nicely spiced and goes well on meat, bread or vegetables. They also serve sambousa, which is fillo (or phyllo) dough stuffed with vegetables - I've had it with spinach and another item I do not recall. 

I'm assuming it is the same concept as samosa, another item in 1001 which is a triangular pastry filled with a variety of things from potato, cauliflower, lamb, fish, chicken and other items. When Judy and I ate at Mr. Kebab recently I asked them to serve us some labnah, called labneh in 1001, which they describe as Kefia cheese. 1001 says that labneh is made from cow's, goat's or sheep's milk. 

Yogurt is strained through cheesecloth for a number of hours until it reaches the desired texture, which may be very smooth to one that can be formed into small balls. It is usually salted. It can be spread on warm pita bread, served with olive oil and lemon juice or eaten as a dessert with cinnamon and honey. The labnah we ate was from cow's milk and it was very, very smooth and mild, much like very smooth sour cream. We ate it on pita bread. I prefer the hummus which is a little thicker and spicier, but Judy really liked the labneh. The buffet often includes mutabbal, also known as baba ghanoush, which is mashed eggplant, sesame seeds, lemon juice and olive oil, and similar to hummus; several types of nicely spiced chicken; tabbouli, a salad with chopped parsley, tomatoes, onions, lemon and olive oil; falafel, a ball of ground garbanzo beans or fava beans (the falafel below is broken open revealing the green insides); 

kafta, which is barbecued minced beef; and potatoes cooked in a yellow curry. 

It also includes a number of desserts, including baklava, a pasty made of layers of fillo dough filled with chopped pistachios and sweetened with honey.