Stuff to eat. Mostly around St. Louis.

Spencer 11/9/15 Spencer 11/9/15

Pita Plus

I go to Pita Plus for two reasons: to eat falafel and to talk to the owner. Every time I walk in, it's the exact same conversation.

"Hello! What can I get you?"

"I'd like the falafel platter (or, occasionally, falafel pita)."

"Pita. White or wheat?"

"Wheat."

"Pita. Wheat. Okay. You want borek? Is very good."

"No, just the falafel today."

"We have potato borek, cheese borek, chicken borek, spinach borek..."

"That's okay, I don't need the extra calories."

"Okay. So...no borek?"

The truth is that I want a borek. Very much so. It should be obvious from reading this blog that I am a disgusting glutton who can't say no to buttery, wonderful food. I feel guilty even looking at those stuffed phyllo pockets, though. In my fatter days, I used to scarf a borek down as I drove home with my sandwich. I still feel the shame.

Usually the owner has nothing to say after the borek discussion, but occasionally he'll be in a talkative mood. One time he wanted to know why I was taking pictures of my food, and when I told him I had a blog where I wrote about food he asked "Why?" then laughed to himself. Once he asked me not to speak until he was done checking out a woman walking to her car.

I've said it before but it bears repeating: Pita Plus' falafel is what you need to be getting. They show up on the table (on classy styrofoam plates) looking like brown and green ping pong balls, but then you crack through their crunchy exterior and that fluffy neon green interior calls you in. Their mix of chickpeas with onion, garlic, fresh herbs, and a mountain of spices—these have a hint of heat to them—is tough to top. Especially when slathered in tzatziki and their sweat-inducing chili sauce.

The platter comes with pita bread (white or wheat?), a Middle Eastern salad, pickles, olives, and hummus.

Get a borek while you're there, too. It'll make him feel good. My favorite goes to the potato.

Spencer 9/30/15 Spencer 9/30/15

Artichoke

Part II: Artichoke

Artichoke is the only modern Middle Eastern restaurant I've found in Singapore, but being unique is no reason to love a restaurant. I demand quality!

Artichoke was recommended to us by the chefs at Candlenut, and since they obviously know their way around great food, we trusted them.

I have no idea how Artichoke got the space they're in, but it's a welcome change from eating in another windowless mall basement. Flanked by malls and office towers, the restaurant is housed in a small spot next to a funky former church and an art studio, giving it an enclosed courtyard for diners to sit in.

The restaurant's interior is both bold and homey, much like the food itself. Most of the walls are covered in red and black patterned wallpaper, excluding the back chalkboard wall.

Artichoke Restaurant, Singapore, Interior

Artichoke Restaurant, Singapore: Dining Room

The menu is split into small mezze plates and larger shared plates. We started with three mezze, plus an order of fresh pita bread. The first plate was Beetroot Tzatziki, composed of sweet roasted beets topped with a pistachio dukka, a fat dollop of yogurt, and wormwood. Herbaceous, fresh, creamy—once it was all mixed up into an ugly looking mess, it was killer.

Following the tzatziki came the smoked anchovies. Seeing something smoked in Singapore is rare, so I couldn't resist. The dish was relatively straightforward and simple, with the anchovies resting over cherry tomatoes and olive oil, but the incorporation of seaweed 'caviar' and sumac really hit you with some extra umami.

The final mezze was not good for sharing, mostly because we were just fighting over who got to eat more of it. This was probably the best babaganoush I've ever had the pleasure of eating. Smokey eggplant mixed with sesame, yogurt, and, most importantly, a pomegranate molasses teriyaki. The way the tart sweetness paired with the smokey earthiness—it shut both of us up.

Artichoke Restaurant Singapore Smoked Anchovies

Artichoke Restaurant Singapore: babaganoush

The waitress recommended we get two shared plates, a decision that was made difficult by the fact that all 12 dishes sounded great. The victory ultimately went to the housemade feta 'burrata' and the slow roasted lamb shoulder.

In hindsight, he amount of feta burrata we consumed is fairly disgusting. A mountain of the creamy, salty, sumptuous cheese was set over Turkish toast—a play on Texas toast—plus basil, tomatoes, and pomegranate seeds. It was like the slutty, sexy cousin of a caprese.

I am an absolute glutton for good lamb, especially when it's been braised. Up until this point, the slow roasted lamb shoulder at Kapnos in D.C. was my all-time favorite lamb dish...but that's all changed.

Artichoke Restaurant Singapore Feta Burrata

20165287116_87d7faf297_k — Artichoke Restaurant Singapore Lamb Shoulder

The lamb at Artichoke is absurd. It's a huge bowl filled with meat, tomatoes, dirty onions, zhoug coriander sauce, and a toum garlic sauce. The meat itself was as tender as can be, with a crispy bark on the outside. Once it was all mixed together into a meaty mess, it was just too good. In Pokemon terms, this was like a doner kebab that had reached final form.

To close things out, we had to try one of Artichoke's famed Neh Neh Pops. The Mango Sticky Rice screamed our name: chunk of mango mixed into a coconut rice pudding ice cream, dipped in white chocolate, then sprinkled with toasted coconut flakes and Rice Krispies.

Artichoke Restaurant Singapore ice cream

Let that sink in.

It was so nice to be able to go somewhere with this quality of food in such a casual atmosphere. I had a hard time finding a restaurant where I could just hang out and have great food over there—most seemed to be good for one and not the other. Artichoke handled it swimmingly. If you're looking for a fun place to go for dinner, but don't want to miss out on incredible flavors, you must check out Artichoke.

Spencer 3/30/15 Spencer 3/30/15

Aya Sofia

I've been trying to break away from ordering my favorite menu items at restaurants I've previously visited, partially so I can make revisit posts here and partially to continue expanding my elitist foodie palate.

Aya Sofia remains my favorite Turkish restaurant in town with good reason. On my most recent visit with some Fair Isle sweater wearing friends, we got only things I'd never had before. Things kicked off with the [symple_highlight color="blue"]Borek[/symple_highlight], a spinach and feta cheese pie baked in filo dough. I was surprised when it was dropped off at the table - it didn't look like the filo dough hot pocket I've always associated with a borek. I did some quick Googling and found that what I'm familiar with are the Israeli bourekas. The Turkish variety is flavored more like a Greek spanakopita but composed like an Italian lasagna, with layers of cheese, spinach and filo.

I thought that it was a good dish, but probably wouldn't order it again in the future with some of the options available. None of the flavors are particularly assertive, plus I'm just not a huge fan of feta.

Our other starter was the - I would definitely order this again. The dip, served with a seemingly infinite amount of fresh pita bread, is a creamy yogurt blended with garlic, dill, mint and pecans. It's a simple meze with a tangy, fresh flavor that is a lot like tzatziki upgraded. The addition of the nuts is what sets it apart. If you're into dips, which you are, I recommend getting this, the Biber Ezme and their Saksuka.

I can't avoid red meat at Aya Sofia. There's something about the blend of lamb, beef and Turkish spices that sets me off into this primal, meat devouring state. My typical order is the Adana Kebab, a long spear of spicy, charred meat, but this time I decided to go with the Kofte. Heavily spiced lamb and beef meatballs, bursting with cumin, coriander, chili powder, are chargrilled and served with a cool yogurt sauce, rice, veggies, and by my request, their sumac & onion salad.

These meatballs are great. I have been debating since this meal if I actually like them more than the Adana kebab, and I think that answer is yes. Without the tastebud searing spice of the Adana, you can really appreciate the meat and the nuances of the other spices. My only complaint is that they aren't grilled on a sword.

We were all pretty damn stuffed by the time dessert came around, but we decided to persevere and try the Baklava. A lot of reviews online rave about it, but it didn't do anything for us, unfortunately. I find the Greek version with walnuts and honey to be a lot more enjoyable than the Turkish version with pistachios and sugar syrup - none of us have big sweet tooths, so the syrup was just too much sweetness.

Even with the baklava miss, I still love this place. If you're really hankering for a dessert and none of their options appeal to you, remember that it's just down the street from Ted Drewes...

Aya Sofia

6671 Chippewa St

St. Louis, MO 63109

314.645.9919