Bavel is one of the newest hot restaurants in LA that i had to book months in advanced. It just so happen to land on Mother’s Day weekend so that worked out for me. I didn’t have high expectations even with all the rave reviews because i wasn’t sure how different Middle Eastern food could get from any other corner stores, but as a sister restaurant to Bestia they had some things going for them.
I got some recommendations from people that i know who have gone already and basically ordered what everyone seemed to like. After the meal i have to agree with everyone. Something about getting each dish with their own specific fresh bread and each dish different was enough to see the attention to detail put into it. We went off script and got the lamb ribs which was a mistake and by the time the lamb neck schwarma we were pretty much full so we didn’t quite enjoy it as we could have. For dessert Tiffany want the strawberry pastry that Ben and I kept trying to figure out what it reminded us of, and eventually figure it out it tasted like a toaster strudel. My favorite dishes were again with my continuing leaning towards vegetable forward dishes were the baba ghanoush and oyster mushrooms (especially since i’m still not a super fan of mushrooms).
DUCK ‘NDUJA HUMMUS
creamy garbanzo beans, jerusalem mix spice, herbs, pita
BABA GHANOUSH
smoked eggplant, mushroom & eggplant salad, tahini, fried curry leaf, fried pita
GRILLED PRAWNS
harissa marinade, cured zucchini tzatziki, herbs, lime
OYSTER MUSHROOM KEBAB
lovage & cardamom puree, sumac
MALAWACH
ancient grain crispy layered bread, grated tomato, dill crème fraiche, aged egg, strawberry zhoug
BBQ LAMB RIBS
spicy pineapple amba, fried seeds, coriander, cilantro
SLOW ROASTED LAMB NECK SHAWARMA
tahini, red zhoug, pickled vegetables, laffa
STRAWBERRY SUMAC & SWEET CHEESE PASTRY
pistachio ice cream, labneh cream, cured sumac
