Mediterranean food is one of those rare cuisines that checks all the boxes — it has a wide range of delicious flavors and textures, is generally healthy, can be light and filling at the same time, and encourages drinking a little red wine.
It also perfectly transports you to a warm summer day whenever you eat it. It may be November but Brooklyn has no shortage of sunshine for the foreseeable future. If you want to bring some of summer’s flavors into fall, here are six of our favorite Mediterranean restaurants to transport your tastebuds to Greece, Spain, the Middle East and beyond.
Celestine
1 John Street, Dumbo
Celestine is the perfect Mediterranean restaurant for a date night or brunch with visiting parents. Its gorgeous modern interior and patio both offer great views of the East River and Manhattan Bridge, making it the closest you’ll get to sitting at a bistro on the coast of the Mediterranean.
Kick off the night with the mezze platter ($32), which consists of an irresistibly smokey baba ganoush, velvety hummus, muhammara, marinated olives and flatbread — make sure to order extra flatbread though, they’re delicious but small.
The roasted beets ($20) — accompanied by a melange of charred grapes, sumac onions and arugula — is one of the best renditions in the borough and one of the restaurant’s most underrated items. Celestine’s Spanish octopus ($24) is simply wonderful, featuring juicy tendrils of meat, charred eggplant and spiced chickpeas that are so outstanding, you’d think they were airdropped from a Barcelona tapas bar. Celestine does many non-Mediterranean mains well, but staying on theme, the branzino for two ($65) is a delicious no-brainer.
Fatoosh
330 Hicks Street, Brooklyn Heights
If you’re looking for Mediterranean comfort food, Fatoosh has been serving up some of the best shawarma, falafel and kebab, plus their unique “pitzas,” since 1990. If you want to try a little of everything (which we recommend), you can’t go wrong with the meat combo platter ($22.95). It includes two meats — shish kebab, chicken or lamb shawarma, kafta, gyro, etc. — three sides — rice, couscous, fatoosh, hummus, mujaddra, etc. — and pita. The meats are juicy, the salads are fresh and flavorful and the pita is baked in-house. You just can’t beat Fatoosh’s quality.
For non-meat eaters, their falafel sandwich is under $10 and is consistently crispy on the outside but tender inside, while the fish kebab sandwich features a generous amount of perfectly seasoned tilapia. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Fatoosh’s pitzas, our personal favorite is the lahmbajin, an Armenian flatbread featuring ground beef and minced vegetables that offers savory umami in every bite.
Glasserie
95 Commercial Street, Greenpoint
Glasserie has no shortage of delicious appetizers, including five tasty skewers ($9 each). But two should be enough to share while saving room for small plates and entrees — we recommend the swordfish and cherries, and halloumi and peaches for maximum summer vibes. Skip the popular mezze starters — they’re fine but you can find better at other spots on this list — and opt instead the crispy yams ($16) and the heirloom cauliflower ($29). The yams, which come with a healthy serving of Persian lime aioli, may be the best thing on Glasserie’s menu. They’re like an elevated sweet potato fry that you won’t be able to stop eating. The roasted cauliflower, on the other hand, is the perfect vehicle for the accompanying herb tahini and pomegranate seeds to create a harmoniously savory and tart bite.
The smoked lamb shawarma ($38) is monstrous in portion and a fun play on the classic sandwich, while the seared tuna ($37) is perfectly cooked and features a sheep yogurt so tasty it could be its own dish. Save room for the maple baklava ($15). Trust us, it’s worth it.
Queen
247 Starr Street, Bushwick
If you’re looking for outstanding Mediterranean food with a price tag that won’t break the bank, Queen is the spot for you. There isn’t a bad thing on the menu but the mezze dishes at Queen are some of our favorites in Brooklyn — and at only $8 for a sizable portion, it’s a steal for how fresh and flavorful each dish is. The charred beats offer a wonderful grilled and earthy flavor, the labne is luscious (the accompanying cucumbers in olive oil and za’atar spice are super refreshing), while the hummus is the perfect consistency — fluffy, not too grainy but not runny. Queen is also a great spot to hit for breakfast.
The BKLYN breakfast sandwich ($10) featuring za’atar fried eggs (ask for them runny), Arabic salad and labne in a pita pocket feels like the bacon egg and cheese’s healthier, cooler cousin. The shakshuka ($15) offers a pair of eggs in an unctuous bath of tomato, red and green peppers, harissa, tahini anf schug that will hug your mouth with just the right combination of smoke, spice and seasoning.
Bedouin Tent
405 Atlantic Avenue, Boreum Hill
While we love Mediterranean food for the summer vibes but Bedouin Tent’s harira soup ($7) is one of the best soups to cozy up with this fall. The tomato based lentil soup features chickpeas, parsley, cilantro celery, lentils and spices is the definition of comfort in a cup. It’s your favorite worn-in sweater, that pair of holey sweatpants you can’t throw away. It is the perfect soup to drink if you’re feeling sick or gloomy on a cold rainy day.
We also love Bedouin’s kibbeh plate (for the uninitiated, Kibbeh is a deep fried croquet made from bulgur wheat stuffed with onions, minced meat and nuts). It’s similar to falafel but a bit richer due to the meat and is worth trying instead of its chickpea counterpart if you’ve never had it (not that Bedouin’s falafel is bad, it’s exceptionally tasty too).
Miss Ada
184 Dekalb Street, Fort Greene
Miss Ada has become something of a neighborhood institution since opening in 2017 for good reason: chef Tomer Blechman has crafted a simple but thorough menu of Israeli and Mediterranean favorites. The sweet potato hummus ($12) and beet hummus ($11) are fun spins on the classic dish while the short rib with red cabbage and Israeli mole ($15) falls right off the bone and is an insanely creative fusion of flavors.
Chicken is easy to overlook in favor of entrees not as easy to replicate at home, but you’d be silly to skip Miss Ada’s half brick chicken with taggiasca olives, preserved lemon and harissa ($28). The meat is bursting with juice, which is perfect for sopping up with some left over pita from your appetizers. If you hit Miss Ada’s for brunch, the malawach ($15) — a Yemeni flatbread featuring eggs, tomato and schug — is to die for and the chocolate babka with creme fraiche is a wonderfully rich alternative to french toast.
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