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When Cafe Natasha left University City and moved to South Grand Boulevard, it changed its name to Cafe Natasha's Kabob International and changed its nature to something a bit less formal, much more approachable, much more, well, Affordable Feast material. The decor is still beautiful, but the sidewalk cafe is most definitely a standard South Grand cafe, and the interior is relaxed, friendly and charming.
The appetizers here go far beyond the ordinary realm of the standard Mediterranean restaurant. Most notable are the delicious baba ghanoush dip, a nice rendition of this mashed grilled-eggplant dish ($3.99); the colossal hot olives ($2); and the house-smoked carved beef rolls ($5.50), dry-rubbed slices of spicy beef anointed with curried mustard sauce and rolled up in pita pieces. The crispy rice crust with gourmet greens sauce ($1.50-$2.50) is certainly interesting. The rice crust is brown and nearly caramelized, and the greens, topped by a few black-eyed peas, are mild and flavorful. The most unusual dish we tried was kookoo, a sort of cheeseless quiche of herbs, eggs, walnuts and spices. Eaten without the accompanying yogurt and cucumber dip, it's bland and a bit characterless, but with the dip or a bit of baba ghanoush, it perks up and would probably please any vegetarian. You can try kookoo as an appetizer ($3.95) or a platter ($8.50) with rice, salad, pita or baba ghanoush. There are plenty of other vegetarian dishes, including falafel, of course, curried vegetables, pickled vegetables and shami patties of yellow split peas, soy protein, eggs and seasonings with yogurt sauce ($7.99). My favorite dish here was the tongue of beef ($7.50), so tender the slices didn't need a knife, served with the eminently worthy curry mustard sauce. I recommend the house's saffron rice as an accompaniment. The lamb biryani ($7.99) is wonderful as well, with a lot of lamb piled on a lusty pilaf of rice, chickpeas and cumin; the dish tasted of saffron that night as well. The chicken tandoori kabob ($7.50) is expertly grilled and does taste of tandoori spices, though much more mildly than in an Indian restaurant. Koubideh kebab ($6.50) is a mixture of lamb and beef and is a classic Persian dish. It comes out looking like a long, lean sausage and is quite delicious. On the $8.99 platter, you get two of them and will probably end up taking one home if you want dessert. Speaking of dessert, you do want to leave room. The Persian ice cream ($3.50) is a flavor that reminds me of translations of medieval and Renaissance cookbooks that I've read - vanilla ice cream with pistachio pieces, saffron and rose water. Another unusual and fascinating dessert is faludeh ($3.50), rice noodles in a sweet icy slush of lemon and rosewater. Pies and baklava also are superb.
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