Bedawi Cafe

JORDAN

I do my best to ask about differences between countries when it comes to cuisines that have many similarities. One of these that I try with is Middle Eastern, a region that shares much of its cuisine from country to country. Of course there must be different ways to prepare items and subtle touches, but often in New York it is hard to distinguish and most restaurants get hurdled into a broad "Middle Eastern" category.

On its website, Bedawi Cafe calls itself out as a Jordanian establishment run by brothers from Amman, so I was very excited to speak with the people here and see what was on offer from this country that is otherwise unrepresented in this city. Unfortunately I was met with mostly what I would call a blow off, as the man who served us (definitely not the owner) was completely uninterested in talking about anything I brought up. When I made mention of mansaf, the national dish of Jordan and from the sound of it the most distinguishable plate, he simply said "Nah, you need a woman to make that." And so it went when I pressed for more, we basically received no information.

Luckily the night was not a waste at all, and the food here is very good. Here is what we went for:

Makdous: baby eggplant stuffed with walnuts ($5)

Hummus ($5)

Chicken ouzi: with vegetables, yogurt, rice inside phyllo ($13)

Bedawi pizza ($9)

Lamb pizza ($10.50)

Vegetable platter ($9.50)

Leg of lamb platter ($13)

WINDSOR TERRACE Brooklyn

266 Prospect Park West