Babylon

Another Mediterranean restaurant in Memphis? SCORE! We ordered the staples here– hummus and falafel of course. I mean what self respecting human goes to a Mediterranean restaurant and doesn’t order falafel and hummus?! Both were good– the falafel a bit bigger than you normally see, crunchy on the outside, yet soft on the inside. The hummus was standard hummus, but the pita bread that comes with it is insanity. These pitas were the size of a pizza pan, and folded into fours. The outer edges were puffy like pita bread, but as they got further and further into the bread it became more of a tortilla shell texture. They were fabulous– couldn’t even finish half of mine.
The real standout of the evening was the combo kebab with rice and stew we shared. It includes a beef and chicken kebab, basmati rice and your choice of soup. On this particular evening it was either potato or eggplant. My husband opted for the eggplant and I’m so very glad he did. I think you are meant to mix all the ingredients together, and until we did this each item was just missing something. Once we mixed it together it was like magic in your mouth. The eggplant soup was amazing unto itself– smokey and earthy all at once with huge hunks of eggplant swimming around in a tomato broth. When I mixed it with the meat and rice it was simply divine. I wish I would have discovered this was all to be eaten together in the beginning of my meal. Alas, I’ll just have to return for more.
The price here is right on– falafel, hummus and the combo platter came to $ 26 bucks and some change. We were overly full and still have enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Though we took our order to go, my husband says the interior is pretty nice. Not anything fancy, but definitely worth a dining out experience. In a city with so few Mediterranean options, I am super stoked to have one more place to get my fix.