Affordable Mediterranean arrives from...Denver

There's nothing more liberating than leaving the States to live halfway around the world, especially once you find other people who also miss real football and daily adventures with Garfield and his ambrosial lasagna. For a couple of guys who found the same's true in reverse, hit Fattoush.

With both indoor and patio seating, Fattoush is a strictly Halal, tile-bedecked Mediterranean diner fronted by a chef from Beirut (who grew up cooking in his parents establishments) and a resto owner from Syria, who first met in Denver before teaming up to bring their insanely affordable, from-scratch Lebanese to San Diego, thankfully not in the form of Flutie Flakes. Artfully presented goodness starts with "Mama's recipe" Lentil Soup, salads including Fattoush, garlic & lemon infused Hummos, house-roasted eggplant Baba Ghanouj, and Labneh: a traditional kefir sour-cream-cheese painstakingly made by culturing milk to yogurt, then straining to remove the whey -- call it "The Cheese Who Lost its Whey", and Adam Sandler will scream at you because you "didn't put posters up or anything". Meatier dishes range from a Shawarma Cheese Steak, to Lamb Shank (baked w/ potato, onion, carrot, celery, tomato sauce), to a grilled Salmon Fillet (the only item over $10), to the spicy tomato-sauced ground beef/onion/parsley Kafta Kabob "Khash Khash", which, unlike the poppy seeds of the same name, will not get you Locked Up Abroad.

Authentic desserts are also available (Baklava, Kunafa, Tiramisu), as well as from-scratch daily specials drawing from Lebanon's neighbors (Syria, Turkey, Italy, etc), and they'll even cater for large parties with a whole stuffed lamb, which you couldn't possibly finish yourself, unless you put it between layers of pasta strips, and...oh, that's the stuff.