Mantee Cafe

Mantee Cafe Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant: Studio City's Mantee Café is no ordinary kebab house. Its façade has the look of a neighborhood French bistro, the owner's family boasts a prominent restaurant in Beirut, and service is exceedingly warm and friendly. Inside lies a particularly petite dining room, while a charming, lushly landscaped patio with sparkling lights hanging from shady trees is hidden in the back.

Food & Drinks: A good way to experience the cooking is to concentrate on mezes (small plates), ranging from a "hummus cocktail" (sprinkled with pine nuts and little chunks of filet mignon), muhammara (a Syrian spread consisting of walnuts, chilies, bread crumbs and pomegranate juice) and baked mantee dumplings. These tiny, boat-shaped pasta shells are filled with seasoned ground beef and topped with a tangy garlic-yogurt sauce. Entrées, if you ever get there, include lamb chops and the requisite kebabs, some paired with the kitchen's signature cherry sauce. Desserts feature baklava and other traditional Lebanese pastries. Lunch specials bring generous vegetarian plates.