NYCReview
photo credit: Carina Finn
Bedawi Cafe
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Bedawi Cafe is currently only open for takeout, but during more normal times, snagging a table beneath the colorful tapestries in their backyard garden always made us feel like we’d stepped into an Arabic fairytale. They do the classics really well, so you can’t go wrong with things like tabbouleh, falafel, foul, and merguez, but the specialty items here really shine. The chicken ouzi comes baked in a dome of phyllo dough perched atop the kind of garden salad that goes beyond the purely decorative. Tear open the top and you’ll find richly spiced rice and chopped chicken studded with almonds, raisins, and peas. Their pizzas, which can be topped with everything from spicy lamb sausage to a melange of leeks, scallions, and other green herbs, are baked to order on personal-sized rounds of pita and are truly excellent.