What to Eat in Pittsburgh

Friends of the blog Jackie and Lane, whose taste in food I trust implicitly, have been telling us for ages about a little place Mt. Lebanon with great lamb chops. The lamb chops were so great, in fact, that they had never ordered anything else there. Mr. Foodie loves a good lamb chop, but lamb isn’t something I go out of my way for.  So we put it on our list, but further down.

One weekend, we decided to meet up with Jackie and Lane for dinner. We go through our list of possibilities and the lamb chop place comes up.  That day, Jackie calls to confirm that they’ll have lamb chops that night, and they will.

The place is called Kabob-G. It’s not new, in fact it looks like a neighborhood staple. It’s a cute, small, unassuming place on the inside. They do in fact serve things besides lamb chops – in fact, a full menu of Lebanese food. The waitress comes over moments later. It all happens quickly. Jackie, Lane and Scott, order lamb chops – obviously. Everyone had agreed I should try something besides the lamb chops, to assess whether that dish is just a lucky fluke. I order my staple at a place like this – shish tawook, or grilled chicken, and we agree to share baba ganoush. I throw in spinach pie and loobyeh and Mr. Foodie throws in some olives for good measure.

The hummus comes out first. Creamy, slightly lemon-y, and delicious. We devour it:

 

 

Along with the oil-soaked olives:

 

Our meals all come with salads. This salad reminds me very much of the salad at Mediterranean Grill in Squirrel Hill, the favorite restaurant of my childhood. Crunchy iceberg lettuce (stay with me here), tomatoes, and cucumbers. But there are some important upgrades here: plentiful fresh shaved feta, and the most amazing salad dressing I have ever had, anywhere, ever, period. Yes, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that. The menu says it’s made of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and mint, and that’s exactly what it tastes like – a bright explosion of those flavors in your mouth. I eat mine, and everyone else’s leftovers. They’re saving room for lamb chops. I’m just taking things one dish at a time.

The loobyeh arrives. It’s a steaming plate of green beans in a rich tomato sauce. We love loobyeh, and this is an outstanding example.

Next, the shish tawook. These are among the juiciest pieces of chicken Mr. Foodie and I have ever had. Great char on the outside. Served over delicious rice.

The spinach pie. Homemade dough stuffed with lemony spinach filling. Outstanding.

Now in cross-section:

And finally, the lamb chop. Wow. Again, I am a lamb chop skeptic. But these did not resemble any lamb I’ve ever had. First, they absolutely fell off the bone. Second, they were incredibly melt-in-your-mouth tender. Third, they were served with tomato sauce:

This sauce can only be described life as changing. It’s rich and complex. We dunk the lamb chops in it. I smother my shish tawook in it. We slather it all over our rice. We are practically drinking it when our server, who it turns out is also one of the owners, comes over. She tells us the sauce is a family recipe and actually has lamb broth in it. We eat as much as we possibly can, and take the rest home. She offers us extra sauce, which of course we accept.

To sum it up, Kabob-G is a straightforward star of a restaurant. Phenomenal food in a homey setting. I’m ashamed that I ever wondered whether it was worth going out of our way for.