layla

We tried a new restaurant Saturday night, meeting up with Jody and Steve.  Jody had suggested Layla (4751 S. Holladay Blvd., Holladay), a new Lebanese place.  The family who owns and runs the restaurant has owned/run a restaurant there for years - Confetti, serving good continental/Italian food in dismal decor - but recently gutted and remodeled, and revamped their menu to a more Middle Eastern and Mediterranean bent.

We'd made a reservation for 6:30 p.m. and the place was pretty much full when we got there.  There are 10-15 (?) small tables and a small bar off to the side.  Our waiter was friendly and enthusiastic even though his tables were keeping him hopping.  The menu has plenty of options: eight each of chilled and hot mezze (appetizers), of which our table selected the crab cakes (light and flavorful, without too much filler) and the grilled haloum cheese; a couple of soup selections; several salads; traditional Lebanese(-ish) entrees, grill items served in flatbreads and kabobs, plus a couple of random holdovers from the prior restaurant.  I had the warah malfouf (tender, creamy cabbage leaves stuffed with spiced ground beef and rice and served with a cucumber mint yogurt sauce); H had a chunky (if none too colorful) chicken curry; Steve had the musakhen (flatbreads stuffed with roast chicken, carmelized onion, sumac and pine nuts); and Jody went with the braised beef shortribs (very tender and flavorful but a HUGE portion).

Layla also has desserts (various Middle Eastern pastries and funky ice creams (including mango and rosewater flavors) and a full drinks menu with bottled beer, wine and cocktails.  The prices are pretty reasonable, although the bill mounts quickly once you start adding mezzes and salads and drinks and desserts; the food tasty.  Jody says that the old restaurant had a patio which she hopes the restauranteurs will remodel as well: a summer evening spent there with a cocktail and a couple of mezzes might be very pleasant indeed.  I think Mazza's food is better but Layla is closer to home and would do in a pinch were I suddenly in the mood for Middle Eastern cuisine.