Sublime, sublime fattoush . To the Sahara in St. Clair Shores for the city's best smoky-charred eggplant baba ghannouj . I send you for the more, ahem, palatable gallaya , thick charred chicken or beef strips sauteed with translucent onions and a slurry of red and green peppers, Al-Berdouni's best of show. Al-Berdouni, named by Ali Hachem and his family for a popular Lebanese resort area, serves all the regional native classics. So there are the shishes kabob , tawook and kafta , the kibbees , the falafel and all the combo platters thereof.
Portions are plentiful, prices are reasonable to cheap, cheap, cheap.
I also like the fact that many dishes come with a choice of hommous or baba , and always salad or fattoush . There are quibbles, though, and a big problem. Food at Al-Berdouni tends to come in one heroic rush, rather than in graceful stages, so plan on a lot of sudden juggling. Pita bread is served tackily in tightly packed plastic sandwich bags. Ice is forgotten in my fresh-mashed apple drink, so it's warm from the blender and undrinkable.