Phoenicians in Colonie

We had a nice lunch at Phoenicians. It's a new Lebanese/Mediterranean restaurant. I think it's at 1686 Central Avenue -- see Google Maps. Phone number might be 464-4444. I did not find a website for it, though it might appear at: phoeniciansofalbany.com.

Lebanese? Well, it's kinda like Greek food. Please note that they do not have a Greek Salad on the menu. I also did not see Gyros, though they did have Shawarma. My wife liked that. It came with a chick pea and eggplant salad that I liked.

I had the lentil soup (very nice), and then found my appetite and ordered the appetizer sampler. It had hummus (a chick pea dip), baba ghanouj (eggplant dip), some pickles olives and pickled turnips, tabouleh, and kefta. The sampler was fantastic. Everything tasted great and the texture of the dips was enjoyable - not too pureed and not too chunky either. The pickled stuff was unusual from what I've seen in this genre. It was a strong flavor but worked for me.

The place is small - maybe 10 tables - and prices are reasonable. Very interesting interior decor. I'm not even sure how to describe it.

A very nice addition to the Albany restaurant scene. If you like this type of food (Greek, Turkish, Israeli, Lebanese, etc.) then Phoenicians is worth a try. I'm happy because it's so close to our office. We'll be back.

Oh, and I forgot the dessert. We both had baklava and liked it.
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Update: I've been back a few times to Phoenicians. There is a vegetarian platter I had recently and it was great. Also just had the hummus and ground beef. I love a dish that challenges conventional American thinking -- hummus is supposed to be vegetarian, right? And the soup of the day was a white bean with rosemary. All good stuff.