Sahara Café and Restaurant

A Middle Eastern Café

143 Highland Street, Worcester 798-2181
Sun. 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
Mon.-Thurs. 6 a.m.-10 p.m.
Fri. and Sat. 6 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
Major credit cards
BYOB
Handicap Accessible

by Jim Johnson

On top of its expected Middle Eastern cuisine, the Sahara Café and Restaurant, on Worcester's Highland Street, adds the espressos, lattées, coffee blends, and decadent desserts you find at Café Dolce and the kind of mouth-watering breakfast pastries served at the Tatnuck.

And the setting is as warm, friendly, and funky as Tatnuck's. Blazing fireplaces reflect on gilt metal ceilings. Ancient panelling with cracked paint lends intrigue rather than tackiness to the décor. Antique-store pickings hang on the walls. All of this makes the spacious dining area feel simultaneously open and private. Friendly, attentive service rounds out the experience.

For dinner recently, a friend and I chose the Mezza for Two ($13.95) and Foul Mudamas ($3.50) as our appetizers. The Mezza alone could have served as a full meal. It featured samples from almost the entire appetizer menu -- each in a separate dish with a simple, yet eye-pleasing, presentation.

Our server kept us steadily stocked with pita bread. The hummos was rich, with the right mix of tahini and garlic and with a lemony bite. The tabbouleh was cool, fresh, and lemony, dense with chopped parsley, tomatoes, onions, cracked wheat, mint, and lemon juice and a healthy hint of olive oil. A pleasant palate cleanser, the labneh smoothed away nicely any yogurt tartness.

The kibbi kebobs were oven-baked, meatball-like molds of ground beef, onion, spices, and pine nuts coated with a mixture that blended in plenty of cracked wheat. The crispy outer layer and juicy insides lent contrast in both texture and flavor.

The grape leaves purportedly blended rice, minced onion, parsley, mint, tomatoes, chickpeas, and spices. We found little more than rice and flavorless grape-leaf wrappers. The sambousik, sort of a meat pie, was bland. Luckily, the Foul Mudamas came to the rescue with its high-octane mix of garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. What we didn't use with the dish's fava beans, chickpeas, onions, and parsley, we used as a blandness-blasting dip for the grape leaves and sambousik.

Already full, we now faced the imminent arrival of our entrées: Samke Harrah ($10.95), a baked fish filet served with tahini sauce; and Sheikh el Mihshi ($9.95), which the menu dubbed the "King of eggplant dishes."

We'd been equally tempted by Sahara specialties such as the stuffed cabbage leaves platter ($7.65) and Mughrebeeye ($10.95), braised boneless chicken served in nutmeg sauce over pasta. Charcoal-grilled entrées featured a variety of kebabs ($8.95 to $9.95), as well as grilled shrimp ($12.95).

Less exotic dishes include salmon stuffed with crabmeat and chicken stuffed with seafood, both for less than $10. For those with smaller appetites or budgets, pita sandwiches average about $3.50 and include chicken curry salad with raisins, kebabs, tabbouleh, and stuffed grape leaves. Kids have a separate menu section (burgers and the like), and vegetarian dishes are marked.

The Sheikh el Mihshi consisted of eggplant strips that had been cooked almost soft and covered with a full-flavored mixture of ground beef, onion, pine nuts, and spices (which could have been bolder). Baked in a hearty tomato sauce, it was served over rice pilaf.

The Samke Harrah featured a flavorful, tender fish filet coated with an overpowering tahini sauce. My tablemate shoveled most of the sauce to the side and found the balance quite agreeable.

Most desserts -- such as the chambord torte, carrot cake, and tiramisu -- are shipped in from New York. I chose a made-on-premises rice pudding ($1.95) that was fresh and dense with just enough sweetness.

A return visit for breakfast was delightful. With the sun beaming through the plate-glass windows, I sipped on a oversized cup of steamed milk ($1.50), with a splash of vanilla, and nibbled on a low-fat blueberry muffin ($1.50, or two day-olds for $.95). (I passed on orange chocolate muffins, sundried-tomato scones, quiche, potato frittata, and croissants). I finished with an omelette with a slice of ham on a toasted English muffin ($1.75).

With its early-morning and late-night hours, low-cost and varied menu, and relaxing setting, Sahara is an oasis that's here to stay.