Exploring the Middle East

Aashiana Restaurant

31 Central Ave., Albany, 463-4161. Serving Mon-Thu 11:30-10, Fri 11:30-11, Sat noon-11. Lunch buffet Mon-Sat until 3. AE, D, MC, V.

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Entrée price range: 4 (vegetable wrap) to $8 (beef shawarma)

Ambiance: intimate

By B.A. Nilsson

Central Avenue’s restaurant row covers a diverse range of ethnicities, the only significantly American eateries being the fast-food joints that spring up as you head west. Indian, Caribbean, Mexican, Italian and so many more, a world tour requiring no tickets or travel agents.

This isn’t a high-end journey, and for the most part you’re traveling steerage. But that also means it’s not very costly, so it’s worth your while to explore.

When Saleem Khan decided to open a branch of Aashiana on Central Ave., he already had a successful Indian restaurant on Schenectady’s Jay Street. But the Albany location would be cheek by jowl with Shalimar and Ghandi, so he decided to veer the cuisine in another direction, opting for a Middle Eastern menu of wraps, salads and simple entrées.

Following the evolutionary process common in restaurants, as they pass from one family member to the next or simply change hands, Khan unloaded the Schenectady branch (it’s now called Taj Mahal) and is concentrating on his Albany eatery.

It’s a very small venue, with only a handful of glass-topped tables (the number varies according to how many have been combined to accommodate large parties), paper napkins and a simple menu.

Lunchtime visitors can opt for the $6 buffet, with a changing roster of items that always includes a couple of meat dishes (one of which is usually some form of lamb), several vegetarian choices, bread, salad and dessert.

Once the staple of low-budget weddings, the buffet has supplanted most traditional Chinese restaurants and given us places like Old Country Buffet, a fat-guy paradise (provided you don’t require such details as flavor).

Aashiana’s buffet, like that of other ethnic eateries, allows the lunchtime crowd to get in and out quickly and for a reasonable price. It’s also an excellent way to meet the cuisine; I’ve introduced many a doubter to Indian fare this way.

Here, the emphasis on Middle Eastern fare offers a different opportunity for exploration. Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, I should say, with a selection that ranges from a Greek salad ($4) to pungent skewers of beef shawarma ($8, for a platter that includes rice and salad).

My wife and daughter and I were seated at one of the few tables in this oh-so-casual room, enjoying the evening, enjoying our family—so plugged in to the rituals of fine dining that, as if by instinct, we went for the appetizer-entrée approach, even though it’s not at all the way we dine at home.

A plate of olives and pickles was served to each of us, a fine-dining touch that suggested we weren’t so crazy. My daughter recently had turned up her nose at a chickpea-based dish I made, proclaiming the legume useless; I talked her into the hummus appetizer ($3) and she revised her opinion. Now she demands only that her chickpeas be mashed.

Fattoush ($4) is one of four salads available (tabouli, Greek, and grilled chicken are the others, same price range), and probably the most complicated, offering a minty, vinegary dressing over chopped lettuce, crisped pita and accompanying veggies.

Aahiana’s three soup selections ($4 each) include a mix of chicken and couscous, as well as a traditional lentil brew; fasoulatha, which I sampled, is a Greek recipe that combines white beans with carrots, celery, tomatoes and parsley into a hearty blend.

Their five chicken-based entrées are $8 apiece, the meat variously cubed, ground, marinated and otherwise reimagined. Kebab mashweh gives you four skewer-grilled, sausage-shaped patties of spiced meat served with rice, salad and a yoghurt-based sauce. Much of the appealing flavor coming from the sauce’s subtle sourness.

Another ground-meat dish is kibbah ($8), toasted pine nuts added to fried beef patties and served on a similarly rice- and salad-garnished platter.

Looking for a quick sandwich? Wraps of veggies, falafel, grilled or ground chicken, and beef shawarma ($4 to $5) are always available, and thanks to some nearby customers I can attest to their generous size.

If you prefer the vegetarian route (as my wife does every so often to stake some kind of moral high ground over me), four $7 entrées offer a good variety. She chose nivik, a full-flavored, spinach-based casserole cooked with chickpeas and tomatoes. Other selections include zucchini or eggplant in tomato sauce or a green bean casserole called lubyi by zayt.

I can’t help coming back to the point that there’s nothing fancy about your surroundings here: The luxury is all in the food and in the attention owner Khan pays to the kitchen and dining room. The food is tasty and inexpensive, and arrives quickly enough to engage your senses. What more could you ask?

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