Awesome East Village Lebanese

My foodie partner in crime & I decided to go Middle Eastern this time. I found Balade (http://www.baladerestaurants.com/) on the East Village. With a nice ambience, the restaurant offers a taste of Lebanese food.

You can order off the menu, but we opted for a lunch pre-fix. For the price of $10/12, you can get an appetizer, main course (sandwich or pizza) and dessert. So my friend opted for a salad (a nice mixture of greens, bagel chips, tomatoes & a nice light dressing). I opted for Baba Ghanouj (grilled eggplant dip mixed with spices). Bread, dip & salad were good combos as starters (left picture). For main entree, my friend opted for Lahme Baajin (thin-crusted pizza, topped with meat, tomatoes & spices; sample pic on right). I opted for a Chicken Shawarma sandwich. Both items were delicious and very filling. If you wanted some extra taste, you can add a little of Baba Ghanouj on top of the pizza. For dessert, we both took a sample of Baklava and Mouhallabie. Baklava, as usual, was sweet and full of pistachios, typical mid eastern sweet. When my friend 1st tasted Mouhallabie, her first response was, "it has a fragrance!" It was a light white jello dessert with a clear liquid sauce. It was rose water...smelled like the roses I got for my birthday. lol! I highly recommend this restaurant and would like to go back...