Sweet & Spicy Salt Lake City: Layla Grill and Mezze

For the royal wedding we decided to celebrate in traditional fashion. So a Mediterranean grille was a natural choice. Wills and Kate would be proud. Layla has a modern, calming décor. Excellent service, lovely small plates and Middle Eastern signature entrees. We recommend a reservation. This place is small and cozy. Emphasis on small.

Sweetie: I needed to rev up with some caffeine and ordered Layla’s Special Coffee for $3. This is an iced Arabic coffee sweetened with condensed milk. They have real crushed ice at Layla and it comes with all cold drinks, including the coffee. (You crushed ice people know what I’m talking about.)

Spicy Girl: Ice smishe, tell us about your coffee.

Sweetie: The coffee was strong but not disgusting like Charbuck’s. The condensed milk cut into the strength. It provided a good jolt.

Spicy Girl: I liked your coffee but it was a little sweet for me. I’ll discuss my hard-core Turkish coffee when we get to dessert. But first, I should mention the wine list. They have a good selection, including some Lebanese wines. I ordered the Massaya Classic Red ($ 7). It was a good fruity selection. But anyway, I guess we should get to the food. The small plates all sound so appetizing, it is difficult to choose a starter. So, we chose three. We went with the vegetarian grape leaves for $6, the Mediterranean crab cakes for $6, and the baba ganouj (also vegetarian) for $6.

Sweetie: Your wine was delish. The grape leaves were gamey, except in a plant kind of way. The filling inside was warm and lemony and tasted like comfort food. The crab cakes were surprisingly meaty. For that price, you couldn’t make them at home. I’d never had baba ganouj. Thank God it wasn’t gross. It was like hummus but sweeter.

Spicy Girl: This was my second time trying the crab cakes at Layla. They were just as good this time – they are mostly crab with just enough bread, peppers, onions and celery to hold them together. Nicely seasoned with a house remoulade sauce. The grape leaves had just enough lemon and mint to give a nice flavor, but not over-powering. They were a little loosely wrapped, but tasted wonderful. If, like Sweetie, you are unfamiliar with baba ganouj, it is an egg plant-based dip, which has a slightly sweet flavor. It comes with your choice of warm pita bread, pita chips or fresh vegetables. We went with the standard pita bread.

Sweetie: For the main course I ordered Chicken Kabob ($8) with Layla’s Signature Fries ($4.) I was impressed. The Kabob was actually a wrap, instead of meat on a stick. The pita was warm and soft. The chicken was seasoned, cut and cooked perfectly. I love yogurt sauce and Layla didn’t disappoint me. Tomatoes were also stuffed inside the pita. I heart tomatoes. The fries were seasoned well and golden and crispy. The house Harissa Toum Aioli sauce, for all intents and purposes, was Utah-style fry sauce.

Spicy Girl: I thought your fries were amazing. I should have ordered some with my wrap. I thought the seasoning gave them a nice flavor. I also liked your chicken, but thought it was a tad bit dry. It was well seasoned though. It is hard to give chicken flavor. They succeeded. I ordered the falafel wrap for $7. The falafels were nice and crispy and flavorful, but there was a bit too much tahini sauce. My poor wrap fell apart and I had to eat it with a fork. Oh, Sweetie, I forgot to thank you for giving me your pepperoncini . Yum!

Sweetie: My pleasure. I wanted to comment on falafel in Spicy Girl’s wrap. I don’t think I’ve had it before. It tasted nutty but had the texture of beans. And my wrap fell apart, too. They need to learn from the Mexicans. I want my pitas buritto-style. Then the best part of the meal – dessert! I got the chocolate macadamia mousse with an Oreo crust ($7.) It was fluffy and creamy. Could have been more chocolately.

Spicy Girl: Holy cow Sweetie! How could you possibly make that more chocolately? It was very chocolatey. I went with a Turkish coffee ($2.50)… which is not for the meek of heart. This stuff is strong – served in a cup that about the size of a shot glass. Be careful, the bottom is thick and mucky so don’t gulp it down. For my dessert I went with the Bird’s Nest ($3) -- which is sort of like baklava, but different. It is a pastry shell with a sweet, pistachio based filling. The $3 gets you two small pastries so it was perfect to share with our special guest, SGBF.

SGBF: I ordered small plates for my main course. I got the clam chowder (soup of the day) for $4. It was not the usual thick consistency for New England clam chowder. It was refreshingly light. I liked it. I also ordered the fitayer spinach pie. Unusual because it was not fillo dough, it was more like a spinach-filled pot pie. It was filled with ample amounts of the spinach, Swiss chard and pine nut filling. And I got the crab cakes as well. They were tasty.