October 2- 8, 2003

food

Grill Ride

TWISTING THE SKEWER?: Sahara Grillís mixed grilled, featuring chicken, beef and lamb, with mixed vegetables. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Sahara Grill evokes candid observations and memories of rare dishes.

by Howard Altman

Sitting at the window booth of the Sahara Grill, Brendan McGarvey lifts a spicy chunk of kafta kabob ($10.95) into his mouth and smiles.

"This is very good," says McGarvey, City Paper's mob writer and a man who has traveled the world in search of the nefarious. "It reminds me of -- Afghanistan."

"Scientists have identified areas in the brain that we use to remember stimuli," he says. "One is connected to our taste buds and whenever I eat certain foods, I'm immediately transported to another culture, time or story."

The charbroiled kafta kabob -- ground sirloin infused with parsley, onions and delicately delectable Saharan spices -- takes McGarvey back to his days chasing Islamic gamblers, nomadic drug dealers and shadowy arms merchants in the hills of Central Asia.

"The food here reminds me of the shish-kabob meals sold off of old wooden carts by the Muslim Chinese -- called Hui -- in the marketplace in Xian, China," McGarvey recalls. "The Hui are Turkish-speaking descendants from Central Asia; they have more in common with Kazakhs, Uighurs and Afghans than they do the majority Han Chinese. They look different and are a politically oppressed minority.

"In Xian there was a lot of Hui influence in the food, including a lot of lamb dishes, similar to what we're eating here today."

At 1334 Walnut St., Sahara Grill is a haul from Asia, Africa or the Middle East. But its food captures the essence of pan-Arabic cuisine, if not local serving customs.

"I remember one time, we came into a village and they took us to a tent for a feast," says McGarvey. "There was a live lamb and they slit its throat from ear to ear."

While in Afghan-istan it is not only polite but pretty much requisite for one's safety to do as the Afghanis do, here at the Sahara Grill the lamb has already been done away with, and its succulent grilled meat is served in tasty shish kabobs ($11.95 for an entree) surrounded by a big helping of brown rice and grilled peppers, tomatoes and onions.

Even before the main course arrives, McGarvey begins to digress, as the eggplanty tang of the baba gannouj and the textural tartness of the tabbouleh from the Middle Eastern combo ($8.95) has him waxing nostalgic.

Even the bitterest of enemies, he says, find some commonality in the basest of human nature.

And everybody eats. Which brings us to the Sahara Grill.

The restaurant is a bustling, friendly alternative to Broad Street's pricier and trendier fare and a nice accompaniment to Walnut Street's thriving Eastern eateries (Passage to India and Samosa -- both wonderful, the latter a vegetarian Indian cafeteria -- are both just down the street).

Moderately sized, with about a dozen tables, the Sahara Grill is very reasonably priced -- the most expensive entree, the mixed grilled platter, is $13.95 while sandwiches run from $4 to $7.

McGarvey is not the only one whose taste buds tingle with memory.

The hummus, marinated eggplant, feta cheese and olives that accompany the Middle Eastern combo take me back to quick meals in Arab East Jerusalem and sumptuous dinners served in the home of Arab friends living near Lod airport.

While McGarvey is reminded of clandestine figures, I, dipping my pita into the hummus, remember bringing a couple of Wiffle balls and plastic bats to teach Arab kids the basics of baseball. And of purchasing two camel-skin-covered clay dumbeks, one of which survives to this day, much to the chagrin of officemates forced to listen to my arrhythmic pounding.

As for the authenticity of its offerings, the Sahara Grill gets high marks from a lovely young woman of Lebanese heritage who joins McGarvey at the end of our lunch.

"I can make that," she says, pointing to the pita. "My father taught me. And the baklava ($2 per crunchy, gooey triangle) is as good as I have ever had."

SAHARA GRILL

1334 Walnut St., 215-985-4155

Appetizers/salads, $3.75-$8.95; sandwiches, $4-$7; entrees, $9.95 to $13.95

Daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Wheelchair accessible. Smoking is not permitted. Reservations accepted. All major credit cards except Diners Club.