I’m breaking in a new lens for my camera, and unfortunately I didn’t get a good picture of the Chicken Tikka I recently had from Salt & Pepper Mediterranean Restaurant on Rodney Parham Road—so I hope you’ll all forgive me for pulling a picture from the restaurant’s Facebook page. Because despite my photographic failure, I really wanted to talk about the place today for one important reason: It’s really good.
Eating at Salt & Pepper wasn’t my plan at all, to be perfectly honest—I hadn’t heard anything about the place. I logged onto Chef Shuttle the other night hungry for a gyro and decided to take a chance, and I am happy I did. First up, that Chicken Tikka platter: two delightful char-grilled skewers of spicy, savory chicken, served up with a flavorful side of spiced rice that made for one heck of a tasty dish. An order of hummus to the side was smooth and silk and pungent with tahini and lemon, just the way I like it, and the Iraqi-style flatbread served with it was a delightful change from the expected pita.
As for that gyro (and again, forgive my new-lens pic up there), it was loaded with delicious shaved lamb, onions, lettuce and pickles. It was huge and delicious, and I could barely finish it (but don’t fret—I suffered through just for you). It’s tough to make a gyro that I won’t enjoy, but this one was really quite delicious, not dry or spongy like some I’ve had. And once again, the bread used to hold it all together was delightful.
Little Rock has really developed quite a great line-up of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants over the past few years, and I think Salt & Pepper will be able to stand up to any of them. Any of you given the place a try? I’d love to hear about what you enjoyed down there in the comments.