A salad worth seeking out

At Albasha on Corporate Boulevard, the fattoush sits quietly on the menu, overshadowed by the chicken shawarma plate, the kabobs and the gyros wrapped in pita. It should not.

This is the dish worth your attention. Fattoush, a Levantine bread salad most closely associated with Lebanon, began as a practical way to turn toasted flatbread and whatever vegetables and herbs were around into something fresh, sharp and satisfying. Like many thrift-born dishes, it ends up tasting richer than its humble origins suggest.

Albasha was started by Jordanians who came to LSU to study engineering, then stayed and fed Baton Rouge instead. Their fattoush is done just right: pita toasted to a slight bitterness, mixed with lettuce, cucumber, tomato and mint in a light vinaigrette. Add the chicken shawarma, and you get thin slices with crisped edges and just enough spice to make the salad feel like a full meal. Gyro works too.

The kabobs are good. I say that as someone inclined to order kabobs almost anywhere. But this is the more interesting choice, and the sort of dish that keeps pulling you back. I have eaten it three times in a month, which feels less like excess than good judgment.

—Mukul Verma