Midtown Lunch

Kanella is well loved for their top notch Cypriot menu. Getting a reservation there for a Friday night is as easy as nailing jello to a tree. But what about lunch? While the dinner entrees run from $18 to $25, a very affordable lunch menu is offered from Thursday through Sunday. The menu includes both lunch and breakfast options; this is great for me, I am (if it wasn’t obvious) way more of a lunch than  breakfast gal. But I know some people can pass up a fancy egg, and they can get their poached or fried egg fix. Breakfast fans and lunch fans can eat in harmony here at Kanella.

With the welcoming white washed walls and extremely helpful service, I didn’t even mind that the tables were on top of each other. Our waiter put our wine on ice and carefully explained the menu.

The trio of dips changes; we got skordalia, a carrot/sweet potato dip, and a roasted pepper/feta dip. The garlicky skordalia and the feta dip perfectly represented  clean and bright Greek flavors. The carrot dip was more unique and perfect for the changing seasons; it was just a little bit sweet and I kept piling it on my pita. The dips were a great start and got me pumped for the rest of the meal.

I couldn’t pass up the lamb sandwich with feta, dill, and spinach on multigrain bread for $8. While cooked to the appropriate done-ness, the lamb had some chewy pieces and wasn’t as flavorful as I was expecting. The lamb was mild and overpowered by all the bread. Maybe open faced would work better?  It is served with a super fresh, mixed green salad.

The lamb flatbread, “lacham atzeen”, was the winner ($10). Spicy ground lamb is topped with pine nuts and placed on a flatbread. The menu said mint is involved, but I didn’t really notice. As opposed to the sandwich, this lamb was really flavorful.  I think the flatbread may have beaten up the lamb sandwich and then stole its flavor. What is it about pine nuts that matches so well with ground meat? And the lightly charred pita was the perfect base for holding up the toppings.  Cool, thick tzaziki comes on the side along with salad.

Kanella makes a mean baklava as well. We were told instead of slapping butter on the top of the filo, each layer gets a coat. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• It is BYO, and beer or light wine goes so well with the food
• Perfect dips, great to share
• Very helpful waitstaff
• The lamb flat bread is a great lunch

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• I do not like eating so close to strangers
• The lamb sandwich did not meet my expectation
• Lunch not available Mon-Wed

Kanella, 1001 Spruce St (@ 10th St), 215 922-1773