Don't you love discovering a dish so enjoyable that it's like a favorite song, one you want to play it over and over? Well, during a recent evening at Kartabar, I noticed that three diners at a nearby table were enthusiastically digging into one plate of fried calamari -- one plate each. One of them had apparently been humming a catchy ditty to her friends, so to speak. I knew I was in the right place.

Kartabar is a cute play on Kartaba, the hometown of Lebanon-born proprietor Phillippe Maatouk. He used to own Hot Pockets up the street on Thayer and also runs Phillippe's, the sandwich place next door. Kartabar has a prominent marble-topped bar, and eight wines by the glass on its all-over-the-map wine list (mostly from California).

The place opened a year ago last month, and its atmosphere is especially Mediterranean now that it's warm again, since the front opens to the breeze and street sounds. Inside, the music is loud enough to drown out traffic but not conversation, although our waiter mentioned that the volume gets cranked up after nine. A green banquette winds along the wall in an L, up to a mural-sized painting of a woman leaning languidly against a lion. I missed my hookah.

There are nearly a dozen appetizers at Kartabar, including daily specials. In addition to the traditional fried calamari before our contented neighbors, there's a Barcelona version with tomatoes and chorizo (also $7.50). For the adventurous, the restaurant, undoubtedly aware that the prospect of raw fish chills unsophisticated diners, offers tuna carpaccio ($5.50). I saw an attractive array of four chicken kebabs ($7) pass by, and the menu says they're served with a pomegranate-honey glaze.

The picture was becoming clear when our "hummus bi tahini" ($5.25) came out looking even more dramatic than the artillery formation of kebabs. Of the several elements that merge to create a memorable dining experience, which costs the restaurant virtually nothing? Presentation. (Waitstaff in some places might grumble that it's service.) Our large, inexpensive pile of sesame hummus, dotted with flavorful pitted olives, was surrounded by towering, triangular curls of fried, unleavened bread to break up and dip. It was too much for the three of us to finish. The pizza we got as a second starter competed for our appetites. The "Juliano" ($11.50) was delicious: bits of figs and wine-poached pears dappling a good quantity of four cheeses on a thin, flavorful crust.

The presentation wasn't too shabby on my entrée either. Kartabar has only a half-dozen choices besides a couple of daily specials, a situation that keeps down prices while assuring freshness. On a square side plate next to my Champagne sea bass ($15) were enough mixed greens to amount to a small side salad, plus skin-on mashed potatoes and a spread of thin, grilled zucchini slices. The latter were wonderfully smoky, and since they were only two, cruelly tantalizing. The fish was nicely done, poached in a delicately sweet and winey broth, and plenty of it; I found myself dipping forkfuls of the already yummy red-bliss mashed.

Johnnie also chose wisely. Her gnocchi ($8.50) with chicken in a pesto cream sauce was ridiculously inexpensive and delicious, the pasta so creamy it was probably made from ricotta rather than potatoes. The friend with us didn't want more than a steak sandwich ($6), which came with caramelized onions and American cheese. The accompanying skin-on fries were lightly coated before frying and were quite tasty. (Carnivore alert: a favorite dish there of an acquaintance at the next table is the filet mignon, $18, which contains Gorgonzola -- a technique I've enjoyed only with burgers.)

Since the baked desserts are made in-house, we had to go for a couple. After no serious quibbles with our meals, we trusted their tiramisu, which we love done well, so we didn't order that. (You see, Dear Reader, for your sake we are capable of depriving ourselves, as well as pigging out.) The crème brûlée ($5.50) was fine, the creamy custard topped with a caramelized top not so thick that breaking it was a project. I'm happy to report, to retain my critical credibility, that the chocolate soufflé ($5) wasn't as light and airy as it should be. There. Now you won't be expecting miracles from Kartabar. Just wonders.

Bill Rodriguez can be reached at billrod@reporters.net.

Issue Date: June 14 - 20, 2002