Review: Middle Eastern restaurant Tabülé’s chic new Riverdale outpost

The second location of the midtown restaurant Tabülé occupies a former east end doctor’s office, beautifully made over with vintage stained glass light fixtures, a wood inlay counter and marble-accented washrooms. The kitchen is out to impress, with a focus on efficiency, precision and presentation. Dainty cauliflower florets are flash-fried and drizzled with tahini, producing a vegetarian appetizer that’s as fun to eat as popcorn shrimp. Labneh, a Middle Eastern cream cheese, makes a rich, tangy dip for fluffy pitas, though it could use more zaatar sprinkled on top. Seared slabs of halloumi add tangy heft to a salad of peppery baby arugula and tart pomegranate vinaigrette. Lamb-beef meatballs in a garlicky tomato sauce have just the right smidge of gaminess. A dessert called mühalabiya turns out to be a creamy custard flavoured with rosewater and sprinkled a bit too lightly with slivered pistachios.