Veg Out: Platters at Pasha

By Abigail Dock     9/9/10 7:00pm

Just a 15 minute walk from anywhere on campus, Pasha Turkish Restaurant is perfect for hungry Rice students looking for a rib-sticking ethnic meal on weeknights or during the weekend. And, as it turns out, it's also not a bad place for omnivores to take their vegetarian friends, or vice versa. Meat eaters will find a full array of entrees without condemning their vegetarian companions to yet another plate of wilted iceberg lettuce. Nearly all of the appetizers on Pasha's menu are vegetarian or vegan, and the large Pasha Meze platter - a mouth-watering selection of cold appetizers that includes hummus, babaganush and eggplant salad - is big enough to serve as an entree.

Despite being prepared with tomatoes, cucumber, green peppers and onions topped with a lemon-oil dressing, the Turkish Shepherd salad comes off as fairly lackluster. However, it tastes much better when stuffed into the free bread that Pasha serves.

The entree selection is a bit more limited, especially for vegans. While there are seven vegetarian entrees, three of them are pizzas, which is frankly underwhelming. The overall quality of the pizza was excellent, but besides being shaped like a football, there was nothing that really distinguished Pasha's pizzas from a specialty pizza one could order at Papa John's or Domino's. It should taste more like a Turkish dish and less like generic takeout.

---

---

There are only two vegan entree options - the stuffed eggplant and the mixed vegetable plate, although the veggie sandwich is also vegan-izable. Yet, what the menu lacks in vegan variety, it makes up in flavor. Some may think cooking vegetables is easier than cooking meat, but they have obviously never tried to cook a whole eggplant - there are always a few tough or stringy places that you have to work around, but not at Pasha. Every eggplant dish served here is cooked to melt-in-your-mouth perfection, from appetizers to entrees.

Two of the desserts, the baklava and the tel kadayif, are made with syrup instead of honey, which keeps them from becoming too heavy and filling. The two dishes are very similar, but the tel kadayif is more intriguing - made with shredded dough, it makes you feel like you are eating a giant, baklava-flavored Frosted Mini Wheat.

But even after all that, the best dish at Pasha is actually free: The freshly baked bread is served with a dipping sauce to die for, made from a mixture of olive oil and za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend. Honestly, if you're not ravenous, just ordering an appetizer and munching on the bread would be a fully satisfying dining experience.

As restaurant atmospheres go, Pasha is a nice mix - formal enough that you can dress up and feel fancy if you want, but casual enough that you can walk over straight after class if you're hungry. The service was fine, though our waitress didn't seem to know much about the food. The owner, however, was very kind and came over to answer my many questions about ingredients.

The food arrived promptly, steaming hot, and there was no pressure to leave immediately after downing the last bite, which is always nice. Prices were reasonable for the large portions served ($4-$6 for appetizers, $10-$12 for entrees and $3-$4 for desserts), and if you're careful, you should be able to leave with a tab under $20 per person, including tip.

Pasha is a nice place that can please omnivores and vegetarians alike. I would recommend it for any vegetarian with carnivore friends, and I think even vegans should try it once. If you like the food, as I do, you won't mind the limited choices.

Abigail Dock is a Jones College sophomore. Veg Out is a new column reviewing restaurants and their vegetarian offerings.

---