Zeugma Grill Brunch

We decided on the AmTrak for an hour towards Jersey - and was rewarded by a handsome lunch at Zeugma Grill in Montclair. Montclair doesn’t feel like Manhattan at all. It feels like a quaint English town in Surrey. The fall hues of orange, red and ochre litters across the High Street, adding to our anticipation as we entered the restaurant. Our friends who live in a town nearby discovered Zeugma a few months ago and there was no looking back.

This South Park Street restaurant serves up top-quality pita and hummus, savory main dishes, and tempting desserts — basically the epitome of delicious Mediterranean cuisine.

Everyone serving and presumably in the kitchen was either Middle Eastern or Turkish - and it came across really authentic. This is probably the best Middle Eastern meal I’ve had (outside of Dubai, UAE) for the last decade.

At Zeugma Grill in Montclair, chef Can (pronounced John) Alp, 28, scores with his unique Avoganoush, a literal mashup of avocado and baba ghanoush. Zeugma’s menu leans Mediterranean, with a few Turkish specialties.

Cilbir, Turkish eggs. 7.5/10

Most interesting is manti, delicate dumplings stuffed with minced shiitakes instead of traditional ground beef. They’re served in a tart, pale-pink sauce made with labneh, white wine and paprika oil.

Alp also offers beef shish kebab and keftah made with a blend of lamb and beef. They were well-executed, if uninspired, renditions.

We ordered the lamb hummus and pumpkin hummus - these two have got to be the standouts for the day. I’ve never had lamb hummus before so I might be naive in saying this was a 8/10 for me. The curd, the bite, the creaminess converted even a naysayer like myself into a lamb lover!

The pumpkin hummus was quite unique too. This was a close second for me at 7.5/10. We are talking about hummus - the dip/sauce. The bread itself was a piece of magic.

I’m not a bread lover but the home made breads that came out of Zeugma’s kitchen got me wanting more.

Overall experience a 7.5/10. Extra marks for being a non conventional menu offering outside of Manhattan (brave!), but everything was well warranted! I’m not sure most will have the chance to venture out to Jersey- but as ‘white food’ goes, you won’t be disappointed!