This isn’t just a beautiful pizza crust. It’s a beautiful pitza crust. Baked in a standard industrial pizza oven at the front of Bedouin Tent, it’s a warm expression of mixed influences at this Jordanian-owned, pan-Arabic seasoned, New-York cultured restaurant between Boerum Hill and Downtown Brooklyn.

Like Moustache Pitza, its cousin in Manhattan, Bedouin Tent puts fresh pita front and center – diners are often greeted by the sight of an aproned cook rolling out flour-dusted rounds of dough as they step through the front door. The impact is simple and powerful: Compared to the discs of dough that normally envelop a city falafel, these rustic pockets are alive in the way that traditional bread should be.

Pita doesn’t always take the form of a pocket, a culinary fact Bedouin Tent explains through its “pitza” dishes. On the traditional end of this spectrum is Za’atar bread ($4.75), a crusty, pizza-style bread topped with a spread of dried thyme, olive oil, sesame seeds and salt. Sumac, a traditional ingredient in za’atar, is absent form this version, but having almost no experience with sumac as a dried herb, I can’t say how this lack impacts the flavor, which is more savory and toasted than herbal or aromatic.

A more contemporary choice, the house’s tomato and cheese pitza ($6) fits right in as a local pizza option. Its crust, with its light and crackly edges and chewy, porous body, lacks the smoky inflections of a more classic pizza but easily shames the clunky, gummy disappointment at the foundation of most neighborhood slices. The simple coat of sweet tomato sauce and brown-freckled mozzarella atop is balanced and generous, and given that this pizza is always baked to order, it’s a serious contender for best slice (eight slices across ten inches, to be precise) in the area.

For just a dollar more, however, diners can enjoy Bedouin Tent’s “Lambajin,” a hefty rendition of mid-eastern lahmacun that runs away with the pitza menu. Its substantial spread of minced lamb, onion, tomato and herbs is extremely moist and very accessible, with a rich, sweet and savory flavor dominated by well done lamb and tomato. Browned from its time in the pizza oven, the spread crumbles into juicy morsels with each bite.

This dish, sometimes called “Turkish pizza,” embodies what Bedouin Tent gets right: Arabic cuisine rooted in multiple cooking traditions. Instead of offering more classic national dishes likes Jordan’s Mansaf, the cooks impress the nomadic concept of the Bedouin onto a multinational menu.

Not everything that results is fantastic – Bedouin Tent’s falafel, for example, is fairly standard and its chicken pitza comes off as slapdash at best – but most of the menu is at least a great value. The tent’s merguez sandwich ($6) is heavily set with chunks of juicy-not-greasy lamb sausage, backed by a subtle level of spice. Leg of lamb is a popular choice here that I have yet to try but would trust to be equally satisfying.

Bedouin Tent’s $9 mix-and-match salad plate is a kaleidoscopic treat, just as enjoyable as any of the restaurant’s entrees. Baba ghanoush is sweet and smoky without being burnt out, grape leaves are pungent and tart, spinach and chickpeas come dressed with a pleasing tomato sauce, and the folding of beets with dense, velvety labneh into a fresh pita makes one Hell of a built-in dessert.

I first stopped by Bedouin Tent to try its pita, but am happy to know that fresh bread is only one of many charms. It’s not often that I can duck under one roof for Middle Eastern lamb, New York pizza, and a rich Mediterranean spread, but under the big tent of Brooklyn eats, it’s all good.

Bedouin Tent
405 Atlantic Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718.852.5555

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 9:41 pm and is filed under Brooklyn, New York.