The owner of Madison’s popular Near Eastern restaurant, Mediterranean Joint, chose a descriptive name when he opened a restaurant in Downtown Milwaukee. Like the Madison Joint, the Milwaukee menu circles around the eastern Mediterranean seaboard, landing on Turkey, Greece and the Levant—a culinary zone interconnected by trade and culture for many centuries.
The restaurant’s entrees are served on decorative metal platters and encompass chicken, beef and lamb, with vegetarian side dishes and a Vegan Kofte Plate ($17.99) with grilled vegetable kofte, pita bread, rice and salad. The attractively served Chicken Shawarma Plate ($17.99) features lightly seasoned, fall-apart-tender shredded chicken resting on a bed of rice and chickpeas, accompanied by pita, an ample chopped lettuce salad with tomatoes and onions, a small bowl of palate cooling tzatziki and a single rice-stuffed grape leaf. The costliest menu item is the entrée sampler, the Combo Plate ($27.99).
Mediterranean Cuisine also offers wraps, including a Gyro Wrap ($11.99) with thin-pressed lavash instead of the usual pita. You could go light with the Turkish Tabbouleh Plate ($7.99), a serving of the traditional Near Eastern salad made from bulgar wheat, parsley, mint, cucumber and tomato tossed with lemon juice and olive oil. Other lighter options include the Hummus and Baba Ghanoush plates ($6.99 each) served with pita. The extensive, reasonably priced sides and appetizer menus include Greek fries ($5.99) sprinkled with feta, oregano and parsley. You can make a mezze platter by choosing from three of the appetizer selections. Also typical for the region, a bowl of yellow lentil soup ($5.99)…