PYRAMIDA
1/2
401 E. 78TH ST. (BETWEEN FIRST & YORK AVENUES) (212) 472-5855
Bit of the Middle East on East 78th Street
ACROSS the street at Sushi of Gari, fish fashionistas are packed in like sardines. Pyramida doesn’t pack them in, but its devotees are no less passionate. A man waiting for takeout details the merits of the falafel, then segues to his own mother’s pitas.
This tiny storefront is homey, in a broken-in way. The faded green walls are hung with Egyptian pictures and there’s a little model of a pyramid on the counter. I’d like to think the hieroglyphics next to the entrance say “Try our shawerma.”
Do, and you won’t regret it. The pita, plump with a luscious blend of warm crumbled lamb, cucumber, lettuce and tomato topped with tahini, is so messy you’ll want to shower afterward ($4.95).
The menu is devoted to Middle Eastern specialties like glistening eggplant moussaka with long-simmered tomatoes, foul (nutty brown favas), the greenest tabouli imaginable and irresistible cabbage stuffed with rice and herbs.
Football-shaped kibbah are dry but good, fashioned of ground lamb stuffed with sweet pignoli and walnuts and then fried. They come with salad and overly sweet cinnamon rice with raisins.
But rice mixed with lentils and caramelized onions hits the spot. Top it with macaroni and tomatoes and you’ve got kushary, one of the stranger combos I’ve ever had ($5.95).
Extra crisp and subtly spiced falafal come as a side dish ($3.25), a sandwich ($3.50) or a plate ($5.95, with hummus, salad and pita). Most of the meat plates are $10.95.
The thirst-quencher of choice is lemonade, bright and mellow with honest flavor. Cleo would have loved it.