AlBadawi: Brooklyn Heights (Palestinian) or their sister restaurant in Bay Ridge Ayat (which is cheaper/maybe slightly better but it's in Bay Ridge so it's pain in the ass to get to.) The lamb ouzi is amazing at the former and the latter has better solo plates and one of my favorite cauliflower in the city.

Miznon is Israeli on the Upper East Side. Outstanding lamb and dessert (silan) in particular but everything is good

Best Turkish might be Taci's Beyti in Brooklyn but I tend to prefer Turkish food in New Jersey (Passaic/Paterson)

For Greek it heavily depends on price and preference. You said Brooklyn/Manhattan so that eliminates Astoria but otherwise I like Nerai for their excellent prix fixe. I also like Kiki's as well though I've only been once and Pylos.

There's a lot of Lebanese spots and as with Turkish I prefer the spots in NJ. Ilili is quite good as noted though it's a mixed bag.

Tanoreen is excellent also.

Mediterranean is quite broad. Do you mean South of France? Amalfi Coast? Turkey? Middle East? Spain? Morocco? Greece? Lebanon?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mediterranean_countries#List_of_countries_on_the_Mediterranean_Sea

I'll throw out some random places:

Ilili

Tanoreen

Frenchette

Nili Cafe

Miriam

La Vara

Pera

Zaytinya

Balaboosta

Boulud Sud

Zou Zou's

Shuka

Shukette

Marseille

Miznon

Estiatorio Milos

Avra

12 Chairs

Laser wolf in Brooklyn. Delicious food with even better view of the manahattan skyline

Kiki’s! Or Mogador (they have a location in Brooklyn and Manhattan)

Bustan on uws. North Miznon. Barbounia!!

I’m no expert, but the Yemeni & Lebanese places on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn are consistently excellent.

Ilili is well lauded. I haven’t been, but I know someone who works there and am dying to visit!

The Summit on Avenue C is not a Lebanese restaurant but the owner is Lebanese and their hummus tastes like what I grew up eating from my Lebanese-American family’s recipe and our local Lebanese grocery.

Authentic Middle Eastern food recommendations? Recommendations from Arab people or people who live in the Middle East would be preferable! All welcome though! Thank you from awhile back recommends Steinway Street in Astoria and Manoushe among others. Where can I find a good Turkish breakfast in NYC? from 3 months before that recommends simit saryan.

Might be an odd answer but Miriam in Park Slope does good (Israeli) middle eastern food. Similarly, Zatar, also in Park Slope. Other than that we’ve tried a bunch of middle eastern places and they’re all meh. Either the pita is wrong, the hummus is, or the meat is dry. Miriam and Zatar are legit though.

Arab*

Arabic is the language :)

You’re right about the halal cart v upscale places. A good middle ground is Yemen Cafe in Bay Ridge. It’s amazing. Quite different than Levantine food though. If you live in the west village you probably know manousheh which is great.

Source: lebanese New Yorker

Steinway in Astoria is a street full of great middle eastern restaurants. Duzan is more of a takeout place but I order from there all the time, incredibly flavorful and delicious. Kabab cafe and Mombar are other places you could check out. And not really middle eastern, but Sami’s kabab House is a great afghan restaurant that has similar menu items to the restaurants you link. It’s delicious and low fuss.

I’m sure there are also great options in Bay Ridge. My friends love Ayat but I haven’t made my way out there yet.

Naya. Unapologetically Lebanese. Right in Midtown, they have a couple of locations that have different levels of service and menus. Two are more lunch places, but still good. They don't make those pre-formed "lamb" loaf gyros or anything you'd find at a halal cart.

https://www.nayarestaurants.com/

I like ILILI in Midtown

Karam in Bay Ridge for Lebanese.

Naya is pretty reasonable. Tons of good Mediterranean fast casual spots popping up recently. I'd recommend Fle Fle and Tanam too for fast casual.

Au Za’atar 🤤

Balade LES

Karam

Lava in the West village is also great although it's not Lebanese strictly but middle Eastern.

Haven't found a good one yet. My wife is half Lebanese and have given up trying to find anything half as good as my father in laws cooking.

Might be an American thing though because she liked a middle eastern restaurant in London!

Ilili and Ayat among others are recommended by What are the best Lebanese/Arabic restaurants in NYC? from 5 months ago. Authentic Middle Eastern food recommendations? Recommendations from Arab people or people who live in the Middle East would be preferable! All welcome though! Thank you from awhile back recommends Steinway Street in Astoria and Manoushe among others.

Al Bustan

Ilili and Tanoreen 100%

Dar525

Za’atar man’oushe, a flatbread often sold street-side and eaten as an on-the-fly breakfast, sells itself as servers whiz it through the dining room. Hayek’s take involves decorating the surface with pretty dots of labneh and tomato and herb purees, a nod to the colors of Lebanon’s flag. Again, the additions signal a creative flex without diminishing the pungent, mulchy savor of the za’atar or the bread’s tangy warmth.

He did something similar on World All-Stars!

MOST compelling?? That's a hell of a claim. Would assume it would be very good. But, most compelling is a big one to say about LA

My mouth is watering!

Oh man I would love to go there

Algeria has some good dishes, as does Morocco, but you’re right - very hard to find, even in Queens and Brooklyn. I just got back from Montreal and had fantastic Algerian food. Would be delighted if someone could find more Maghrebin places in NYC

i really cant help you much :(

i have gone to foda egyptian sandwiches and liked it (though not super on top of egyptian food) and there was an egyptian stall im pretty sure at queens night market last year that served koshary and things like that but i dont see them on the roster this year

i liked the koshary but it was the first koshary ive eaten in my life so really not much of a data point LOL

and bar omar had really good algerian but closed like... even before the pandemic hit smh

Thanks for putting this list together. Good N. African food is indeed hard to find here. I'm super picky having had such good food while living in Morocco. I'm sure it's because so much of the ingredients are grown locally and picked ripe in Morocco. I'm willing to try some of these in the off chance something will be good.

I don't know Egyptian food but I really like Zooba and Abuqir.

Cafe Mogador in the EV for Moroccan!!

The owner of Pause Cafe in the LES is also Moroccan - they only have a few Moroccan items on their menu (shakshuka etc) but it’s a great café regardless

Kenafa = l'abeille d'or, any branch.

Foul, hummus & others = Fady, Jal el Deeb. Edit 1: El Sousi Zeidaniyeh street in the Mar Elias area

Manakish = Christo, Ashrafiyeh near Sawt Loubnan radio station.

Shawarma = Joseph, Sin el Fil.

Sfiha = lakkis farms is good but if in Baalbeck find a local butcher would be way better.

Subs, Burgers, Asbeh = Sako, Nahr road Mar Mkhayel.

Lebanese cuisine, kabab, kafta, She2af, Nayeh = Abo Jihad, Jal el Deeb.

Shams restaurant, Anjar. Edit 2: or his new branch Mirna Shalouhi highway

That's if you want the good tasting food and not just the known names

Recommendations would be best if you would exactly let us know what area and food varieties you wish to taste.

Depends on budget and location really.

Fi plenty of AAA Lebanese restaurants like Babel and Em Sherif and Mounir and Al Halabi and Diwan and Burj Al Hamem and Mhanna and the list is really endless.

I guess Em Sherif and Babel stand above the rest but they are the most expensive out of them all.

Em sharif is great but def not the best

Shams

Amaleen, loris , shams are great.

If you want pasteries as well, Pâtisserie Royale is a good one. Grew up going to this place 20 years ago when my dad owned a restaurant in the same plaza. Always has a place in my heart

Boustan - 2074 Lawrence Ave E

Ghadir is a popular one, people buy their toum by the tonne

Lebanese Bakery - 2094 Lawrence Ave E for amazing authentic lebanese manakeesh

Ghadir restaurant - for arabic grills

Arz fine foods - for lebanese supermarket and snacks as well

Paramount fine foods - Not authentic but I did like the sheesh tawook and toum (garlic sauce)

Laymoon restaurant - Haven’t tried this personally but heard good things about it.