Review: Abu Zayn in Rockville Centre

Too often seen as an undifferentiated expanse of hummus and kebabs, Middle Eastern cuisine contains multitudes — with each country contributing its own dishes, flavors and techniques. On Long Island, the scene is dominated by Turkish, Israeli and Persian restaurants, but here comes Abu Zayn with its irresistible Egyptian fare.

Chef-owner Omar Soltan was born in Valley Stream but spent a chunk of his childhood in his parents’ native Egypt. Back in the U.S., he cooked in high-end kitchens before opening Abu Zayn last summer, and he’s managed to blend a trained chef’s refinement with the unadulterated verve of the practiced home cook.

The menu looks more complicated than it is: The various proteins — chicken and beef shawarma (here, done the correct way, on a vertical spit), chicken and lamb kebabs, beef kofte (meatballs) and falafel can be had stuffed into a pita pocket; rolled, burrito-style, into the paper-thin flatbread called laffa and then griddled to crispness; spooned over a bowl of rice or arrayed on a large platter. You can’t go wrong, but the chicken shawarma is particularly succulent and savory. Rolled up with pickles, lettuce and tomatoes, it’s an unbeatable wrap. Tender, yielding kofte makes a fitting filling for the pita, which is puffier and tastier than the usual leathery specimen. (A recommended specialty of the house, hawashi, involves stuffing the raw kofte mixture into pita and then pressing and toasting the works. Heaven.) The pita can also be put to good use scooping up gobs of pleasantly grainy hummus and babaganoush.

Formerly a wing joint, the shop consists of six tables, a takeout counter and an open kitchen. But Soltan demonstrates respect for his mission and his customers with proper tableware and napkins, elegant platings and a mural of Cairo’s historic Khan el-Khalili bazaar.

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