By Yolanda Wright
Contributing writer
After wearing its golden crown for 30 years on Marshall Street on the university hill, King David's has spread its domain to include a bright and shiny spot in Towne Center at Fayetteville.
Whether the crowd at its new family-friendly digs on a recent Wednesday evening was a sign of loyalty, curiosity or craving for first-rate Middle Eastern food, tables were full in three dining areas.
Good fresh food, exceptionally attentive service, moderate prices and a cheerful atmosphere deserved high marks especially on a busy evening when the staff was still smiling.
With a busy carry-out business and limited seating in the front of the restaurant, King David's has a pleasant, carpeted main dining room with pale wood tables and chairs, upholstered booths and walls painted in a variety of bold colors.
Stylish star-shapedhanging lamps and wall sconces add more color, and bare tables are topped with bottles of olive oil and red-pepper sauce, wine and beer lists and silverware rolled in paper napkins.
Beyond the dining room, an enclosed courtyard provides more seating.
King David's extensive, annotated, all-day menu starts with Greek "pitzas" ($5.95), baked on 12-inch pita breads with mozzarella, tomatoes, Greek feta, olives and spices.
Twelve additional toppings add 75 cents each.
Fifteen "mazza" ($2 to $6.50) appetizers can be combined in a traditional Middle Eastern starter for two ($12.95) with 10 of the items.
Salads ($4.50 to $6.99) and sandwiches ($4.50 to $5.50) offer vegetarian as well as ethnic chicken, beef and lamb items.
Sandwiches are also offered as platters ($7.50 to $8.50) and include tossed salad, falafel (vegetable patty), pita bread and a choice of rice, hummus (chickpea dip), babaganouge (eggplant dip) or steak fries.
Thirteen a-la-carte dishes ($6.50 to $7.50) offer individual portions of some of the dishes found in 15 house specialties ($9.50 to $14.95 and after 4 p.m.), which include Greek salad, hummus, falafel patty and pita.
We beganwith glasses of chardonnay ($3.25), skipped starters and welcomed a basket of warm pita bread and house specialties on large white platters that held entrees as well as their side dishes.
Chicken kabob ($11.95) delivered two skewers of delicious marinated and grilled chicken chunks alternated with pieces of onion and bell pepper.
Tender with bold grilled marks, the chicken, served on a bed of good rice, was full of flavor.
The small Greek salad with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, feta cheese and black olives was tossed with splendid homemade Greek dressing, and a crisp, deep-fried falafel of ground chickpeas, onions and spices was a savory contrast to the mild hummus dip designed for pita.
With the same side dishes, a Greek Trio ($12.95) provided a sampler of two popular ethnic casseroles and a crisp spanakopita, or phyllo-wrapped triangle filled with spinach and feta cheese and baked.
Crunchy on the outside and smooth inside, the pie was delicious.
A square of baked mousaka layered with seasoned ground beef, sliced potatoes and eggplant was topped with a thick layer of bechamel sauce.
Potato chunks seemed to dominate the casserole, and my personal preference is to limit layers to eggplant and seasoned meat, but the flavor was fine.
Another square, pastichio or Greek lasagna, layered macaroni with seasoned ground beef, cheese and tomato, which came together easily beneath a thick coating of bechamel sauce. The whole sampler provided a nice variety of tastes and textures. Other house specialtiesinclude a vegetarian dinner, including dessert, for two ($16.95), kabob combo with lamb and chicken ($11.95), barbecue platter or Greek platter ($9.50) and individual portions of pastichio, mousaka and spanakopita ($9.50).
Children younger than 10 have four choices ($3.95 each) with fries or salad.
Assorted baklava pastries ($2 for two pieces) are King David's only desserts, but choosing shapes (rolls, bird's nests, squares) is part of the fun, and the other part comes with a choice of nuts or flavors.
Our waitress called each "a bite and half," and what lovely bites they were with pistachios. The crisp golden phyllo pastries were terrific tiny tastes at the end of a happy visit. King David's was filled with diners of all ages, from toddlers to teens to their grandparents. And everyone seemed to be enjoying the evening. Fresh-tasting food and a large, experienced staff made it easy to look forward to the next visit.
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