Restaurant Review: Black Iris

Black Iris (228 DeKalb Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY 11205)


On yet another trip to Brooklyn's vast bastion of botched bureaucracy - the Atlantic Avenue DMV - we were temporarily derailed by the frivolous lunch break of a judge attending to our traffic violation ticket. So we hiked the nearby Fort Greene/Clinton Hill geography, ably guided via our personal GPS (local 'hood rat Ruske on our cellie), in search of our noon repast. Along the way we turned down the intriguing South African restaurant Madiba, passed on the food blogger's darling of the moment, The General Greene, and ended up at the highly recommended (kudos again to Jen Ruske) Middle Eastern oasis of Black Iris.



Offering North African fare as well, and shabbily decorated as a louche opium den suggesting the long tradition of moral dissipation in Marrakesh, the Black Iris soothed us with its relative quiet and dusty darkness (this, despite two full picture windows and rare winter sunshine).



A Merguez Sausage Platter ($10) arrived alongside a Frisbee-sized hot and puffy whole pita bread, nicely browned and warmed from the grill. The huge "cutlet" of Moroccan lamb sausage was quite tasty and sided with rich tahini dressing, but the stars of the plate were velvet-smooth hummus and piquant baba ghanoush. Everything is dusted with dried sumac and also impressive was a fresh green salad stacked with ripe tomatoes, sliced onions, a plethora of olives and sweet and sour pickles. Improbable, percussive strains of Mexican hip hop drifted to the dining room from the kitchen, once again reminding us all of Brooklyn's true status as a melting pot bubbling with endless variety.