City: West Palm Beach, FL

Category: Restaurants

Address: 120 South Dixie Hwy.

Description: Leila describes itself as a cosmopolitan Middle East grille. There’s indoor and outdoor dining in an authentic atmosphere representative of Middle Eastern culture. There are artifacts of that culture all over the place, Oriental draperies and ornaments, subtle-purple seats, and soft lighting from wall sconces.There’s belly-dancing (originally meant as a form of celebration among women only, often in preparation for childbirth), called Rah-iss Sharqi in the region of its birth. There are three types of thick Turkish coffee, served in tiny demitasse cups. There are a variety of calming and interesting teas. You can also sample a hookah, that pipe you’ve seen in a hundred old movies. A hookah uses a special type of tobacco, different than cigarette-tobacco; it’s infused with molasses, and it’s mixed with different fruits—such as apricots, apples, or cherries—and other aromatic elements to produce a very unusual sensation.The cuisine is interesting and reflective of faraway lands and cultures. All the old familiar Middle Eastern standbys are here—hummus, falafel, t’china, pita, and tabouleh salad. Try the Na’anak appetizer; lamb, beef, and pork sausages infused with port wine, pine nuts, sherry, cinnamon, clove, and allspice. One of the most popular entrees is the Leila Grill (for two), single skewers of shish tawook (chicken chunks marinated in yogurt, lemon juice, and spices), shish kabob (steak, pepper, onions, and tomatoes), lamb kabob, and kraidis (shrimp). And the Land and Sea Platter is a delicious combination of samak mishwi (flame-grilled mahi-mahi), kraidis, and shish tawook. Middle Eastern desserts are thick and sweet and filled with distinctive flavors. The baklava here, wonderfully sweet and sticky, is excellent. So is the knaffe, a traditional cake served with sweet cheeses, pistachios, and orange-blossom syrup. The signature dessert here is sokseh, a sweet chocolate biscuit with very fine powdered sugar.