It takes a minimum of two full days to make the butter-smooth and flavor-packed hummus you’ll find at Queen of the Mediterranean Restaurant. They start by soaking jumbo chickpeas in water for a full day before simmering them for two hours. The chickpeas then rest for another day before getting blended with tahini. And that’s just one little item on the best-selling Mashawi Plate at Mohamed and Chef Kay Bataineh’s restaurant, which recently opened a second location in Lenexa after two and a half years in the Northland. This restaurant does everything a little extra, like buying grass-fed lamb shanks from the Amish in rural Missouri and making saffron rice that’s rich with the pricey spice and dotted with allspice berries for good measure. It’s our favorite Middle Eastern restaurant in town, and it’s now a lot closer for folks south of the Big Muddy.
Go: Queen of Mediterranean Restaurant, 12247 W. 87th St. Parkway, Lenexa. 913-232-8721, orderqueenofmediterranean.com.
