The feast began with a silver tray of pickled turnips, mixed Mediterranean olives, mild white Lebanese cheese slabs, Fresh Vegetables (carrots, cucumbers and mint). A big bowl of Tabbouleh combined chopped parsley, cracked wheat, tomatoes, onion, lemon juice and olive oil. The best bowl: Muhammara, a spicy dip made of crushed walnuts, red pepper paste and pomegranate juice.

Carousel makes a high-grade Hammos, crushed garbanzo beans blended with sesame oil (tahini), lemon juice and garlic, then dusted with paprika (red) and chaimen (green) and drizzled with olive oil. Kebbeh Nayyeh (Chi-Kofta), a Lebanese steak tartar pancake, was silky and fresh. With raw beef, it better be. This variation came topped with olive oil and ringed with diced parsley, onion and tomato.

Carousel’s dips and salads are solid, but it’s hard to compete with their fried appetizers, especially Fatayer (Cheese Boreg), feather light turnovers filled with three cheeses – white Lebanese cheese, feta and Jack – and topped with finely chopped parsley. Kebbeh Maklieh (Kofta) were dense, greasy spheres formed with ground beef and wheat, stuffed with sautéed beef, onions and pine nuts. Carousel’s Falafel was unique, relatively moist fried chickpea donuts studded with sesame seeds, plated with lettuce, tomatoes, parsley and tahini sauce.

Carousel has developed a reliable repertoire, but the Tcholakians recently added Manté (Shish Barak) to the menu, and it’s a direct hit. They bake thin-skinned beef dumplings, then slather with tomato sauce and tangy yogurt sauce. Just remember to eat the dish quickly. As the “meat pies” cool, yogurt congeals and skins harden.

This photo of the Soujuk Flambé doesn’t do the dish justice, since the flash negated the blue flame that surrounded the skewers of house-made Armenian beef sausage. The soujuk were pre-cooked in back, so there was no need to douse the skewers with flaming Arak, but it sure was dramatic.

Yogurt Kebab featured juicy ground beef sausages slathered with tangy yogurt sauce and pine nuts, dusted with sumac and herbs and plated on served on a bed of crispy pita chips. This dinner was a winner I terms of flavor and textural contrast.

Lamb Kastaleta – center-cut lamb chops – were luscious, with a nice char and hardly any gaminess. As with most kebabs at Carousel, the chops came with roasted tomatoes, sliced jalapeños and a parsley garnish.

Typically, removing the bone and skin from a chicken is a recipe for blandness, but the Carousel chefs are skilled at grilling yardbird, so Chicken Breast Kebab (Shish Tawook) remained juicy, with a nice char. Of course there were plenty of roasted tomatoes and jalapeños, plus pita painted with zesty tomato sauce.

A dessert platter featured surprisingly light pastries crafted with creamed cheese, pistachio, rosewater and orange blossom oil. My favorite was the Ossmanlieh (Knefeh B’ashta), capped with a crispy bird’s nest-like thatch of fried dough strands. Ash El Sarayya was simpler, just dough-wrapped cream. Halaweh B’Jheben combined semolina, Lebanese cheese and fresh cream.