RESTAURANT REVIEW

Mediterranean fare with a trendy twist in downtown Perrysburg

Seared lam at Zingo's.

Zingo's Mediterranean in Perrysburg belies the typical northwest Ohio Lebanese/Greek dining experience.

No offense to any of the dozen or so similar ethnic restaurants — many of them are quite good — but most fit one of two prototypes: no-frills deli-type operations or dark, warm, old-fashioned sit-down restaurants that are generally reminiscent of another era.

MENU: Zingo's Mediterranean

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Zingo's is well-lit, with trendy art and brick walls, located next to Stella's in the heart of downtown Perrysburg. The customers on both of our visits fit a younger demographic than you would generally see at The Beirut or Byblos. The restaurant doesn't serve alcohol and rather than sit down and have a waiter handle your order, you place it at the counter.

The best way to start your meal is with the appetizer sampler ($10), an attractive plate of meat and vegetarian grape leaves, hummus, kalamata olives, and tabbouli served with pita bread. The grape leaves were fat and rolled tight, the meat versions stuffed with lean ground beef. Our only complaint: The pita bread was a bit stale.

The shish kebab entrée ($16) is highly recommended for the red-meat crowd, the beef char-grilled and served medium with an ideal flavor that was part steakhouse and part Mediterranean. It was served with grilled onions and green peppers, on a bed of rice that included slivered almonds. The nuts jazz up the rice, but folks with allergies should steer clear.

The feta chicken ($14) is an intriguing and pretty pile of grilled chicken, zucchini, squash, tomato, and onion over a bed of couscous and slathered in a yogurt sauce. I could grow weary of the yogurt sauce and would ask the chef to go light on it.

The most intriguing item on Zingo's menu is the Mediterranean junk salad ($12), a massive dish that features — it's a mouthful, but here goes — lettuce, gyro meat, grilled chicken, chick peas, tomato, parsley, cucumber, red onions, kalamata olives, and baked pita chips. Let's not forget the homemade creamy balsamic vinaigrette. Essentially every bite tastes different depending what's on your fork, and this is a wonderful concoction when your taste buds are begging for overdrive.

With winter rattling the windows, the homemade chicken rice soup with lemon ($3.50/$5/$9) is an ideal selection. This is truly homemade with chunks of chicken floating in a broth that has just a hint of lemon in its after-taste and big fat carrots for bulk.

The gyro sandwich ($7) is exactly what you'd expect, although we ordered it and the chicken tawook sandwich ($7) in the special "Zingo" bread, which is thin, grilled pita. Both were solid, but not necessarily special. The tawook comes with sliced pickles, which we could do without, and the gyro was exceptionally messy.

Zingo's also has a full dessert menu — we were much too full after both visits — and has a few gluten free post-meal options.

The service on both visits was excellent, but at the price level Zingo's is operating — entrees in the $14 to $20 range — it's a bit casual, given the lack of table wait service and no alcohol options.

Contact Bill of Fare at fare@theblade.com.

Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants. The Blade pays for critics' meals.

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