Palestinian restaurant Ayat brings broad traditional Middle Eastern menu to new Princeton location

Lovers of traditional Middle Eastern food will welcome the addition of Ayat to the Princeton food scene.

A new Palestinian restaurant that opened last month, Ayat features a substantial menu that includes a variety of items beyond the falafel, hummus, kebabs, and shawarma typically found at other Middle Eastern restaurants in the area.

Located at 15 Spring St., the site of the former Planet Plate vegan restaurant, the bistro is suitable for a business meeting or a gathering with family or friends.

Ayat is a chain with locations across New York City with a loyal and diverse following. It was founded by the husband-and-wife team of Abdul Elenani and Ayat Masoud, two professionals who are residents of the city. The couple has had to endure vitriolic online comments and death threats for their opposition to the war in Gaza. Their response? This year they hosted a Shabbat dinner, inviting people on social media and writing, “In the spirit of togetherness and understanding, we invite all our incredible neighbors, especially our Jewish neighbors, to a heartfelt Shabbat dinner.” The event drew 1,300 people.

We stopped by the new Princeton location on a Tuesday for lunch with a friend, and the restaurant was nearly full. A large glass bottle of water, a bowl of olives, and the traditional Middle Eastern spice mix za’atar were waiting for us at the table.

In addition to hummus and baba ghanoush, appetizers include the thick strained yogurt (called labneh), fried eggplant drizzled with tahini and pomegranate molasses, meat and cheese rolls known as “cigar rolls,” stuffed cabbage, hot stuffed grape leaves, lentils and rice with onions (called mujadara), and a variety of salads, including a grilled halloumi cheese and watermelon salad.

Ayat also offers traditional wood-fired pizzas popular at food stalls in the Middle East, including cheese manaqish, za’atar manaqish, and lahma bi ajeen, a thin-crust pizza topped with ground beef, tomatoes and onions.

Sandwich and platter choices include beef and chicken shawarma, falafel, and chicken kebabs. Entrees range from barbecued chicken, beef kebabs, lamb kebabs, chicken chops, and roasted chicken to shrimp, salmon, red snapper, and ground meat with spices. The menu also features lamb ouzi, a rice dish with slow-roasted lamb and spices, and maklouba, a six-layer upside-down dish with chicken, carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, eggplant, and rice.

Ayat also offers platters made for sharing that serve up to six people, a common way to serve food in Middle Eastern restaurants.

The dessert menu goes beyond traditional baklava and includes tahini brownies, Nutella cheesecake, pistachio cake, tahini ice cream, tres leches cake, date and mango milkshakes, and kanafa, a popular Lebanese sweet of melted cheese on a bed of butter ghee topped with semolina dough and pistachio that is drenched in sweet syrup. The desserts pair well with mint tea or Turkish coffee with cardamom.

Prices at Ayat are reasonable for Princeton and range from $7 to $18 for an appetizer, salad, or pizza; $14 to $20 for a sandwich or lunch platter; $15 to $36 for an entree; and $6 to $15 for dessert. A pot of Turkish coffee for two is $6.64.

Ayat is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The full menu is available online.