Feeling Groovy in Laili, An Afghan Interlude in Downtown Santa Cruz

Laili, a Mediterranean-Afghan restaurant on Cooper St. in Santa Cruz, combines "a delicate balance between age-old Silk Road flavors and contemporary culinary excellence." Their website also quotes Rumi, "Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do," that our third visit to this locally preferred hunger-buster location delightfully satisfied what we truly love and do--eat and discuss!

Well, first, we ordered three dishes of lamb, eggplant and beef. The lamb pasta was rich with the rigatoni melding seamlessly with the thick, rich, sauce with just a hint of tomato that reminds me of spag bol except this is very Asian in its rendition as it was sprinkled with chopped scallions . Next, the eggplant dish melted like no other in my mouth as the scent of the rice fragrant with turmeric wafted in our direction. The leafy green is a good addition to the vegetarian thrust of the plateful. Then, the beef, although mediocre and a little tough satisfied our hankering for something exotic and complex.

On our first and second foray into this place, we had lunch at the patio which was redolent with blooms from hanging clematis vines and jasmine flowers. We also enjoyed the crisp, white tablecloths that lent the place a touch of class. This time, we sat inside where the dining area is large with tall ceilings and huge modern paintings. What caught my attention was an almost eight feet by six feet wall decoration of what could have been a gold jewelry with two curvy seahorses or serpents embedded with turquoise and other precious stones.

Overall, we had a comfortable and relaxing dinner. The service was courteous and attentive!