Thanks but I’m going to be at Santa Anita all day betting the ponies with a lot of out of town guests.
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You’re the best.
I tried to convince my dining companion to switch from Kismet to Bavel and got rejected.
But totally keep me in mind for next time because she owes me one now!
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back up for grabs
I don’t think they exist anymore. Bela Lugosi is dead.
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Just ate here and recs from this board did not disappoint. The prawns! The chicken!
Regarding the pita- it’s tender but thick crumb and chubby English muffin thickness is much more akin to morrocan style pita batbout than your typical middle eastern style. Definitely not dry for us and absolutely delicious. I do fair amount of baking and talked to their baker and he confirmed that they used semolina in the dough which is definitely a morrocan thing.
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baba ghanouch - smoked eggplant, burnt bell pepper, red walnuts, lemon chili salt, fried pita
Highlight of the night, thanks for the rec @DTLAeater, loved the lemon chili salt on the fried pita.
marinated okra - whipped feta, cumin, mint, turmeric, black lime, lemon, radish, marash pepper, sea salt
grilled octopus - herb yogurt, fried Squid Ink pita, capers, smoked paprika oil, turmeric pickled onions
I should have listened to my fellow FTCers, this was pretty forgettable. Stick with the prawns.
confit turmeric chicken leg - yemenite pancake, fennel salad, black sesame, orange blossom toum
Looks like they’re already decreasing the portion size, this used to be chicken legs (plural) from @Chowseeker1999’s report. They also added the orange blossom toum to the dish, so garlicky @Bookwich filed a complaint with the U.N. The chicken was indeed very tender but maybe a little too soft for me and unfortunately the skin was flaccid and limp.
paglava - rolled Walnut and apricot filled pastry, farm cheese, honey, dried borage flower
Kind of like a less sweet baklava, not bad.
I think my perfect meal here would be the hummus and pita, cauliflower, prawns x 2, and the duck.
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Thanks for the report @PorkyBelly. Bummer about the Chicken Confit (and yah it’s crazy it’s smaller now, but maybe they reduced the price as well to compensate / making it more manageable for parties of 2?). Looks like you had a delicious dinner overall though. 
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Wow. Unofficial FTC meet up at Bavel this weekend, cuz I was there too.
Hummus
Farmer’s Cheese
Okra
Cauliflower
Chicken
Had a great meal. Really enjoyable. The space, food and service were all tops. Especially loved the farmer’s cheese and that dang buckwheat bread. What a crust. Cauliflower was also pretty perfect. And I will say, I actually loved the chicken. I’ve never had one that tender. Will defo be backo. Made me want to get back to Bestia, as well.
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Agree. That was certainly my best bite at Bavel (among many, many fine bites).
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was there saturday night too. the bread program is def. top notch using fresh milled grist and toll flours. talked to the guy who was making the pita too and discovered that they use a significant amount of semolina and it’s naturally leavened with a sourdough starter! researched it a bit and it turns out semolina is commonly used in morrocan pitas called batbout which is chubbier and thicker crumb, exactly like bavel’s.
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We need FTC t-shirts or a secret hand sign or something… 
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Damn, you mean I could have been eating dinner with Chrissy Teigen and didn’t know it?
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AND John_Legend too.
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No… I don’t want to meet you guys if I’m having a bad hair day. I’m a planner.
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You can leave your hat on.
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Am I the only one that bought a “my name is Sergio” shirt? Looks great with a sport jacket and jeans, aka LA formal
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Shunji shirt (versions 1.0 through 6.0) all look quite dapper as well…
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Keith? Keith Gilabert? Is that really you?!
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Was also there on Saturday night! Got there at 4:45 with a friend and despite being the 4th party in line we were the last to get any of the free bar seats without a reservation. In a happy accident, caught up with a former bartender from HLAY.
Duck Hummus
Malawach
Cucumber & Artichokes
Scallop Crudo
Grilled Prawns
Lamb Shawarma
Mixed Frozen whatever (dessert)
Everything was great. Didn’t think the egg w/the malawach was superfluous at all, actually. Really liked the spice level on some of the dishes. Obviously it wasn’t anything crazy but it was more than I expected a spot like this to go with.
The bread was the star - pita from the Hummus, Malawach itself, and the thing under the lamb shawarma (with cinnamon - so good!).
Not going to lie, it felt a little expensive - came out to $170 for two after tip/tax with one drink (total, not each). The size/price ratio on some of the dishes is maybe a bit unbalanced - 4 prawns for $24? Sure, you get a bunch of tzatziki with it… can’t deny that the prawns were something special, though. I’m just thinking of a meal I had at Alimento a few weeks ago where I had a lovely Caesar Salad (I know, I know!) that was possibly the best salad I’ve had in the last year, and was easily twice or more the size of the cucumber dish here for the same price. Real estate, sure - but Alimento came out to literally half the price for a meal that was maybe 90% as good. On the other hand, where else can I get food like this in LA? I want to come back and try all the other strongly recommended dishes for sure.
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