Sumela Turkish & Mediterranean Restaurant

Located at 805 North Main Street in High Point, Sumela offers Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine for lunch and dinner. The establishment is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Catering is available.

There’s more than meets the eye at this long-running Mediterranean restaurant. Housed in a nondescript strip mall across from the library, it is easy to overlook and not particularly inviting from the outside. The inside, on the other hand, is clean and cozy if a bit small.

So too goes the menu. At first glance, there appears to be little that separates Sumela from a half dozen other Mediterranean eateries. You can find the expected kebabs, gyros, salads, and apps (hummus, falafel, etc.), but you won’t find manti (mini-dumplings) or mucver (zucchini fritters). Look past that disappointment, however, and there is a fair bit of flex. You can go heavy or light, meat or vegetarian, and several sampler options exist for those who want a little bit of everything.

My wife and I fall into that last category, so we opted to split a mixed appetizer (hummus, baba ghanoush, piyaz, and stuffed grape leaves), an order of spanakopita, and a sultan platter (lamb kebab, Adana kebab, gyro meat, piyaz, rice, vegetables, and pita). The food arrived quickly, and though the dishes were familiar, the preparations were unique. The spanakopita came in one large square covered with sesame (?) seeds and served with a yogurt sauce. It wasn’t Greek, but it was great. Kudos also go to the kebabs and especially the gyro meat, which was among the more flavorful and tender that I’ve ever had. The baba ghanoush had a welcome smokiness to it and was the highlight of the app sampler though there were no weak links in the bunch.

Service proved attentive, and pricing was moderate (kebab samplers in the mid-teens). Living right near Nazareth Bread for several years threw our perceptions of value (very affordable) and portion sizing (plentiful) out of whack, and Sumela represents a return to earth in comparison. Nothing here is unreasonably expensive though.

All told, Sumela may lack the menu appeal of an Odeh’s or the refinement of a Chef Samir, but it offers a very solid representation of Mediterranean food, and it should not be overlooked.