Best Middle Eastern

★ YASMA

550 Denman St., Vancouver yasma.ca

After less than three years in operation (first as a Kits ghost kitchen, now as a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Coal Harbour), Syrian/Lebanese eatery Yasma wins gold in our new Middle Eastern category. “A great combination of thoughtful dishes and small extra touches show the depth of love from the kitchen staff,” said one of our judges. That love shows up in the fried kibbeh (made with halal lamb that’s ground in-house, stu ff ed into a dough shell and served with a creamy yogurt sauce), which takes over a day to hand-prepare.

Turkish counterservice spot Anatolia’s Gate earns silver for unfussy but ultra-tasty eats like fresh-baked lavash and tender, flame-licked lamb. The bronze goes to Zarak , a modern Afghan restaurant our judges celebrated for flavourful, share-able dishes and extraordinarily creative cocktails—the Mahtab is crafted from saff roninfused Patrón Añejo tequila, Bénédictine, cardamom honey water and saff lower. (Afghanistan is geographically