James S. Wood / arizona daily star

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The first thing you notice when you sit down at Sabra Mediterranean Restaurant are the ornamental cactus centerpieces.

Quite an unusual choice for a dining decoration.

The mini-cacti look striking placed amid polished pebbles in shiny glass bowls.

But they also make every reach across the table an adventure.

Ours didn't last more than a few minutes before the waitress, sensing our fear of potential puncture wounds, moved the little fella away before taking our drink orders.

It's those little things, the extra attention paid by the staff and put into the food, that made Sabra a pleasure to visit and added to the overall charm of the East Speedway establishment.

Owned and run by Monty Blankier and his wife, Helen Blankier, Sabra opened last April and serves what they consider glatt kosher fare, meaning the food is prepared and distributed in accordance with strict Jewish dietary law.

In addition to the cuisine, the former home of the Saigon Café also now houses an all-kosher store and plenty to look at, including elaborate pieces of art on the wall, a pull-down screen for the weekly Israeli movie night and a drum setup for when Monty Blankier wants to rock out with his band that shares the restaurant's name.

In terms of food, kosher or not, the meals managed to satisfy on our journey into this unique Mediterranean cuisine.

We started off with the stuffed grape leaves ($5.75) on both of our visits. We only needed to order them once, but they tasted so good, we couldn't help ourselves.

Packed with cooked rice, lemon, olive oil, paprika and other spices, the plump wraps — with leaves also soaked in lemon as well as vinegar — had that perfect, momentary, pucker-your-lips flavor to them that kicked our taste buds into high gear.

They also stood far superior when stacked up against our second appetizer, the Moroccan cigars ($7.75). Served eight to a plate, the cigars, not unlike your average egg roll in appearance, come with mashed potatoes and hummus as well as salt, pepper and paprika rolled in a special kind of phyllo dough, according to the menu.

The texture and tastes were there, but the cigars came out hot. Extremely hot. It took awhile for the plate to cool down, and by that time our entrees had already arrived.

Among our main courses was the falafel sandwich ($5.75), served in a thick pita standing upright and stuffed to the gills with hummus, a glob of tahini sauce, Israeli salad and between six and eight garbanzo bean patties, each one about the size of your average hush puppy.

The patties were warm and delicious with a hint of garlic and tasted great when paired with the sourness of the tahini. Good luck trying to eat this bad boy without the help of utensils.

We also had the pastrami sandwich ($7.99), which looked as it should: pastrami piled high, falling out the sides of the bread like a poorly packed suitcase. No condiments were provided, and lettuce and tomato were served on the side, but the sandwich stood on its own with the bold taste of the meat blending nicely with the rich character of the rye bread.

Alas, the most expensive of our meals was the most disappointing. The chicken schnitzel ($15.95), a chicken breast flash-fried with sesame seeds, lemon and garlic, fell short of expectations.

You couldn't really taste the sesame, and the chicken itself was drier than we would have liked. The sides of rice and Israeli salad — diced red onion, tomato and cucumber — came in significant portions, but also lacked in seasoning.

Several grabs for the salt and pepper shakers were required. Guess that cactus removal was a good idea after all.