Kufta is ground beef with spices that tasted somewhat like the most flavorful hamburger I have ever eaten. It is not quite correct to call it a hamburger, though, because it was missing most of the grease and fat usually found in regular burgers. Traditional Middle Eastern butchers follow practices similar to the kosher shops in Israel to provide the best quality meat possible, and such seems to be the case here.

Like the beef, the Chicken was cooked on a skewer and then served on pita bread. Even though the chicken was as good as the beef, I think there are a number of places in the city with equally good chicken, making it less noteworthy than the beef.

Veggie plate with tabbouleh, yogurt salad, baba ghannouj, grape leaves, hummus, and falafel

The veggie sampler plate gave me just about every non-meat item I could think about trying. Usually my favorite is Falafel, and such was the case here. These were crispy outside and had a good flavor inside, as they should. They do not look very large on the photo but I remember them being substantial enough to fill me up (along with the numerous other items that were served).

The Tabbouleh was probably what I considered to be the other standout item. This had a good flavor and was quite fresh.

The Hummus had a white color that almost reminded me of the labna I have tried in other restaurants. The olive oil provided much of the flavor, but everything seemed fresh.

I do not generally like Baba Ghannouj anywhere, and this eggplant dish was not my favorite here either. This was one of the better ones I have tried, though.

The Grape Leaves were not my favorite, but it is funny that many restaurants that have good grape leaves do not serve hummus and other side dishes that are as good as here. At least this gives an incentive to go around trying different items at different restaurants.

Lamb kabobs

After trying both the meat and veggie sampler plate, I tried to find something that I thought would be one of Zam Zam's specialty plates. The Lamb Kabobs certainly seemed to qualify, with high quality and flavorful meat. I actually did not know if I would like the lamb meat, but the one at Zam Zam is definitely worth trying (and had a very mild meat flavor that had just the right amount of spices).

The Rice served with the lamb kabobs was excellent, and the hummus stood out from others I have tried (and seemed to be better than when I tried it here before).

Zam Zam serves a very good Middle Eastern style tea that I thought made a good meal even better. They charged me for a refill on the tea, though, which does not seem to be standard practice at most Middle Eastern restaurants.

A canned fruit juice (which is also very good) makes a good drink in warm weather.

Several types of Baklava are available, and I think they are great.

Zam Zam is open until 10 p.m. on weeknights, and so far is the only "late night" Middle Eastern restaurant I have found.

I will have to say, though, that even though I have enjoyed the food, several issues have left me seriously questioning how often I want to go to Zam Zam. The issue of smoke coming into the dining room is the real drawback for me, since it has happened every time I have visited (the first couple of times I thought it was a fluke that could be remedied by choosing a different table the next time). The issue of not having accessible parking has always bothered me, although if I were to avoid Zam Zam for this reason I would have to do the same at many other Oklahoma City restaurants. In addition, though, I also question the value I get here for the money spent (compared to other Middle Eastern restaurants in OKC that serve similar quality food). Zam Zam is not quite in the $$$ price category, but it is close.