Wafa's, Middle Eastern Food in Forest Hills THE stretch of Metropolitan Avenue that passes through Forest Hills, Queens, seems less like a city thoroughfare than a small-town main street. Most buildings rise just two or three stories. They house the library and post office, hardware stores and knickknack dens, an aging sweet shop and a still-vigorous chocolatier. You'll find restaurants, too. From the outside, none is more modest than Wafa's, which moved last year from a tiny storefront geared for takeout. The current dining room is more becoming: bright lime-green walls echo lush potted plants, and shellacked tables for two are nestled together to seat chatty parties of four. Alas, now that the kitchen has a room of its own, you can no longer smell what's cooking as you open the door. But the homespun food - prepared by the chef and owner, Wafa Chami, born in Lebanon - is as appealingly fresh as ever. Her palette of flavors is direct and unfussy, the sort a busy parent might use. Indeed, her three grown sons work shifts there. Appetizers, which fill up nearly half the menu, are ideal when shared, family style. Standards are superb: baba ghanouj suffuses eggplant with smoke and garlic, while hummus ($6) transforms chickpeas into a milder-mannered, silky purée. For a salad, look past prosaic mixed greens to engagingly granular tabbouleh ($6) - bulgur wheat brightened by finely chopped tomato, parsley and mint - or perhaps fattoush ($8), a coarser jumble of lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, radish and parsley, under a crunchy half-blanket of deep-fried pita chips. If Ms. Chami can't convert you into a lover of okra ($6), sautéed with tomato, cilantro and garlic, her mousakaha ($8) offers a garlicky combo of eggplant and chickpeas, with tartness from pomegranate juice. Mujadarah ($6), an unassuming mix of bulgur wheat, lentils and caramelized onions, is deeply satisfying. Many lemons are freshly squeezed in Wafa's kitchen. Their aroma is readily apparent in a warm heap of stuffed grape leaves ($6) and in Swiss chard soup, thick with lentils ($5). In theory, small savory pies ($2 to $2.50) are shareable. But after slicing into a warm, flaky pocket filled with, say, house-made cheese and inhaling the smell of scallion and dried mint, you may claim it as your own. Carnivores can choose two appetizers with each meat platter ($12.95 to $14.95, or up to $22.95 for multiple meats). The charbroiled chicken breast called shish tawook - marinated in lemon, olive oil and garlic - is excellent; the ground beef and lamb kefta kebab, riddled with parsley, runs a close second. Succulent leg of lamb is the mainstay of shish kebab; cut in strips (and marinated, almost to a fault, in red wine, vinegar and spices), it's the makings for lamb shawarma. The kibbe, two baked shells of bulgur and ground meat, stuffed with toasted pine nuts, almonds, onion and more ground meat, can seem dry. So dig in to the tahini, made on premises, as is a brick red preparation inflamed by cayenne peppers and a bright white spread, equally potent, featuring garlic. Most meats can be rolled inside a pita - made elsewhere, and no more than a conveyance for Ms. Chami's cooking - as a sandwich ($6.95 to $8.95). So can falafel ($5), grainy, well-seasoned orbs of ground chickpeas. Ms. Chami offers few specials. An exception is fish, on Fridays. If you catch the tilapia filet shrouded in a walnut-garlic tapenade ($19.95), accompanied by rice and lentil mujadarah, count yourself blessed. Desserts include a plateful of nut-stuffed baklava ($5) and a creamy disk of rice pudding ($3) scented with orange blossoms and rose water. To accompany them, there are tea, strong Arabic coffee and soft drinks ($1 to $3). Beer and wine will be available soon, ample reason to raise a glass. Wafa's 100-05 Metropolitan Avenue (70th-71st Avenues), Forest Hills, Queens, (718) 880-2055, wafasfood.com. RECOMMENDED DISHES: Baba ghanouj, hummus, fattoush, okra, moussaka, mujadarah, stuffed grape leaves, cheese pie, shish tawook, kefta kebab, rice pudding. CREDIT CARDS: MasterCard, Visa, Discover. HOURS: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Small step at entrance to dining room; restroom not accessible.