Tuba: Mediterranean Neighborhood Bistro with Boudoir Vibe

J. Kauffman

​Tuba revives a San Francisco restaurant meme that seemed to fade out at the end of the 1990s: the red room. There's a whiff of boudoir in this little Mission restaurant, aided by Euroclub music that usually accompanies too much cologne and too much bare thigh.

Another 1990s vein that Tuba's owners seem to have reopened is the pan-Mediterranean bistro, with its generic saffron rice and its herb-crusted lamb chops. They distract from the restaurant's main raison d'être: a neighborhood Turkish bistro. If you go in a group of three or four and get the combination platters, it's an affordable neighborhood bistro, too.

The cold meze combo (dips, spreads, and dolmas) pales in comparison to competitors A La Turca and Gyro King. The hot meze introduces more interesting fare, like crisp fried "cigars" filled with feta, and zucchini fritters napped with yogurt. It's the third combination plate ― the $24 kebab plate, good for at least three people ― that makes a group outing worthwhile.  It rivals a good night's haul at a churrascaria. The chunks of skewered lamb and chicken come fire-blackened and tender at the core; the adana and kofte kebabs, spiced ground meat formed along the length of a skewer, don't dry out on the grill; and the tiny lamb chop is so succulent that that the bony end is just as good as the fuschia-centered loin. If you skip dessert ― and having tasted the dry, tough baklava, I would recommend you do ― the meal might top out at $20 a person.

Tuba 1007 Guerrero (at 22nd St.), 826-8822; dinner nightly