Photo by Randy Tunnell.

Photo: Great Balls ''a Garbanzo-Rawan (left) and Samer Nimri work wonders with pita.

If you want to cause real trouble in the Middle East, ask where they make the best hummus. Or shish-kebab, or baklava, or that dark, rich, cardamom-infused, thrice-boiled, sugary-sweet, heart-stopping Arabic coffee. Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan-they''re all contenders.

Petra, on Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove, bills itself as a Mediterranean restaurant, but its menu hails from the far eastern shores of that warm, blue sea-Turkey and the Middle East, with a nod to Greece in the gyros and lamb shanks. If you want French and Spanish Mediterranean, go five blocks west to Fandango. You won''t find paella at Petra, and the Jordanian couscous, or steamed semolina, is larger and more pasta-like than its finely-ground Moroccan cousin.

Petra is owned by George and Laila Nimri, immigrants from Irbid, a town in northern Jordan. Their son Samer is the chef, and his young wife Rawan handles the front of the house.

The Nimris established their first restaurant in Pacific Grove 18 years ago. Called Gourmet Pantry, it dished out the same Middle Eastern cuisine, doing mainly a take-out business. Eventually the family bought their present building, added a dining room and eight years ago renamed it Petra, in honor of the ancient cliffside ruins in Jordan''s southern desert. A mural depicting the original Petra is painted on the restaurant''s entry wall.

The neighborhood locals and DLI instructors who come back day after day know good value. Nine different sandwiches-lamb shish-kebab, plump charbroiled chicken, delicately-spiced falafel, meat or chicken gyros, even tuna salad with tomatoes in a pita-are offered at less than $6, for lunch or dinner. Throw in a bowl of soup at $3.95, and call it a meal.

On one recent afternoon, I sampled the Vegetarian Combination Platter. Even though I ordered the small portion for $8.95, I wasn''t able to finish it. The plate arrived with large dollops of baba ghannouj (roasted eggplant salad reeking of delicious garlic), hummus (a smooth concoction of chick-peas, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and tahini), falafel (deep-fried chick-pea balls), tabouli (bulgar wheat soaked with lemon, garlic, coriander, and/or mint), and grape leaves stuffed with rice, raisins, pine nuts and spices-similar to Greek dolmas.

I lived in Israel for many years, and I''ve traveled in Jordan and Egypt, so I''m no falafel neophyte. I can honestly say I''ve never tasted better. The insides were fluffy and redolent with spices, and the balls were so quickly fried that the outsides were crispy and virtually oil-free.

A delicious hot appetizer is ful, fava beans served Egyptian-style ($6.75). It arrived in a large, steaming bowl filled with fava beans, chick-peas, tomatoes and pickles swimming in a pungent, highly-seasoned broth and topped off with plenty of fresh lemon juice. Just smelling the cumin and garlic made me yearn for the casbah.

There''s a whole lotta mixing going on at Petra, Samer says, which is why they don''t call it a Jordanian restaurant. "My mom''s father was Lebanese, the shish-kebab is Turkish, the moussaka, gyros and lamb shanks are Greek, the ful is Egyptian and the tabouli, hummus, falafel and baba ghannouj are from Lebanon and Syria." For a real international taste treat, try The Royal Feast, a sampling of just about everything on the menu for $18.95 a person.

One recent evening, my dining companion, just returned from a trip to Egypt and Jordan, ordered the couscous ($10.35 at lunch, $12.95 at dinner including a Greek salad). I asked for the lamb shanks ($13.95), which aren''t on the regular menu but are offered almost every night.

Both dishes were well prepared, but I was disappointed that the lamb shanks were cooked in a heavy, Greek brown sauce rather than the cinnamon-nutmeg-Middle Eastern version I was expecting. Once I recovered my spirits, however, and got into the Greek groove, I could appreciate the dish as pure comfort food. Not too many local places serve lamb shanks, and Petra''s cinnamon-infused rice soaked up the sauce nicely. The charbroiled chicken served with my friend''s couscous was cooked so quickly over a hot flame that it remained juicy and just barely pink-skewered perfection.

I have to admit that I''m not a big fan of Middle Eastern desserts, but if you''re a honey lover, you can''t go wrong with Petra''s baklava. Layers of phyllo dough cling together in a sticky embrace of honey, ground pistachios and sweet spices, a gut-clogging combo just begging to be washed down with a tiny but potent cup of Turkish coffee.

Petra''s main contribution to P.G.''s restaurant scene is, as mentioned above, its value. They still offer take-out, and a small store next to the entrance sells Middle Eastern staples such as couscous, olives, feta, halvah and tahini, for patrons who want to try their hand at cooking at home.

Not just locals know about Petra. Three years ago, Jordan''s then-Prince Abdullah, a student at the Naval Postgraduate School, stopped by for dinner. He liked it so much, he sent his brother Faisal there a year later.

What did the Nimris serve their future king?

"The Royal Feast," Samer says, "of course."