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Number 64: Turkish Salad from Old Jerusalem Next to Old Jerusalem's falafel ― as crunchy and yielding as fresh-baked rolls ― and its mousakhan, a beguiling Wednesday special of roasted chicken heaped atop a sweet, sumac-soaked flatbread, the restaurant's humble Turkish salad might not seem like a big draw. If you order a sandwich, you won't even taste it (unless you elect to fork over an extra few bucks). Still, folks setting their sights on entrées and specials get to start their meal with an appetite-crushing spread of warm pita triangles, tiny sour olives, bitter pickled turnip slices, a tangy parsley dip, and that Turkish salad, a vaguely jammy stewed-tomato compote. The dense web of flavors belies what could not be a lengthy list of ingredients. Studded with jalapeño coins and snappy onion curls, the "salad" is hot ― not truly hot, but pungent and peppery, with all the tang of a good spicy salsa. Like salsa, it would find its way onto everything in our kitchen, from eggs to crackers, if only we were given the opportunity, which we don't imagine we'll get. Unless we discover a way to smuggle out a few quarts, one cupful at a time. Old Jerusalem 2976 Mission (at 25th St.), 642-5958
