Extra Place Serves Perfectly Baked Pita Sandwiches | East Village, NYC

We left dinner at Extra Place happily confused.

Billed as a doner sandwich spot, the offerings extend far beyond perfectly baked pita.

While the doner is the lynchpin, much of the menu veers into seemingly incongruous territory, the result of chef Michael Han's varied career. Seafood appetizers are inspired by his stint at Ciano, and a creamy hummus recipe was gleaned from a summer job at a vegan food truck in Providence, Rhode Island.

The result is a restaurant with multiple identities, where you can sit down at the bar with an $11 chicken sandwich stuffed with crisp brussels sprouts, or opt for a sophisticated meal of scallops ($13), rack of lamb ($49 for two) and a whole fried fish for two (market price).

Start with a chilled potato-leek yogurt soup ($8) topped with crispy fried strands of zucchini. From there, move on to charred tentacles of octopus set on a dramatic swipe of black garlic purée with a salad of heirloom tomatoes and tender fava beans ($11).

Of the four doner sandwiches, our favorite is the lamb ($12.50)–a spicy mix of lamb and mutton layered with pickled onion, the meatiness offset by cool cucumber tzatziki sauce and more of that excellent hummus.

Extra Place, 8 Extra Pl. (between E. First and E. Second sts.); 212-777-4252 or extraplace.us