Maybe man can live on bread alone?

Emily's Lebanese Deli gave me the two best foods I've tried this month: rice and bread. No joke. Both were in versions I'd never tried before.

Mistah ($2.75) is a thick bread served with melted butter.

The bread is called mistah and comes in a wide, but not too high loaf. It's baked golden brown and served warm with visible melted butter on top. It's chewy and mildly sweet, with a flavor slightly reminiscent of grocery store Hawaiian sweet rolls, but a texture that's completely different. Mistah is thick and extremely dense and in that way, quite fun to eat because its texture is so unlike the textures of other breads you've tried.

Riz Ma Djaj ($8.50, full or $4.75, half) can also be eaten with lubin, a fresh homemade yogurt offered at Emily's.

The other dish that astounded me was the Riz Ma Djaj, a rice dish that combines chicken, lamb, cinnamon, and pine nuts. The butteriness of the pine nuts with the kick of the cinnamon were an intriguing combination. This dish made me want to sprinkle some cinnamon on the next piece of chicken I cook at home.

And you, have you had any truly intriguing flavor combinations recently or any strange food textures to contend with? When and where?