Although refugees from troubled parts of the world have brought some great cuisine to the United States, not all cultures express themselves best through food. Desperately poor refugees from Cambodia and Ethiopia have drawn on their countries’ traditions of grand cuisine, but Tibetan refugees have so far done more for America’s spiritual life than for our culinary arts. By the time of the American Revolution, two numerically substantial non-English European ethnic groups had arrived here as refugees. One was the Pennsylvania Germans (along with later German immigrants and refugees), who contributed casseroles, cheesecake, cream cheese, cream soups, hot dogs, jelly doughnuts, meatballs, meat loaf, milk gravy, potato salad, pretzels, sauerkraut, sticky buns, whoopee pies, and numerous types of pickles, cakes, and cookies, as well as our dominant style of beer. The other was the Scotch-Irish, who gave us only some potato dishes and whiskey, but have expressed themselves more richly in bluegrass and country music — and in national political life, where the presidential score currently stands at Scotch-Irish descendants, 13; German-American descendants, two.

So what can we expect from the Palestinians? Arab-Americans (including some Palestinians) have made important strides along several paths in matters of food. Indeed, the most prominent Arab-American politician, Ralph Nader, could have been the first US president whose parents ran a restaurant. Palestinian-American groceries and luncheonettes have followed the Greek-American pattern in many cities. But the Jerusalem Café, the first self-identified Palestinian restaurant in greater Boston, offers a pretty good argument that Palestinian kids should skip culinary school and major in poli-sci. (To be fair, Israeli-American food can also be dull.) The food isn’t bad, and we had lots of it cheap, but the dishes generally lacked character, almost as though the management didn’t want to make any cultural statements.

The décor makes the statement, "We love souvenirs, too." The small storefront packs enough stuff to decorate a full-size T.G.I. Friday’s, but it’s oddly matched. Some of it is predictable: a photo of the Dome of the Rock in East Jerusalem; piled bags of rice; stacks of imported canned goods; a water pipe; swords and daggers. Some of it is kitsch: a donkey statue; an oil painting of eggplants; an oil painting of sunflowers; a sheepskin; live and plastic plants. But some of it is just stuff: a Puerto Rico key-holder at the cash register; photos of the Alsatian wine harvest; Christmas lights; and more. Somewhere down there is a terrazzo floor.

The best appetizers we had were the hummus ($4.50), made quite rich with sesame butter and set off with a few pickles and a dribble of yogurt; and the feta and olives ($4.50), featuring excellent feta, kalamata olives, and a salad of iceberg lettuce and pink tomatoes that was nevertheless good eating.

On the minus side, the all-important falafel ($4.50) was very dull; it lacked spice but had grape-leafy sourness. The portion was six with an onion salad. Grape leaves ($4.50) were vegetarian, which is okay, but they were soft and sour, which is not. Tabouleh ($4.50) came to the table partly frozen — not a sign of freshness. The recipe runs to little bulgur and much tomato, which would work better with higher-quality tomatoes, and really resists freezing. The flavor is heavy on lemon, which should be balanced with olive oil and ought to taste fresher.

Among the main dishes, my advice is to go light with something like the Cairo chicken salad ($5.50). This is built on the same pink tomatoes and iceberg lettuce, but the boned breast of chicken is decently spiced. Curried goat ($6.95) is boneless and very mild-flavored. The goat is less gamy than lamb, and the curry is just a suggestion. The stew includes carrot, zucchini, and onion, and is served on a lot of dull rice.

Beef kebab ($6.95) is another filling platter, but not truly a kebab, as the beef shows no signs of grilling, or of ever having been on a skewer. It’s really about the same stew as the curried goat, minus the curry, plus some cauliflower. Cogauvin ($7.50) — say it rapidly — is one of a handful of French and Italian dishes on the menu. Our version wasn’t promising — a small Cornish hen with no taste of wine, served with the same baked rice, this time with a few peas.

Desserts at the Jerusalem Café are displayed at the counter, but on our night there was nothing but baklava ($1.15). It’s rather good baklava, more cinnamon and honey than nuts or butter, but very good with Arabic coffee ($1.95) — here served in frighteningly large cups. My idea of Arabic coffee is sub-demitasse cups of thick stuff where you only drink about half, and turn over the cup to tell fortunes with the grounds. Evidently, the Jerusalem Café’s idea of Arabic coffee is a large cup. Might the larger field of grounds and the larger dose of caffeine lead to more detailed fortunes? Or perhaps it’s just a matter of getting more caffeine, so you can stay up and finish that political-science paper.

Service at the Jerusalem Café seems to depend on the kitchen. At our early dinner, there was only one woman taking orders and cooking, so things looked bad until some other people turned up to run the kitchen stations. Since there are only a few tables and some counter seats at the front window, service was pretty good. The atmosphere was pleasant and cooperative; a man dining alone gave up his table twice, once for us and then for a family. He ended up at the counter, putting away a large plate of stew with evident satisfaction.

Jerusalem Café may not be a contender in the ethnic-restaurant sweepstakes, but it is a suitable student hangout, at least until they discover the superior Lebanese food at the Middle East a few blocks away. At that point, student protesters may lose all interest in the Israel-Palestine issue and focus on the Lebanon-Syria problem. The manifestoes may not be as spirited, but you can factionalize over better food.

Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com