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2020-09-04
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This Middle Eastern neighborhood restaurant is located on St. Francis Street in Wanchai, and as it does not accept reservation, we came early in the evening to secure a table, being the second group of customers seated. But in just a short while all the tables were occupied, showing how popular the restaurant is. Simple in decor with a cozy setting, we had chosen the normal dining area with comfortable sofa and chairs, but customers can also opt for the row of seats facing the street, enjoying a
This Middle Eastern neighborhood restaurant is located on St. Francis Street in Wanchai, and as it does not accept reservation, we came early in the evening to secure a table, being the second group of customers seated. But in just a short while all the tables were occupied, showing how popular the restaurant is.
Simple in decor with a cozy setting, we had chosen the normal dining area with comfortable sofa and chairs, but customers can also opt for the row of seats facing the street, enjoying a semi-open ambiance setting, while another row of seats at the bar counter catering to an even more casual setting.
Decided to order the 'Let Us Cook' menu ($360 each) for the restaurant to pick and decide for us, we were quickly served a number of meze, or appetizers. The Hummus is good, with the mashed chickpea creamy and tasty. But I found the Pita bread paired a bit too hard for my palate.
The Burnt Eggplant is one of my favorites among the meze. With a nice fragrance from the grilled eggplant, mixed with pepper and chili, plus some yogurt, the dish got a great balance of acidity, savory and spicy. Highly recommend.
The Cigars are two 'spring rolls' with spiced beef fillings, after deep-frying then sprinkled with plenty of cumin and other seasoning on top, paired with green tahini sauce. Quite nice.
The Falafel is deep-fried patty balls made from fava beans mixed with different spices, with good seasoning and paired with tahini sauce. Decent in taste.
Next came the other favorite for me on the night, Baked Halloumi. The baked cheese is served on hot cast-iron, with an abundance of wild oregano and pomegranate molasses on top. The oregano brought a fantastic fragrance while the sweet pomegranate actually blends perfectly with the brined cheese so overall a great harmony of taste. Highly recommend.
Then came the Zucchini Salad, with thinly-sliced zucchini mixed with some grilled slices of pumpkin, added with feta cheese and sumac. Seasoned beautifully, the dish is a good way to cleanse the palate between different dishes.
The Kibbeh Meatball is made from minced beef, added with burgul wheat, pine nuts, chopped mint and onions, before deep-frying and paired with a tahini sauce. The meatball is seasoned well and has a nice range of flavors. I like the pine nuts which gave a great fragrance to the whole dish, and the yogurt balances everything so it is not too rich or heavy. Very good indeed.
The Lamb Ribs are marinated well, and cooked beautifully making the flesh easily detached from the bone. Plenty of coriander on top, at the bottom there is yogurt to accompany the dish to aim at reducing the fat from the lamb. My piece of lamb rib is good, but looks like my wife's portion has too much fat for her liking.
By this time we were very full, but still more came our way. The next dish was Kafta, with the minced lamb and beef with some finely chopped parsley, onion and some other herbs, then grilled and added with some spring onion and tahini sauce on top. There is some chili too which provided a nice kick to the palate. Good in taste, but simply we were too full to truly enjoy it all.
The Cauliflower was nicely grilled with some marinate, then added with tarragon and yogurt. Simple yet delicious.
Coming to the end the dessert was Knafeh, made from a needle-like pastry and then soaked in syrup, with mozzarella as the fillings. On top there is a vanilla ice-cream topped with some orange blossom and pistachio. A nice finale for the meal.
Service was good, and despite the restaurant was very busy the staff explained to us each of the dish when served, helping us to understand, important as we were unfamiliar to the Middle Eastern cuisine. The serving was very fast, as the restaurant wanted to be able to serve another round of customers, so limiting to 90 minutes of dining time. For us, that is absolutely no problem, but I can imagine for some it might be too short.
The bill on the night was $860, and as the restaurant did not charge a service fee, it is up to the customer to decide how much to tip. Good value and good food, I also like this menu allows one to sample most of the signature dishes and also helps those who may not be too much idea what to order.
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