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2013-11-24
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There was a sizeable Lebanese expat community near Rutgers, which I attended for a ridiculous 7 years. I came to think of Lebanese as really the standard by which other middle eastern foods are to be judged. I always wanted to go here, having heard it was pretty good, and last weekend I got the opportunity.We actually tried to go to Assaf, which is the place next door owned by the same people, serving the same food, but they apparently aren't open Sunday. I had nothing against eating in the cafe
We actually tried to go to Assaf, which is the place next door owned by the same people, serving the same food, but they apparently aren't open Sunday. I had nothing against eating in the cafe though. My wife and I both got the set lunch, which comes with salad, hummus or baba ganoush, a soft drink, and your choice of sandwich.
If you're from America, and you're my age (I know, this is a very small demographic) you remember the old PSA, "Don't Drown Your Food": "Don't drown your food/ in mayo, salt, ketchup or goo/ It's no fun to eat what you can't even see/ So don't drown your food!" I go light on the sald dressing, Beyrouth does not. I succeeded in rescuing a few veggies, but most were lost, and most weren't worth saving. Poor, D.
Hummus in Hong Kong is usually of very low quality. Any brand you get at the supermarket is pretty bad, and the stuff at restaurants is not what I tend to think of as "restaurant quality" hummus (i.e. amazing, hummus's natural state). The stuff here was good. Nice and smooth, not too oily, maybe a little too much lemon. Not as tasty as the best, but nice. Good, B+
Baba Ganoush: cold, soggy, grey eggplant were never my thing. They're unappetizing to look at and unappetizing to eat. Clammy with a disgusting texture. I'm going to give this a pass because I'm too biased to objectively review it.
Chicken Taouk Sandwich: You know this group of spices-- cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, cardamom? I don't really know what ties them together; they're tropical, they're "warm," they go well with desserts. Anyway, I don't know which of them was in the marinade for the taouk, but it was fairly overwhelming. The chicken was grilled nicely-- no problems there. It's just I would not ever order this again. Maybe people are into the strong dessert spices on their chicken kabobs-- I'm not. OK, C-
Falafel: speaking of overwhelming flavors, this was the garlickiest falafel I've ever had. I'm a big garlic fan, but I think there might have been more garlic than chickpeas in these patties. They were nice and big, a little bit overly crunchy on the outside, and reasonably moist on the inside, which cannot be said for all falafel. I'd have it again perhaps, if I was in a very garlicky mood, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. OK, C+I think the set meal is really too much food. The sandwiches are OK, but nothing I could see myself craving. The menu has a bunch of things and I could see myself coming back. Overall: OK, C+
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