This was at least our eighth visit to one of Yara’s three outlets and it was certainly our third time at Cheadle. I think we’ve got the ordering sussed to suit the two of us. Several starters and one main course to share. And ask for it all to come together so we can “pick & mix”.
So, there was baba ghanoush – smoky aubergine, the savouriness of tahini and the sweet/sharp from pomegranate. Yep, a really good version.
Fattoush was absolutely lovely – chunks of crisp salad, toasted bread, dressed with lemon and olive oil. More lemon would have made it perfect but this was not far off the mark. It may have been the best thing I ate.
Falafel are good here. Well flavoured chickpeas, mashed inside a crisp coating. A tahini (and yoghurt?) sauce for dunking. And lots of pitta.
I’ve had the lahembajeen at one of the other outlets but had forgotten that I’m not that keen on it. According to the menu, it’s layers of filo pastry, topped with a paste of lamb, onion and pomegranate molasses. Flavour’s fine but the pastry seemed more like cheap puff pastry, than filo. And it goes soggy. They serve a little bowl of chilli sauce with it which is of the “blow your head off” variety – perfect for taking your mind off the sogginess!
From the main course section, there was kabseh. This a nicely presented mould of rice, topped with chicken which in itself is topped with very thin slices of aubergine. Not sure what they’d done with the latter but it was almost sweet – certainly one of the nicest aubergine preparations we’ve ever tasted. Oh, and there’s another chilli sauce with that – much milder than the other one with just a nice bit of background heat. Apparently, it’s a dish of Saudi Arabian origin but one that has found its way to Lebanon and Syria through immigration.
Perhaps needless to say, we were too full to consider dessert.
