Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
1
Middle Eastern is our favourite “foreign” food and we regularly enjoy it at one of the several Lebanese/Syrian places round Manchester. These are all casual places. As a bit of a treat to ourselves, we’re looking for somewhere more upmarket - “fine dining”, as Americans would say. A overnight trip just for dinner (although the First Class breakfast on Virgin Trains is a bit of a treat in itself).
My instinct is Noura, where we’ve eaten at a couple of their restaurants with success. But I wondered if you can come up with anywhere else, even if elsewhere in the UK to London. Only please don’t make it Ishbilia in Knightsbridge - a place where I felt so badly treated that I will not cross their doorstep again.
Sorry, most of the Lebanese/Syrian places I have tried in London were casual places. I don’t recall any ‘fine dining’ that comes to mind. However, in the same amount of time as an overnight train (possiby?), how about a flight to Tel Aviv or Lebanon? Just returned from Israel and was very pleasantly surprised by all the incredible food options there, from falafal from street vendors washed down with freshly squeezed fruit juices to ‘fine dining’ in whitetable clothed restaurants with very good delicious Israeli wines…
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
4
Train journey to London is two hours (I’m not sure we still have overnight trains - maybe London/Inverness?)
I choose not to put money into the Israeli economy. Didnt disembark when our cruise ship was there for the day. Haven’t knowingly bought Israeli products in the UK throughout my adult life - which I suppose makes me a very early joiner of the boycott.
I grew up eating Lebanese food in Australia. To be honest I really haven’t found that much I like in London and tend just to make my own. I am extremely picky though, so you probably shouldn’t use me as a benchmark.
If you like lebanese food, have you got into Turkish much? That I think is something London does extremely well and has a similar taste profile in many of its dishes. Again I think with Turkish the more casual places are better.
Thinking about it, Meza in Tooting wasn’t too bad when I went a while back. It’s not hugely high-end, but you do get well looked after because it’s such a tiny place.
It’s a bit of a trek from the northern rail terminals though, so not sure it’s worth the extra trip.
On a side note, just up the road from there is Namak Mandi, an Afghani restaurant. It’s pretty good for the area (not quite up to the best east London places, but still good), though the very opposite of fine dining. Head upstairs to sit on the carpeted floor rooms of that’s your thing. The Afghani naans go well with the curries etc. Note that the portions are massive so be careful not to over order.
Harters, another thought. Have a look at the supper clubs if you’re into that sort of thing. There are quite a few middle eastern/Persian supper clubs floating around, and if you find a good one you can taste the love and passion they put in their food.
Al waha is supposed to be decent its not too casual inside - have you been? Be curious to know what people think of it…also heard Levants is quite good with an equally nice interior.
All the Lebanese places I like are super casual which isn’t very helpful!
Just returned from Israel and was very pleasantly surprised by all the incredible food options there, from falafal from street vendors washed down with freshly squeezed fruit juices to ‘fine dining’ in whitetable clothed restaurants with very good delicious Israeli wines…