Comptoir Libanais Review

The first Comptoir opened its doors in 2008 and since then has expanded to 15 restaurants in the UK. Chain restaurants often lose their heart and soul, however, we pleasantly learnt that this was not the case at Comptoir Libanais’ newest store on Gloucester Road. We were greeted by friendly wait staff and while we perused the menu, the operations manager suggested we try Comptoir Libanais’ house wine. It is made especially for the restaurant in Lebanon and was a pleasant white wine which complemented our meal perfectly.

While there is an impressively large menu to choose from, for our starters we couldn’t go past the Hommos, Bata Harra (Lebanese spiced fries with red pepper, fresh coriander, garlic & chilli), Jawaneh (Chargrilled marinated chicken wings served with harissa and garlic sauce and Grilled Halloumi (marinated in wild thyme, with sliced tomatoes, olives & fresh mint). Every single one of our starters were so tasty and full of flavour. The chicken wings were coated in a gorgeous marinate that we couldn’t get enough of and the Bata Harra were to die for. There’s something about the simple flavours of garlic and chilli that just worked amazingly with the spices used to coat the fries.

Because of how delicious our starters were, we were a tad too impatient to try our mains. Luckily it was served promptly so we didn’t have long to wait between courses. We ordered the Chicken Kofta (Grilled minced chicken, herbs, onions & spices served with vermicelli rice) and the Halloumi Cheese & Zaatar Man’ousha (Oven baked flat bread with halloumi cheese, wild thyme & fresh mint, served with Comptoir salad). I’ve been really loving halloumi lately and I swear I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Trying it Lebanese style was an experience and one I’d repeat in a heartbeat. It was so tasty, especially when I used it to wrap my Chicken Kofta up and eat it like a sandwich. Probably extremely uncouth but I couldn’t resist. The flavours just went so well together.

For desserts I did want to try the Mango Cheesecake, however, it was sold out so I had to order the Rose & Pistachio Cake with raspberry and rosewater icing. It was very pretty but quite dense. Amazingly enough it was still very moist. Unfortunately I couldn’t finish it all as it felt quiet heavy after such a large meal. The Chocolate & Tahini Brownie with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream my friend ordered, was absolutely gorgeous. This would be the dessert I’d recommend if you’re not too full after eating the gorgeous Mezzes and Mains available.

We couldn’t leave Comptoir Libanais without trying a cocktail each so we chose the Roomana Vodka Sour (Pomegranate juice shaken with vodka, lemon juice & rose syrup with a warming ginger sensation) and the Mojito Twist (Captain Morgan rum, Cointreau and soda with muddled mint lime over crushed ice topped with pomegranate juice). We weren’t disappointed. The pomegranate juice is a lovely little twist to the classic mojito and not something I’ve tried in a drink before. They were strong cocktails but definitely moreish.

My friend and I loved our evening at the Comptoir Libanais. The food was incredible, the wait staff attentive, friendly and polite and the venue really funky. It was fun to look around the restaurant at the different morocco bags, teapots and cookware available to purchase. Comptoir Libanais also sell a variety of cook books and the ingredients to make the dishes at home. This is a pretty cool idea as I’m sure finding quality Lebanese ingredients in London isn’t an easy feat.

The latest Comptoir Libanais is located in Gloucester Road, however, as already mentioned you can find the restaurant in 15 other locations around the UK. So go on, try something a little different and head the closet restaurant near you.