Finally, Lebanese kitchen arrived to Budapest! If there was one kitchen I was really looking forward to trying, it is Lebanese kitchen. Amongst all of the enormous amounts of Turkish restaurants in the city, I was curious what this new Lebanese restaurant had to offer. Baalebek restaurant is open now for the public, in the stylish Buddha-Bar hotel on Ferenciek tere (Ferenciek square). The location is perfect for this restaurant, as you can certainly feel the Arabic atmosphere here. At the time of my visit the restaurant was just before the opening (middle of November), and our dinner was a wide range selection of the menu.

The most importatnt part of a Lebanese meal is the mezze, when different kinds of cold and warm starters are served. We had eight plates, but it is not unusual to have forty different kinds of starters in Lebanon. Mezze can also mean the whole feast as well. Here you can see some of our plates:

 

 

Besides these dishes, we also had Eggplant Moussaka and Chicken liver with coriander and pomegranate. The typical spices of the Lebanese kitchen are mint, coriander, tahini, nutmeg, cinnamon, parsley, lemon, and sumac: these were all represented in the dishes.

The next item in our Lebanese dinner was a traditional Lebanese lentil soup, the Harira. This spicy soup contained minced lamb meat, lentil, tomato, pasta and spices. Originating from Morocco, but like all other dishes, this soup is also eaten in all of the countries of the region.

Even though we were already full with the mezze and the soup, we had the main course and dessert left.  Our main course was: Mix Grill selection with condiments.

Namely: “Shish Taouk” spicy chicken, “Kebab Khaskhash” Minced lamb meat with garlic and chilli, Lamb chops, Mushroom kebab. Kebab skewers are very popular in the region, these can be made from different meats, poultry and mushroom. They are basically meat balls on skewers, and eten with salads.

The dessert was the queen of the night. Mouhalabieh (milk pudding) was definitely something I have not tasted before. The flavor of the rose water was so light, but yet so distinctive in the milk pudding: – an excellent combination of the ingredients. Macaron as a decoration was extravagant, and still perfect with the taste.

Great arabic atmosphere, and out of the ordinary food, highly recommended.

Restaurant visit: Baalbek restaurant, Budapest, Buddha-Bar Hotel.