The Maison Libanaise main dining room is more serious, moody, vivacious than a decade ago when it opened.
Then, it felt like a sincere yet cliche mimicry of Arabia with licks of sandy-coloured paint inside and murals of Arabic writing dotted outside that lacked symbolic roots in place. You could find this restaurant in Lebanon or Jordan, London, New York, or possibly Melbourne. Dare I say, it was too colourful.
Today, the restaurant reveals a makeover. Gone is the slightly-overpriced takeaway concept on the ground floor; it’s a wine and mezze bar now open to the elements. The first floor opens up in a cooler manner, dressed in the visual style of central Beirut’s flamboyant neighbourhood of Achrafieh with royal accents, which dictates the general theme of Maison 2.0. Upstairs still hosts their airy terrace for group dining.
This is what Lebanon is like, rather than what it feels like. Maison Libanaise is serious now, not just a Moroccan-ish, Lebanese-feeling, hummus, falafel, and tabbouleh trio order for the table.
The new menu has ambitions to battle on a global standard, rather than challenge local competitors. It is a product of head chef Teya Mikhael, four years into her tenure, who wields an auteuristic wand at her freshly decorated palace to bring her hometown here, and that includes pictures of her extended family lining the walls.
Every meal at Maison Libanaise should begin with a half dozen or more of mezze. Dishes are kept quite concise and order maintained: three salads, seven cold and six hot mezze, four mashawi charcoal-grilled skewers, three assasi family-style meat dishes, and four desserts are covered on the food menu.
The clear winners in my book for cold mezze are the hummus (HKD118), moutabal batenhen (HKD118) aubergine dip, and labneh mdakhane (HKD128).
As a fan of my mother’s garlicky and thick hummus (as any good Jewish boy should be), chef Teya’s won me over with the opposite: a lemony, uniformly smooth dip that has the chickpea’s nuttyness actually come through rather than it masked by other ingredients in the dish.
The moutabal is a powerful dip that serves stringy and heavy textural bites with a tang, mainly coming from the yoghurt, tahini, and mint additions. The labneh comes super frothy and light on the palate, with a housemade chilli oil brandishing just a hint of spice at the end. Use your salle (HKD18) basket of kaak, za’atar khobez, pita, and saj bread to wipe up all those gorgeous dips.
In the hot mezze space, a must is the sujuk (HKD168), a peppery, sticky, tomato-y, beefy mess of grilled beef sausages, tomato, and a red pepper marmalade. Each bite is salty from the beef and honey-tinged sweet from the red peppers. Order the batata harra (HKD108) with a quality labenh and shatta chilli paste spread if your meal requires crunchy carbs.
At this point, my belt was being loosened and lips patted dry to prevent excessive salivation with the arrival of the kabsa short rib (HKD888). Braised for four hours and marinated with Lebanese herbs, slice open this beef short rib and you have a hunk of meat dripping in fat, stringy beef parts, and glazed with tahini and zhoug.
Sinking your teeth into this wet mess is carnal, primal, animalistic. It ticks every box for those craving salt, fat, and heat.
A more tame yet still fiery platter comes with the mixed grill (HKD888). It is a mix of chicken shish taouk, beef kafta, castaletta lamb chops, lahme ground beef, grilled vegetables, and confit garlic.
Highlights on the mixed grill go out to the lamb chops, heavy on the gameyness without perfuming more fatty whiffs, and the beef kafta with a hint of parsley tucked within.
Now, if you can handle just the smallest of stomach space for dessert, I recommend two desserts. The knefeh (HKD138) is classically made with emphasis on orange blossom to elevate the sweet cheese insides, whereas the riz bel halib (HKD118) rice pudding is light with again the not-too-sweet orange blossom served in jam form.
Our verdict of Maison Libanaise
With this review already heavily biased with my adoration of Middle Eastern cuisine, Maison Libanaise’s new look and menu has made me fall in love deeper and stronger with the region’s flavours. Every swipe of a mezze with the fresh breads, chunk of meat devoured, and dessert shared reveals hours and hours of time to perfect ratios and ingredients. It is one of the city’s most confident (re)openings this year.
Maison Libanaise, 1/F, 10 Shelley Street, Central, 2111 2284, book here
| Order this: hummus, labneh mdakhane, sujuk, mixed grill, kabsah short rib Menu: à-la-carte menu Price for two: HKD600 – HKD750 | Atmosphere: like any Black Sheep restaurant, loud enough for a party in the dining room Perfect for: lovers of Middle Eastern food, date-night searchers, diners yearning for the real thing |
This review is intended to offer an individual perspective on the dining experience and should not be considered as a definitive judgement of the restaurant’s overall quality or reputation. The views expressed in this review are solely the author’s and do not reflect the opinions of Foodie.
