I’ve been wanting to get out of my rut of Lebanese restaurants in London, consisting of Fakhreldine and Noura – both definitely at the posh end of restaurants, let alone Lebanese ones. Fakhreldine, post their major refurb some years ago which removed the carpets from the walls, now has expert barmen in the sunken cocktail bar who have got me sloshed many times (not that it takes much, but I could tell they were serioushly good at their job). Noura, well, they used to send food to my house in a large black Mercedes with a tuxedoed driver, which obviously impressed me no end.
But now of course I’m a Grown Up Foodie: slinky decor, postcode, fifteen different martinis and such fripperys can no longer distract me from the serious business of food. In theory. So I dragged two Italian blokes along to try what Giles Coren thinks is the best Lebanese in London. Al Waha is at the crappier end of Westbourne Grove and the atmosphere is pretty much the standard Middle Eastern franchise – not quite carpeted walls but certainly no designer involved, tiny tables and the requisite waily music on the stereo.
Aggressively friendly waiters swarmed around as soon as we walked in – I got the impression that a lot of their clients know exactly what they’ve come to eat, and want it quickly. Our food came efficiently and soon we had a table crammed full of usual suspects – hummous with lamb cubes, moutabel, tabouleh, grilled halloumi, pastries stuffed with lamb, falafel. All were great examples of type, fresh, non-greasy, not over-spiced. One new thing that I did try was the raw lamb minced with wheat, spices and pinenuts – delicate, delicious and not “lamby” at all. For seconds there were lamb cutlets (with rather ignominious chips), ultra-tender cubes of marinated boneless chicken and the dish of the day, chicken stuffed with rice and pistachios with a cucumber and yoghurt sauce. These were all melt-in-the-mouth dishes that smacked of simple, accomplished home cooking – the kind of food you can eat a ton of (and we did) and not feel the after effects.
Overall: the food was yummy and fresh and I’m sure that if you really know what you’re doing with the menu you can eat authentic dishes here that are probably much better quality than in other places. Certainly the price – 114 quid for three including wine – is a great incentive. If I lived in Notting Hill, this would definitely be my go-to, but I’m closer to Maroush and for a quick Lebanese fix I think I’d probably just walk there rather than bothering with a taxi out west. But the real question is, would I rather pay three times as much for the watermelon martinis and seductive lighting at Fakhreldine, or have I graduated to better, cheaper eating at Al Waha but without an opportunity to wear my red python high heels? Um…
