Is This The Best Airport Restaurant in The World?

With 45 minutes to spare before my flight from Heathrow airport and a sign pointing to the Best Airport Restaurant in the world, how could I resist.

The Gorgeous Kitchen had the ambiance, the British skewed menu and the reasonable prices. I walked in intending on a full British experience, starting with a Victorian Lemonade (sounded British enough for me).

Chicken liver pate with cider jelly and a brioche was a perfect start and a perfect taste. Unlike other fancy restaurants, The Gorgeous Kitchen portions are very generous. 

The slow cooked lamb with pea puree was by far the best tasting lamb I have ever tasted at or outside airports' restaurants.

As per the appetizer, the portions were very generous that I just could not fit the dessert I was eyeing, so I ended up simply taking a picture of it.

Now my trips must be planned around Heathrow's Terminal 2 to visit The Gorgeous Kitchen again.

A Beautiful Country

My Fair Lebanese Lady

One of the most enjoyable evenings on this Lebanon trip was an invite from a charming cousin to a live musical - Bint El Jabal.

Some of you may look at this picture and say well, this does not look very Lebanese. That is because this is a hybrid. It is a Lebanese adapted version of My Fair Lady - the Tarboush the guys are wearing below is one sample of the Lebanonization of the play.

This play was first produced and played in Lebanon during the late 70s. The main star at that time was a beautiful singer called Salwa El-Katreeb. Salwa passed away in 2009 at a young age. Today, her talented daughter, Aline Lahoud, is playing the role of her mother in the remake of the play.

Some of the music scores are original Lebanese songs. Some others are arabized lyrics of the original music (remember Take me to the church on time?)

Now if I can only remember the Lebanonized phrase that replaced The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly in the Plains - all I recall is it was a tough one in Arabic.

A Visit to L'Atelier

During my visit to Beirut's Christmas in Action last week, I discovered Le Noir, Atelier du Chocolat.I did not try the chocolates, but the taste of that hot chocolate I had with melted marshmallows will remain with me for a long time. 

With this in mind, I paid a visit to the Atelier where Le Noir brings us its award winning chocolates.

Welcomed by one the owners and given a tour of the place along with few tasters, I came out wishing I can transfer these guys to Vancouver (beware Chocolate Arts if that happens).

The passion of the owners-chocolatiers about quality and style puts Le Noir chocolates in a class of their own in Lebanon and most likely the whole region. The chocolates are all made from the French Valrhona chocolates - one of the oldest (started in 1922) and largest chocolate manufacturers in the world, catering to high end chocolate connoisseurs.

The quality of chocolates is flattered by unique flavours: scotch, Pistachio pralines, chocolate fermented with oranges, ginger, framboise. Le Noir is the only one offering pecan chocolates in the whole country.  

I will be stocking up on those on my next trip to Lebanon.

Follow LE Noir on Facebook or via (Info@lenoirchocolat.com).

Mom's Cooking - The Highlight of the Trip

My mother is a very organized person; a trait that unfortunately I did not inherit much of.

Before my trips home, she cooks (or partially cooks) my favourite meals and have everything frozen ahead of time.

As such, during the visit, no time is wasted in the kitchen beyond final touches to the partially pre-prepared meals.

So what are my favourite meals? You most likely read about every one of them one time or another, but here's a quick review of what I ate over the past two weeks.



Yakhne Fasoulia - a stew of beans cooked in tomato sauce with beef and eaten over rice. By far my favourite meal.

Tailor's Scraps - while easy to make, I can never get it as flavourful as mom's.

Baked chicken - the taste of Chicken (and tomatoes) in Lebanon is far superior to anything we get our hands on in Canada. 

Sheikh El Mehshi - fried eggplants topped with ground beef, pine nuts and tomato sauce; baked and eaten over rice.

This & That - A term used by my family for frying a bunch of stuff. This time included fried eggplants, potatoes, fish; and always served with tahini sauce.

Mom's infamous chicken rice with green beans and broad beens in a lemon olive oil sauce

Cheers!

La Creperie

Visiting La Creperie was a lesson in Lebanon's gourmet history. 

This place, it seems, has been rocking Jounieh, the hip town north of Beirut, since 1968 (even though this olive tree welcoming its guests probably dates back to 1698).

It also seems to have been the hangout of choice for ma cousine Lida during her high school days.

La Creperie, it appears, is known globally. It is winner of awards. It has a secret cave that is opening next week. And I have never even heard of it until now (guess I was not hip enough for Jounieh during my Lebanon days).

One walks through stone walled maze that brings you to a large fantasy land of elegance, beauty and heritage that is surrounded by patios with some of the most beautiful views of Lebanese shore lands.

Friendly, fast service and a manager that was understanding, accommodating; but I should have worked harder on playing the tourist card to get him to show me the infamous cave.

The restaurant serves a variety of savoury and sweet crepes as well as a full menu of other delicacies.

A perfectly made silky crepe stuffed with artichoke, cheese and bechamel followed by another perfectly made one with melting chocolate and bananas.

A place to visit for sure.

La Creperie

Kaslik, Jounieh

Lebanon

Soubhieh Outing

You read about Soubhieh two days ago. A soubhieh can happen at a home or one can go out for one, as my dad and I did today.

Our soubhieh started at a sweets store for Kneffé.

Kneffé is a mix of white cheeses cooked and covered with a semolina top.

It is then soaked with Lebanese syrup and eaten with Kaaek.



(both items pictured below)

After such a sweet indulgence it was time for coffee, so off we moved to La Maison du Café. 

A fancy coffee house serving Lebanon's best quality coffee - Najjar Coffee. 

We ordered the Arabic coffee. I expected to see a cup put on the table. However, and in the traditional style of old time coffee houses, a tray with a freshly made coffee along with a glass of water (a must when you serve coffee) and a piece of turkish delight.

Now all we needed was a backgammon board and the soubhieh would be complete.

What a delicious cup of coffee. There is no way I can replicate such a strong, fresh, authentic cup of coffee at home; so please don't ask.

La Maison Du Cafe

On Highway

Jal El Deeb, Metn

Lebanon