Lebnani Lebanese Grill

The only thing better than having really good food at a really good restaurant, is having a guide that knows the ins and outs of that food and will share it with you. Tonight I had that kind of food, at that kind of restaurant, with that kind of guide. Ed Corey had mentioned to me on a few occasions about a wonderful Lebanese restaurant in Watertown called Lebnani. Tonight we went there and he guided me to some of the best Middle Eastern food I have ever had. Lebnani’s is a small place in a little strip shopping plaza. The decor is not fancy, which is perfect. Because with food this good if they had fancy decor in a fancy building, you could bet it would come with a fancy price. Instead you get great food at a more than reasonable price. Thank you strip mall. Since Ed is not only familiar with Lebanese food from his infancy, but is also familiar with Lebnani, I encouraged him to be my guide to what to order. Neither he nor Lebnani’s let me down from the Turkish orange soda called Uludag at the beginning, to the honey sweet baklava at the end. We started with lentil soup. I have to be honest, when Ed suggested this I was hesitant. I have never been a fan of lentil soup. But since I had decided to trust his recommendations I went ahead. I am so glad I did. This was great soup. thick, creamy with deep flavors that made me forget how much I disliked ordinary lentil soup. Having a regular customer as my guide probably helped here as the waitress offered to split the bowl into two smaller servings. Smaller is a relative term, as the half serving would equal most places full serving. Next came stuffed grape leaves, Most stuffed grape leaves I have had are usually dry. Not these. These were creamy, moist and delicious. In addition we got the cold trio. I am thankful the person that named this apparently couldn’t count, because the trio came with Hummus, Baba Ghanooj (Roasted eggplant blended with sesame oil (tahini), lemon juice, topped with olive oil), Garlic Labne (homemade yogurt and garlic spread topped with a drizzle of olive oil) and more grape leaves. It also came with plenty of pita bread to dig up all the great spreads. I wish I could tell you which I liked the best, but it changed, to which ever I had just put in my mouth. They were all done perfectly. With all that pita bread, it would be a crime not to have tabouli to scoop up. For those of you that don’t know what tabouli is, it is a magical dish consisting of Fine chopped parsley, diced tomatoes, burgul (cracked wheat), onions, mixed with olive oil, lemon juice and a blend of spices. I say its magical because it could actually make me want to eat healthy. Oh wait, is pita bread healthy? It must be, look how thin it is. Ok enough appetizers, now for the main course. We got combo platters, which had beef skewers, Kafta (Charbroiled ground beef mixed with fine chopped parsley, onions and spices), Ed had a chicken skewer that he shared with me, and I had the gyro meat. Now along with this combo we had a choice of more lentil soup or Fattoush (A tangy mix of lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, parsley, dried mint, cucumbers, radish topped with pita chips), hummus, Lebanese rice and various dipping sauces. Both skewers were great. The beef was medium rare, tender and delicious. The chicken was moist and wonderfully spiced. The Kafta was a solid spiced ground beef that was reminiscent of Kibbe stuffing. The Gyro meat was the best I had since first trying it in New York City 35 years ago. This left us with just dessert remaining, which of course meant baklava. In this case we had four different types, with my favorite being the pistachio.

If you can get beyond “so no American food huh” as a friend asked me when I was telling them about it, you will find a place with wonderful flavors, fresh ingredients and prices that may have you going to the next restaurant and saying “so no Lebanese food huh?”