The moment we stepped into their Soho branch on Broadwick Street (tucked away a road off of Carnaby Street) it was as if we had literally stepped into another country. Comptoir Libanais isn’t only a restaurant where food is served but you also have the delight of being able to shop for items such as handbags from Marrakech, delicatessen and a cookbook of all the dishes featured on the menu just in case you want to give it a try yourself. This restaurant gives a real Middle Eastern experience from the Souk – style attitude to sights of the most beautiful wall art (picture below) and the market style décor.
The welcoming scent captures you before you’ve even set your eyes upon the lengthy menu and after asking the waiter hundreds of questions about dishes that took our fancy we eventually settled with the Chicken & Green Olives Tagine (£8.75) for me and a Chicken Taouk Wrap with Comptoir Salad & Pickles (£7.45) for my friend San. Now I thought the Chicken, Lemon and Olive tagine I had previously tried from Leon was good but after trying the Comptoir Libanais version, nothing compares! We washed our food down with a freshly made lemonade named the 'Mira' which was a frozen blend of fresh mint, lemon, lime and orange blossom (although I asked for mine to be made without mint as I am not a fan). Our drinks were interesting as they had a very different taste compared to your typical “lemonade”, but I found mine worked brilliantly as a pallet cleanser to my slightly heavy main.
During the demolishment of my meal, I found myself repetitively using the word “fresh” and from the very first spoonful you get a real sense of good home cooking.
If you haven’t tasted Middle Eastern food then I highly recommend starting your journey at Comptoir Libanais.
Return rating 4/5
For more information contact;
Website – www.lecomptoir.co.uk
Telephone - Due to the fact that Comptoir Libanais has various locations I feel it is best to visit the site for a particular contact number.
Email Enquires – info@lecomptoir.co.uk
The following photos are from our visit.