Maison Libanaise, Shelley Street, Soho

Maison Libanaise is an Instagram lover’s paradise, especially on the roof top. Open space, soft lighting (including the all-important bare lightbulbs), sharing plates etc. Lounging up on the roof you see a scrum of people spending several long, protracted minutes vying for the perfect snap. Watching these antics amazes me, how anyone can resist food for that long is beyond me. I recall being in Stanley and watching some individual spend a good 15 minutes trying to find the perfect shot for their salad! A salad for god’s sake! They were prodding at it, moving the bowl around, removing bits, it really was quite amusing. As for their poor dining partner, well he looked like he was having the time of his life………… What I’m getting at, in a roundabout way, is that whilst it is true that we do eat with our eyes. We actually, and this is the important part, eat with our mouths (no Instagram camera in there)! Oh, I know the hypocrisy in writing this, but trust me I don’t spend excessive time trying to get the right photo, what I care about is the food, the quality, the inspiration behind it, the talent of the chef to challenge preconceived ideas. This is what matters. Dinner used to be about going out enjoying some good food, good conversation and good company. Of course, presentation is important but as the saying goes you can’t polish a turd.

What this is alluring to (in an admittedly) meandering way is that whilst it may be pretty in Masin the vital questions is does the food taste any good? Short answer, it’s fine. Not the best Middle Eastern food I’ve had but neither is it the worst. A lovely place for supper but not somewhere to rush back to. You won’t leave feeling disappointed, not by any means, but there are flaws.

Thankfully service is not one of them. As is typical of Black Sheep restaurants the staff are exceptionally well trained and observant. Can’t fault this. But onto the most important things, the food and does it actually taste any good?

In typical Middle Eastern fashion, there is a lot of Mezze to be collectively enjoyed followed by a few more hearty dishes. Let’s start with the most notable of Middle Eastern dishes the hummus. Hummus seems a by word for middle class dinner parties, usually from a supermarket usually far too solid, cold and frankly tasteless. I’m glad to report that the hummus here is nothing like that. It’s not the best hummus (this may be a theme here) but it’s not the worst. The nuttiness of the tahini comes through nicely, but it was maybe lacking in some acidity and a little wet but worth ordering again. However, there was one thing that made this hummus superior with the addition of beef shawarma. You can take your beetroot hummus, your sun-dried tomato hummus and any other hummus with a superfluous addition I’ve found the addition that matters. The beef was as tender as you like and full of flavouring after a long marinade. Why would you bother ordering normal hummus when you can add beef? Vegetarian not withstanding of course.

Moving on to another staple of Middle Eastern fare namely that squeaky halloumi. Another stalwart of middle class dinner parties. Here there isn’t the addition of beef shawarma (maybe always chuck this on every dish on the menu?) which meant we made do with a honey glaze, figs, and a byzantine dressing. Anyone know what’s in a Byzantine dressing? No. Neither do I. What I can tell you is that this dish was very very sweet. Fig and honey are a lovely combo but here it is simply too much. The halloumi itself is very thick so that sweetness has even more room to permeate into the cheese. It was all too much for me, but for those with more of a sweet tooth inclination it may be more palatable.

And to round off this round of mezze we ordered Falafel. We couldn’t not could we! The Scott is much of a fan falafel generally more so than I am. I habitually find it a bit plain and with a tendency to be over cooked. I’m glad to report that the falafel with Maison Libanse is neither of these things. The dryness is overcome by these being formed into large spherical shapes which means they remained moist throughout with a good crunch on the outside. These are served with a tahini yoghurt which was a great addition with the subtle nuttiness of the tahini aiding the herb packed falafel and the pickled turnips ensuring they weren’t too rich. Definitely some of the better falafel that I’ve had.

To round off the mezze we ordered the Arayes. Slow cooked lamb seasoned heavily with a variety of Middle Eastern spices, sandwiched between two flatbreads drippled with tahini and crowned with pomegranate seeds. This sounded heavenly. Key word being ‘sounded’. Just to rattle off a few whinges, there wasn’t enough lamb and the flatbreads could have been crispier, the addition of tahini was ok but I would imagine a herb dressing full of coriander, parsley and lemon may have been better served to cut through the richness of the lamb. Pomegranate was a lovely touch and the lamb, other than needing more of it, was spiced correctly and cooked till tender. But be more generous!

We finished off with a Shish Taouk or a chicken kebab. By this point the Scott and I were feeling the effects of all this food so only went for the one dish from a selection “from the grill” or “larger plates”. Looking around at other tables the whole roast cauliflower seemed a popular choice and it did look tantalising, as much as cauliflower can anyway. Like much of the meal it was good, but did it not wow me. The chicken with a heady mix of ground spice… no. It was just lacking a punch and whilst very well cooked, and with lovely chargrilled black bits was a little on the plain side. The Toum sauce or garlic mayo would have been perfect if a long-toothed fugitive had appeared on the roof but possibly too much for an evening meal. The sumac-grilled tomato wasn’t so much grilled as being kissed by fire so was basically still raw. It was certainly better than some of the late-night kebabs that were eaten over Chinese New Year on LFK, a lot better in fact.

I’d go back to Masin Libanese and would recommend it if anyone was short of ideas for a supper option, but would I rush back? Probably not.

The Galloping Ginger

Maison Libanaise

10 Shelley Street, Soho

https://www.maisonlibanaise.com.hk/