Little Lebanon is the premier restaurant serving middle eastern cuisine in Kuching. It's located in a very central location and it currently has a Ramadan Berbuka Puasa set meal promotion for RM 25++. Little Lebanon is a very popular eating establishment and is frequently fully booked.
There is an al fresco dining area lining both balconies and nice indoor seating as well. There is prayer mats aligned to Mecca to the back and we saw several customers utilizing this commodity before breaking fast. It's the fasting month for Muslims now and there are a lot of places vying for the lucrative end-of-day breaking of the fast.
We arrived early so we had to wait for about half an hour before dinner was served. We had fresh yoghurt drinks while we waited for the meal. It's offered in sweetened and natural options - I would recommend the natural, unsweetened version. It's almost pure yoghurt, thick and filling. Divine!
Little Lebanon comes to life at about 7 pm...the interior lights are turned on; everything is ready for the patrons, the table linen all done nicely. Notice the Sahara tent in the middle? It's a huge private dining area for large groups - there's room for 20 people in there. It's the prime dining spot in Little Lebanon.
There are two choices for the Arabic menu in the Little Lebanon - the main difference is in the main...chicken or lamb, something that reminds me of long haul flights. ;) There are also two choices for the Local menu, but people don't go to Little Lebanon for that, we're here for Middle Eastern cuisine, so we went for the Arabic menu. Both Menu 1 and Menu 2 were ordered to provide the best variety.
Dates
This is the first dish that came out - dates or kurma. It's good - the seeds are not as large as the ones I got the other day. It's customary to break the day's fast with kurma (dates).
Bandung Drink
This is a local favorite. It's rose syrup with evaporated milk. It's creamy and thirst quenching at the same time. There are two options in the menu - bandung drink and selasih drink.
Selasih Drink
I'm not familiar with this one, but its very thirst quenching. It seems to be a cordial of some sort, with jelly that looks like passion fruit seeds.
Soup of the Day
This didn't come out from a Campbell soup can - it's made in house. It's good, real soup, creamy and hearty.
Plate of Hommus and Baba Ghannouj with Lebanese Bread
The Lebanese bread came out piping hot.
It's baked bread, with an interesting crispy/chewy texture that's unlike any other I've ever had. It goes very well with the two dips.
Mashed chickpeas blended with sesame seed paste and baked brinjal blend. This is easily the best dish coz I like bread. I like oven baked bread even more. Oven baked bread served hot is tops in my book. :)
This is a photo of the two dips taken with flash. I love the presentation - the way they got the oil into the middle of the dip intrigued me. It's good, soaked up very well with the Lebanese bread.
Spaghetti with Yoghurt
This is an interesting appetizer...it's a cold dish of spaghetti cooked with yogurt and yogurt only. The spaghetti is done al dente and the yoghurt sauce makes the whole appetizer cold.
Here's what it looks like, taken with flash. It's interesting, that's for sure. It's cold. It's sour. It's different! :)
Meat Sambousah
Minced beef, finely chopped onions and pine nuts wrapped in thin pastry.
Here's a photo with flash, this warm sambouhsah is a nice item on the menu since it came after the warm Lebanese bread and cold Yoghurt Spaghetti. It's a hot item again this time and this hot-cold-hot appetizer leading up to the main meal is a very interesting decision on the chef's part.
Chicken with Polanjar Potatoes
It's described as roasted chicken with buttered potatoes and that's not too far from the dish's offerings. It's given a Middle Eastern twist with the unique blend of herbs. It also came with a side serving of what looks like coleslaw, but isn't.
Lamb Mansaf with Arabic Rice
This is the difference between Menu 1 and Menu 2. The lamb is served around the rice, it's good, cooked in some kind of creamy stew. The Arabic rice has some mixed chopped nuts topping it up. It's dubbed as sliced lamb served with lamb sauce and rice. It's good. This one has more of a Middle Eastern twist to it than the Chicken. I'll recommend the lamb.
Fattoush
Finely chopped tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, parsley, mint leaves dressed with pomegranate and lemon juice. It's an acquired taste, that's all I can say. You can't really see anything from the ambient lighting so here's one with flash:
It's an interesting vegetable based dish with all sorts of crunchy stuff lining the plate. There are nuts and hard biscuits and crunchy bread crumbs. It's an interesting dish. I use the word interesting liberally to describe the food coz it's...er, interesting. ;)
Arabic Dessert and Seasonal Fruits
This is the dessert to end the, er...interesting course. The Arabic dessert is some sweet concoction which I can't put my finger on and there's some fruits served to the side.
Here's a clearer but more washed out picture taken with quick flash.
We were offered sisha during the dessert and this, to the best of my knowledge, is the only eating establishment that offers sisha in Kuching. I immediately agreed - there was an option of various fruit flavors and we went for the mixed one. Sisha looks like a bong, heck, it is a bong, but the cone doesn't have anything psychoactive inside.
There are two filters provided with the sisha for hygienic reasons.
Sisha is like a bong, except the smoke you're inhaling is fragrant incense. The fruit mix is a good choice, it's a nice fusion. There's no nicotine or anything psychoactive in there, so don't expect to get anything out of it, but there's something about smoking sweet fruit smoke while talking and relaxing with a great view of the city...
...it's simply divine. Sisha seems like a popular choice here, there's at least one to every table. It only costs RM 12. Highly recommended!
This is a farewell dinner of sorts for Bernice before she goes off to KL. Little Lebanon is a nice place and their Arabic Berbuka Puasa set at RM 25++ is a great deal. This time of the year is the best time to try out the promotions going around as it allows a wide range of dishes to be sampled for the breaking of fast ritual.
Peace be with you all, my dear readers... ;)
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