Celebratory London Meal, Lebanese at Maroush

A few weekends ago Rich and I went up to London to visit our friends Kathryn and Gavin. Also recently engaged this was the first time we had managed to catch up since they returned from their engagement holiday. Very kindly hosting us for two nights of celebration in London where the main themes were eating, drinking and pretending we were in a successful rock band we were introduced to two new, to us, restaurants the first of which was Maroush, Vere Street, near Bond Street tube station. Maroush is one of a mini independent chain of Lebanese restaurants scattered in the capital, the first of which opened just over 30 years ago on Edgeware Road. The outside looks fairly grand with fire torches, the moment you walk it it feels a bit like a canteen but we were greeted very warmly and led up to the mezzanine level which was much more restauranty.

Within the first five minutes of sitting down we were brought glasses of Prosecco, and a basket of fresh vegetables. Basically from start to finish we were treated like kings and queens the service was extremely attentive and friendly, nothing was too much trouble. We decided to order a couple of mezze dishes to share as our starter including: grilled halloumi, falafel, hummus, flatbreads and kibbeh shameyieh, a lamb meatball of a sorts.

super smooth hummus

falafels

 kibbeh shameyieh and grilled halloumi

The mezze were wonderful, the hummus was so creamy and smooth that we needed to order more bread to be able to finish the large portion we were given. My particular favourite was the kibbeh shameyieh, minced lamb encased in a crispy pulse shell it was aromatic and very delicious I could have eaten many more of those tasty fellows. For our mains I chose the Lamb Meshwi, along with Kathryn and Rich had the mixed grill, we decided not to order any sides with our mains because we still had some flatbreads and hummus left. Plus after seeing the size of mains ordered by other diners it was obviously the right choice.

lamb meshwi

mixed grill

My lamb meshwi main was chargrilled enough to give excellent flavour yet still be pink in the middle. The lamb was amazingly flavoured definitely the best lamb dish I have had in a long while. The chicken on Rich's mixed grill was lovely and zingly. All the mains came with a big salad and some roasted new potatoes, I personally couldn't finish all my lamb it was so delicious but I was so full. Our wine was nearly all finished and we were at the stage where you are so full you basically just need to snooze. However the staff at Maroush had other ideas when unprompted they brought over a plate of fresh fruit and baklava.

I do love ending a rich meal with some fruit it really helps me feel less full, the oranges slices were particularly refreshing. So we finished a seriously delicious meal and wonderful company and headed off back to Kat and Gavin's for a night cap and some more Rock Band. I can't recommend Maroush enough for fans of Lebanese food. So if you find yourself in London look up one of their restaurants or check out their website.