Thursday 25 December 2008

Al-Dar

If you really must know this is where I had my Chrissie dinner.

Edgware Road is one of the few places in Britain where the word Christmas hardly exists in its vocabulary, you can dine and shop here without the fear of that added Christmas Day surcharge.

Al-Dar is just one of many Lebanese restaurants/shisha bars (these two are quite commonly conjoined as one venture so don’t complain about the pungent smelling hubbly bubbly whilst trying to savour your meze) that's dotted along this unremarkable long road.

The Middle Eastern folks quite often have a glass of fresh fruit juice to accompany their meal, but I opted for a cup of mint tea instead as I’d already overdosed on ten clementines for breakfast.

Ah, my turkey-free meal. The Mixed Grill consisted of tender lamb shish and kofte, and chicken kebabs.

Some warm pitta bread, onion and parsley salad, and a bowl of fantastic chilli/garlic sauce accompanied the well-cooked and tasty meats.

The food here can never be life changing, it was simply a couple of notches above ok, I mean for the best kebabs you’ll need to seek out the Turks in North London. The service today was surprisingly accommodating, I quite often find Lebanese waiters (rather like their counterparts in Chinatown) condescending at best, especially if Arabic is not uttered from your tongue. This restaurant is in serious need of refurbishment, it redefines shabbiness.





61-63 Edgware Road
London, W2 2HZ

2 comments:

Douglas Blyde said...

I've wondered about this place for years - thanks for the insight!

bellaphon said...

You're welcome. Don't forget, Stoke Newington for the best kebabs!