LEBANON – Lebanese Taverna

There is so much affordable Lebanese food in the area that I was suspicious of the Lebanese Taverna, especially with its higher priced meals and Tysons II location. However, we were celebrating a birthday and sometimes you have to try the higher end of things.

The Lebanese Taverna is located in Tysons II mall in what they are now calling “West McLean” (?) at the ground level of the mall adjacent Saks Fifth Avenue. The restaurant is high-end with exposed stone, wood paneling, and recessed lighting. There are three dining areas: a bar/cafe area, an outdoor seating area, and an indoor dining room. There is a full bar with a huge selection, including Johnny Walker Blue at $30/shot. We ate outside because you can smoke out there and they make it feel formal and nice.

We found the service to be unhelpful. Luckily, we were able to order some sort of fixed price meal that included appetizers and entrees. The waiter assured us that we would get an good assortment of vague things.

Lebanese Cuisine

I read that animal fats are consumed sparingly in Lebanese cuisine, according to Wikipedia. When animal fats are consumed, they are typically poultry rather than red meat. I was surprised by this because I generally think of Lebanese food as being meat centric and mostly red meat focused (perhaps this is because this is American Lebanese food?). They say that Lebanese food contains large amounts of garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice and these are included at every meal. Also, most foods are grilled, baked, or sauteed in olive oil, which seems true since our meal contained no fried foods.

The food is typically served mezze style, similar to tapas with a variety of small dishes of differing textures and tastes. I would say this was definitely true of the appetizers, which were quite traditional. Wikipedia noted that the mezze course generally has hot and cold dishes and typically hummus (a dip made of blended chickpeas, sesame tahini, lemon juice, and garlic served), baba ghanouj (char-grilled eggplant, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic puree), falafels (deep fried spiced ground chick pea patties), tabbouleh (diced parsley salad with burghul, tomato, and mint), stuffed grape leaves (a.k.a. wara’ enab). We were served all of these items. Although these portions were served similar to tapas, the portions were quite large.

One of the sauces I love is the ubiquitous extremely garlicky white sauce. This sauce is called toum/toumeh/toomeh and is a garlic dip typically served with shawarma. I always wondered what was in it and I found a recipe that lists egg yolks, vinegar, mustard, salt, olive oil, and garlic as the ingredients, but also also a second recipe that contains yogurt, olive oil, garlic, mint leaves, and salt. I think I typically get the former style of dip.

I found that kibbeh is considered the national dish of Lebanon, and this interesting history of the dish from Sallybernstein.com:

The national dish of Lebanon is kibbeh, an emulsified paste of the freshest lamb and bulgur wheat. Think of kibbeh as a sort of Lebanese pate. Originally, kibbeh was made by pounding lamb with a jorn (mortar) and modaqqa (pestle), then kneading in spices and soaked bulgur. To some, that are unaccustomed to this procedure, this can be an unpleasant sight. The informative English food writer George Lassalle, in his book Middle Eastern Cuisine, East of Orphanides, describes kibbeh-making in the rural villages of Lebanon as “frightening.” He found the incessant pounding and kneading of the meat and bulgur both dreary and alarming. With the advent of the electric grinder and food processor this ancient method of kibbeh-making has all but stopped, except in the most rural villages. Often in American cities with large Lebanese and Syrian populations you’ll find butchers that specialize in “kibbeh meat”: lamb that is ground two or three times to form an emulsification.

Kibbeh can take on many forms, the most famous being kibbeh nayee (raw kibbeh) which is somewhat like steak tartar. Two other common forms of the food are kibbeh bil-saneeya (baked kibbeh) and kibbeh rass (fried kibbeh), both of which usually contain a filling of cooked meat and pinenuts. Baked kibbeh is layered in a pan with its stuffing and drizzled with olive oil, while fried kibbeh is shaped into miniature hollowed out footballs and then stuffed before being fried. Both of these cooked kibbeh are often served with refreshing yogurt sauce. Despite advancements in modern technologies, kibbeh-making is still an arduous task and usually reserved for holidays, festivals or Sunday dinner.

For our entrees, we did not eat any kibbeh, but instead we served kofta (listed as Mixed Grill), which are fingers of minced meat and spiced that are baked or grilled on skewers. We were also served shawarma: marinated meat (chicken or lamb) that is skewered on big rods and slowly cooked, then shaved and eaten with pita and condiments (listed as Mixed Shawarma). These were served in huge portions along with lots of fresh pita.

Although I read that drinks aren’t typically served with the meal, we certainly drank during our meal and sampled some Lebanese beer called Almaza – apparently owned by Heineken! Coffee is a staple at the end of the meal. Although we had beer, Arak is the national drink of Lebanon, similar to anise-flavored liquers like Ouzo and Sambuca.

For dessert we sampled a sort of fried dough dessert covered in honey and served with saffron yoghurt and rose water as well as a pistachio and honey bread pudding with ice cream. We didn’t have any baklava, but what distinguishes Lebanese baklava from other types is that it is often drizzled with rose water syrup and contains pistachios, versus walnuts and honey in Greek baklava.

Total: About $25-$30 per person