Lebnani, Reigate: “Small but perfectly judged” – restaurant review
Lebnani, 11 Church Street, Reigate RH2 0AA (07495 528919). Mass £5.95-£6.95, larger dishes £9.50-£17.50, desserts £5, wines from £24.95
With the wrong places, the time never comes, no matter what one might wish it were otherwise. Perhaps you make allowances for the clumsy service, or the overdone decor, or the overly harsh menu splashed with sly adjectives – Sumptuous! Delectable! Tasty! – that leave you mumbling, "I'll be the judge of this." You agree to all of this in the hope that something you ordered will arrive and you'll take a look and know, by the way you know your own name, that you'll be fine. With bad addresses, this dish never arrives.
With very good addresses, the moment always comes early. At Lebnani in Reigate, the first reassuring sign comes very early: a glass bowl of small black and green olives with an intense taste, delivered to the table with the water. It is as if their compactness had concentrated their very brackish essence in the taut and shiny skin. They are tossed with salted and chopped candied lemons and speckled with the red of the diced peppers. We compulsively pound them, sometimes with cocktail sticks, sometimes with our fingers until their tips are glistening with oils. We soothe the slightly bitter edge with shots of their own lemonade, flavored with apple and ginger, or pomegranate and orange blossom.
Then the fattouche from Beirut arrives and we know, at the slightest glance, that we have really found our way to the right board. It's a beauty. Thin curls of fried flatbread are golden and lightly oiled, and dusted with the dark purple of sumac. Some of that citrus promise found its way into the bright green of the leaves and the cucumber underneath. Brilliant, vivid gems and pomegranate rubies complete the picture. You know it's going to be fabulous to eat, long before you even earnestly raise your fork, and it's: crisp and fresh, shiny and tangy. It is the food that makes you feel like you are engaged in a deep self-care exercise. It's "me time" in a succession of beautifully dressed plates.
Lebnani's executive chef and owner is Beirut-born Jad Youssef, who, in 2008 created what became the small group of Lebanese restaurants Yalla Yalla in central London before selling. For a time, he ran the kitchen of the far fancier, now closed, Fakhreldine, then joined a similar restaurant in Hong Kong as executive chef. Now it's also here in the Surrey suburban belt, with a meze menu at around £6 a plate and bigg...
Lebnani, 11 Church Street, Reigate RH2 0AA (07495 528919). Mass £5.95-£6.95, larger dishes £9.50-£17.50, desserts £5, wines from £24.95
With the wrong places, the time never comes, no matter what one might wish it were otherwise. Perhaps you make allowances for the clumsy service, or the overdone decor, or the overly harsh menu splashed with sly adjectives – Sumptuous! Delectable! Tasty! – that leave you mumbling, "I'll be the judge of this." You agree to all of this in the hope that something you ordered will arrive and you'll take a look and know, by the way you know your own name, that you'll be fine. With bad addresses, this dish never arrives.
With very good addresses, the moment always comes early. At Lebnani in Reigate, the first reassuring sign comes very early: a glass bowl of small black and green olives with an intense taste, delivered to the table with the water. It is as if their compactness had concentrated their very brackish essence in the taut and shiny skin. They are tossed with salted and chopped candied lemons and speckled with the red of the diced peppers. We compulsively pound them, sometimes with cocktail sticks, sometimes with our fingers until their tips are glistening with oils. We soothe the slightly bitter edge with shots of their own lemonade, flavored with apple and ginger, or pomegranate and orange blossom.
Then the fattouche from Beirut arrives and we know, at the slightest glance, that we have really found our way to the right board. It's a beauty. Thin curls of fried flatbread are golden and lightly oiled, and dusted with the dark purple of sumac. Some of that citrus promise found its way into the bright green of the leaves and the cucumber underneath. Brilliant, vivid gems and pomegranate rubies complete the picture. You know it's going to be fabulous to eat, long before you even earnestly raise your fork, and it's: crisp and fresh, shiny and tangy. It is the food that makes you feel like you are engaged in a deep self-care exercise. It's "me time" in a succession of beautifully dressed plates.
Lebnani's executive chef and owner is Beirut-born Jad Youssef, who, in 2008 created what became the small group of Lebanese restaurants Yalla Yalla in central London before selling. For a time, he ran the kitchen of the far fancier, now closed, Fakhreldine, then joined a similar restaurant in Hong Kong as executive chef. Now it's also here in the Surrey suburban belt, with a meze menu at around £6 a plate and bigg...
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