Dig into a messy mezze at Ealing’s Comptoir Libanais

After 4 years of building their established restaurants in London, the United Kingdom and abroad, the middle eastern cuisine restaurant chain has decided to expand further afield in London itself. Opening week has seen friends, family and local industry professionals welcome Comptoir Libanais to the fast-developing Ealing restaurant scene.

Ealing locals and visitors are set to experience fresh produce and a vibrant atmosphere at the Lebanese restaurant. The soft launch saw staff seeking service feedback and prepping for opening night on Thursday 5th October. It’s easy to see that the Ealing team are committed to delivering a standout and trusted experience to all diners.

Comptoir Libanais Ealing will focus on lunch and dinner service for the next month before opening their books for breakfast. Ealing locals have their fingers crossed that brunch, a local staple, will soon be on the menu at the weekends.

Front of house commented:

“Opening in Ealing is a bold decision.” Most likely due to the suburb’s recent sprouting of restaurants over the last few years; in equal measures they will be competing with independents and established chains which recently found residence in Ealing with popular uptake.

Food fire round:

The mezze platter for 1 (£13.50) served as the perfect sharer offering for those of us who are indecisive. This was enough for two diners to get a taste of the majority of starters from the menu, including hommos, baba ghanuj, tabbouleh, 1 falafel, natural labné (strained yoghurt), 1 cheese samboussek, warm flatbread & pickles. It has to be said, I am obsessed with the baba ghanuj and would happily return to the restaurant for a vat of this if I could. Along with the mezze, we added a side of slow-grilled Lebanese chicken wings (£7.25) marinated in lemon, garlic & onion served with a strong cinnamon & garlic sauce. Of course, we added a generous squeeze of lemon over the wings, delivering that overall fresh and zingy finish.

Mains were hard to choose from and we settled on two tagine dishes with an accompaniment of couscous: the chicken and green olive tagine (£15.50), a stew concoction of sweet chopped carrots, lemon confit & salty green olives; the lamb kofta (£15.50) spiced ground lamb, stewed tomatoes, chickpeas and courgettes with a mint yoghurt sauce. Both tagine dishes were less punchier than the mezze, with subtle Lebanese spices coming through and I can imagine the tagine as a perfect sharing dish accompanying the mixed grill (£17.95) selection of lamb & chicken kofta, chicken taouk with Comptoir salad & vermicelli rice.

Dessert was the star of the show and the mango and vanilla cheesecake (£6.75) gained a verbal ‘ding, ding ding’ from diners. The 10/10 cheesecake had the perfect finish of layered indulgent mango & smooth vanilla with a light dusting of pistachio & pomegranate seeds, which added a delicate crunch to every bite.

Both drinks throughout the meal were winners:

A classy Mojito Twist (£9.95) included the middle eastern flavours of pomegranate juice, adding a celebratory pinkish hue to the drink, while a splash of Triple sec brought a citrus punch to the mix. The soft drink of the day was the Mira Frozen (£5.95), a homemade frozen blended lemonade with fresh mint, lemon, lime & orange blossom. For the perfect Mira Frozen pairing, precise measurements of each ingredient are needed so that the orange blossom doesn’t overpower the other ingredients. To note, next time I intend to pair my Mira Frozen with the orange blossom mouhalabia dessert.