Today I was at Mazahr, invited here to celebrate a friend’s birthday. It has been a while since I dined on South Granville and when I did, this was still JamJar.
Today it was Mazahr, a Lebanese restaurant. Our host and birthday girl is familiar with the cuisine, so took the liberty of ordering for the group. The assembly were all familiar dishes, and together some of the best Lebanese food I have had to date.
The restaurant is modest in space and seating, with wood plank floors and matching tables. They have extended the square foot with an annex, this is where our group of 12 would be seated this evening.
We started with Tabbouli. Hand-chopped parsley, tomatoes and spring onions, mixed with herbs, bulgur, lemon, and extra virgin olive oil. It was a zesty salad that would have been best served as a refreshing side to our heavily seasoned proteins below.
I preferred the Fattoush for its crispier texture. Chopped fresh veggies with a lemon and extra virgin olive oil dressing, topped with pita chips, sumac, and pomegranate molasses. This served better as a starter salad to help open up the appetite. I especially liked the crunchy chips and the sweetness of the dressing bringing everything together.
Everyone was excited over all the dips and warm pita to share, myself included. My favourite was the Hummus. Creamy chickpea, tahini, and lemon juice. As classically delicious as this was, it was nice to have the other three to toggle between and to help rejuvenate the flavours of each.
Mutabbal is Char-grilled eggplant, tahini, lemon, salt, and garlic. It had a mashed, chunky texture that was easy to scoop and spoon with the pita. Served chilled it offered a zesty character.
I liked the Baba Ghannouj for its more roasted quality. Char-grilled eggplants, diced green and red peppers, garlic, parsley and pomegranate molasses.
And the Muhammara was fragrant with fresh red peppers, walnuts, tahini, and pomegranate molasses. This was the stand out of the four, ending on a lovely sweetness.
Out of all the dishes we tried I found the Mezza Sampler to be the best value. It offered a great way to taste a few items on the menu, in smaller portions, on one dish. This included 2 falafel, 2 kibbe, cauliflower, and halloumi fries.
Everyone, myself included, liked the Deep fried cauliflower the most, there just wasn’t enough of it. Bite sized florets tossed in tahini with a pomegranate and lemon dressing. So good that I wish I had a crispy and slightly sweet bowl all to myself, and when I return will order this again.
The same went for the Halloumi fries that were basically breaded and deep fried halloumi cheese sticks. Each stick was perfectly salty with a nice rubbery-firm chew.
The Falafel is a deep fried chickpea dumpling made of cilantro, parsley, garlic, onions and spices. I am not a fan of the grainy texture of the blended chickpeas, so saved these for the vegetarians at the table.
I did enjoy Kibbeh, which is the meat version of the above. These were stuffed croquettes made with cracked wheat and ground beef; then stuffed with sautéed ground beef, pine nuts, and spices. It reminded me of meat pies, but a little bland and dry on its own. Tastiest with a dip into Labne, offering a sharp tang and some acid. Labne is strained yogurt, salted and topped with olive oil.
The Batata Harra functioned like fries, but cut into cubes instead of sticks. Fried kennebec potatoes tossed in tomato chilli paste, garlic, and cilantro. I just found the sauce too sharp, and the pungent acid not to my tastes.
Like with the appetizer platter, we also shared an entree platter. The Mixed Grill Value Feast is one of each of the available Grilled Mezze options and an order of fried potato, plus your choice of any two cold mezze. The latter three were served earlier to start, but would have been nicer here to accompany the platter as sides to an otherwise heavy meat plate.
The Shish Tawouk is marinated chicken breast skewers. I found the chicken dry and in need of a sauce for additional flavour and moisture.
Kafta, is lean ground beef and lamb mixed with parsley, onions and spices. This was like a heavily herbed sausage. Overwhelming on its own, I liked it better with more Labne to help cut into some of the herbs.
The Lahm Mishwi was my favourite. Softer chunks of farm fed New Zealand lamb pieces seasoned with salt and pepper, I was happy to have these as is.
Overall, this was a delicious and authentic meal that I can see myself craving for again, then looking to return to satisfy said craving.
Mazahr Lebanese Kitchen
1488 W 11th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6H 1L1
(604) 733-2211
mazahr.ca
