Childhood Memories - Chamisse Review
Since moving to London, I’ve been on the lookout for an authentic Lebanese restaurant that fits the bill in terms of style, ambiance and the food.
Why, you might ask? Well, if my name doesn’t give it away, I’m half Lebanese, and Lebanese food is up there as one of my favourite cuisines because of the combination of fresh herbs, vegetables and grilled meats. I also grew up on my grandmother's and mum's Lebanese cooking, so it takes a lot to make it onto the list of worthy Lebanese restaurants to visit. No pressure then.
Recently, I stumbled across Chamisse near Chancery Lane and, as my mum was visiting and had requested Lebanese food, decided to try it out.
The Location
Found on Gray’s Inn Road, Chamisse is up the road from Chancery Lane tube stop so it's pretty centrally located. The area is quite desolate in terms of other notable restaurants or bars, unless you wander more towards Exmouth Market or Lambs Conduit Street, so you’d be going there specifically rather than randomly happening across it.
Given that most Lebanese restaurants are found towards Edgware Road or Mayfair (e.g. Maroush or Noura; Comptoir Libonais doesn’t make the cut, sorry) it makes the journey much shorter, which is always welcome! They're also on Deliveroo if you're not looking to make a trip out.
The Space
As you enter off the street, you find yourself in the middle of a small dining room at the front, which is a bit strange at first given you'd expect a welcome booth or something, so you have to catch a host’s eye pretty quickly to ask for a table and avoid awkwardly standing over someone's dinner. Once you’re past the front room and through the hallway, passing the window onto the kitchen, you’re into another larger dining room with some traditional artwork on the walls which adds a quaint decorative touch to the room.
The lighting of the restaurant is pretty bright, so it’s not a candlelit, romantic vibe, and it would have been good if the background Arabic music kept playing throughout the whole meal (it was a bit stop start), but we were there for good Lebanese food, so the ambiance wasn’t top of our list of things to care about.
An added benefit though, is that Chamisse is listed on GroupOn at the moment, which gives you an eight course mezze meal (think tapas style) and a glass of wine each for two people for £24, which, given the amount of food, is a great deal and will help to overlook some of the above!
The Food
The menu is split into the sections you’d expect from a Lebanese restaurant; Cold and Hot Mezzes, On the BBQ (grilled meats), Soups and Sides and Desserts.
The GroupOn was an offer that was too good to resist; it gave us a solid base of dishes to sample, so we opted for the mezze for two with a glass of Lebanese wine, then added some extra mezze dishes that are childhood favourites to round off the meal. If you haven't tried Lebanese food before, it's a great introduction to some of the classic mezze dishes.
Starting with the non-GroupOn dishes, first up was Mjeddrah (£4.95) and Arayes (£5.95) (left and right respectively below).
Mjeddrah is a mixture of lentils, onions and rice with a host of the usual suspects of Middle Eastern spices; cinnamon and cumin with a good dose of lemon juice as well.
This version of mjeddrah wasn’t quite as flavourful as ones I’ve had before, despite the topping of fried onions and pomegranate arils; it was just short of seasoning and the sharpness from the lemon juice. Not a dish to dwell on, and no conjuring of nostalgic memories from it.
The Arayes on the other hand, two layers of Khoubez (Lebanese flatbread) with minced lamb in the middle and fried on either side, was crispy as it should be, with the sweetness from the lamb coming through as well, with the bread not too oily either. Now we're getting somewhere.
The parade of GroupOn dishes then started in quick fashion; Hummus, Moutabal (or bhaba ghanoush), Tabbouleh, Bamieh bil zeit and Mouffasakh Batenjjan (I'll explain what each one is as we go through).
The hummus was perfectly smooth and creamy, with a perfect balance of tahini (sesame seed paste) and lemon juice, which made it perfect to scoop up with the Khoubez.
The Moutabal (bottom dish on the below picture) was even better; made from tahini, roasted aubergine, lemon juice and olive oil, it was smokey from the coal-fired aubergine, with the tahini holding everything together. I actually just ate this straight from the dish, no bread needed!
Next along, the Bamieh bil Zeit (okrah cooked in tomato with onion). Thinner and lighter on the tomato than the version my mum makes, the dish wasn’t anything to write home about, and again could have done with slightly more lemon and seasoning. Useful if you're looking for a vegetable side, but that's about it.
The Mouffasakh Batenjjan is grilled aubergine with lemon, garlic, red pepper and pomegranate molasses. The dish was sweet from the molasses and paired with the smokey aubergine, created a very rich dish which was polished off pretty quickly, so clearly a hit!
Lastly, the Tabbouleh; definitely not for anyone that isn’t a fan of parsley. Tabbouleh is a parsley and mint salad with tomato, red or spring onion, and bulgar wheat finished with a lemon and olive oil dressing. It’s a great palate cleanser and a much lighter dish to contrast the heavier ones. The tabbouleh at Chamisse is as good as any other I’ve tried, which is satisfying as sometimes it’s not up to scratch in other places due to the dressing not being quite right or it being overloaded with bulgar wheat; it is a parsley salad after all.
Another non-GroupOn choice next, this dish only came about as we smelt the Za’atar from another table, so instantly had to order it.
Za’atar is a blend of thyme, sumac, sesame seeds and salt, so has an aromatic (from the thyme) and tart (from the sumac) flavour. Added to Khoubez with olive oil and fried, the end result is Kellaj (£5.95); a tasty, savoury, crispy flatbread which I often had for breakfast growing up. Paired with the hummus or moutabal, it's a great combination.
The GroupOn set menu did include a portion of Kibbeh, but since it's one of my favourite Lebanese mezze, we added an extra order of it (£5.5). Kibbeh are fried balls of lamb and bulgar wheat, with a spiced (cumin and allspice) lamb filling. As far as Kibbeh go, these were up there with some of the best I’ve had in London; the outside was crispy whilst the filling was well seasoned and spiced, delicious when paired with the hummus as well! At £5.5 for four, it's also pretty good value compared to some other restaurants.
Next up, Cheese Sambousek and Batata Harra (spicy potatoes).
The potatoes, cubed and fried, were seasoned perfectly, with the chilli and peppers adding some welcome spice and heat. Not much more to say on those really!
The Sambousek, cheese pastries, were warm and crispy, with the pastry not too heavy. Biting into one, the cheese actually burst out (watch out for that!). Luckily the taste made up for it; the cheese was salty and complemented the crispy pastry making a moreish mouthful.
Last of the GroupOn order was more Kibbeh and Falafel alongside pickles and chilli.
Lebanese Falafel is slightly different to standard falafel; it’s more moist with a crispier coating, as well as having parsley and coriander added to the mixture, creating a herbier taste. Again one of the better falafels I’ve had in London! The coating was crunchy, and dipping the falafel in the taratour sauce (tahini and lemon juice) was a perfect match.
You’d think after all that food we’d be done, but Chamisse had another childhood favourite on the menu, Knafeh (£4.95).
Knafeh is pretty much a Lebanese cheesecake, with gooey mozzarella-like cheese (mozzarella is actually used as a substitute sometimes) and then a semolina based crust on top. It’s then baked, drowned in rose water flavoured sugar syrup, topped with crushed pistachio and served warm... what’s not to like?! The portion size was generous for the price and this version was along the more traditional lines, unlike, say, The Barbary’s version. Both are delicious though and a must order if you’ve never tried it before. Definitely stood up to the comparison against other knafeh I had as a child.
The Verdict
Cost - £/££ (out of ££££)
Is Chamisse the best Lebanese in London? I’m sure some would argue it is, with some of the dishes standing out and bringing back fond childhood memories of (Kibbeh and Knafeh).
Combined with the GroupOn deal, it makes it very affordable as a cheap dinner, with the mezze for two probably just the right amount of food if you add a dessert as well, which is a great selling point.
It doesn’t quite take top spot for me though... it wasn’t full marks for all the dishes we ordered, and the service can be hit or miss throughout the night (though this may depend on your host for the evening). It's not the most decadent of places either, so not somewhere to wow your dining partner if that's what you're looking for.
Despite those points, if you’re looking for good Lebanese food at an affordable price and in central London, it’s definitely worth the trip. I’ll be going back for sure, not at least to try the Shish Taouk (grilled chicken) too!
55 Grays Inn Rd
London
WC1X 8PP