REVIEW: Mamounia Lounge
The great thing about London is that you find the most interesting eateries in the most unusual places.
Take Mamounia Lounge, for example. This upmarket Lebanese/Moroccan restaurant may be in Mayfair (with another branch in Knightsbridge), but it situated beneath an especially unglamorous branch of the Odeon cinema. As with many middle-eastern eateries, it has a few tables with seductive-looking shisha pipes outside, but even that doesn't hint at the opulence inside.
Step past the vaguely scary-looking bouncer, and you will encounter and dark yet funky bar space. Your coats will be whipped off you by impossibly good-looking hostesses, and you will be lead downstairs to the basement restaurant.
It is immediately evident that an awful lot of money has been spent here. The restaurant was recently closed for 18 months, during which it appears they shipped in a host of Moroccan-themed wall features, knitted fabric round the chairs, and installed an awful lot of pink lights. It's the sort of thing which might look a little tacky in day light, but since you are underground and under an artificially warm sort of glow, it feels very plush indeed.
With the excellent selection of cocktails, you will shortly be under the influence too. Bizarrely, the Mexican margarita is especially good at this Lebanese joint, as is the Bubble Butt (a sweet and sour concoction of spirits with lychee). Anyone who's ever tasted hummus will know that small dishes are the way to go with this sort of cuisine. We tried the muhammara (a drier version of the nutty dip), a sensationally smoky moutabel, and the sausage tasting platter, which was both delectable and enormous. All came served with home-baked bread to lap it up, and at around £6 to £8 per dish, it feels like a steal.
Service was friendly though not hugely swift, but the acoustic set in the corner (along with another round of cocktails) kept us occupied. Our main courses sadly didn't reach the delicious climes of the starter plates: the chicken and lamb tagines, although meaty and rich, lacked the differing textures which make a truly great clay-baked dish. The Mamounia special rice, however, was a revelation: the brown rice fried with garlic butter, pine nuts and herbs was almost a meal in itself.
For a truly authentic experience, why not forgo dessert (Mamounia offers fruit platters, along with a token chocolate dish) and nip upstairs to partake in a bit of shisha? With a variety of fruity flavours, its a different sort of sweet end to a meal. What's more, they happily bring more drinks to you. We noted several cinema-goers looking on in envy...
www.mamounialounge.com
Take Mamounia Lounge, for example. This upmarket Lebanese/Moroccan restaurant may be in Mayfair (with another branch in Knightsbridge), but it situated beneath an especially unglamorous branch of the Odeon cinema. As with many middle-eastern eateries, it has a few tables with seductive-looking shisha pipes outside, but even that doesn't hint at the opulence inside.
Step past the vaguely scary-looking bouncer, and you will encounter and dark yet funky bar space. Your coats will be whipped off you by impossibly good-looking hostesses, and you will be lead downstairs to the basement restaurant.
It is immediately evident that an awful lot of money has been spent here. The restaurant was recently closed for 18 months, during which it appears they shipped in a host of Moroccan-themed wall features, knitted fabric round the chairs, and installed an awful lot of pink lights. It's the sort of thing which might look a little tacky in day light, but since you are underground and under an artificially warm sort of glow, it feels very plush indeed.
With the excellent selection of cocktails, you will shortly be under the influence too. Bizarrely, the Mexican margarita is especially good at this Lebanese joint, as is the Bubble Butt (a sweet and sour concoction of spirits with lychee). Anyone who's ever tasted hummus will know that small dishes are the way to go with this sort of cuisine. We tried the muhammara (a drier version of the nutty dip), a sensationally smoky moutabel, and the sausage tasting platter, which was both delectable and enormous. All came served with home-baked bread to lap it up, and at around £6 to £8 per dish, it feels like a steal.
Service was friendly though not hugely swift, but the acoustic set in the corner (along with another round of cocktails) kept us occupied. Our main courses sadly didn't reach the delicious climes of the starter plates: the chicken and lamb tagines, although meaty and rich, lacked the differing textures which make a truly great clay-baked dish. The Mamounia special rice, however, was a revelation: the brown rice fried with garlic butter, pine nuts and herbs was almost a meal in itself.
For a truly authentic experience, why not forgo dessert (Mamounia offers fruit platters, along with a token chocolate dish) and nip upstairs to partake in a bit of shisha? With a variety of fruity flavours, its a different sort of sweet end to a meal. What's more, they happily bring more drinks to you. We noted several cinema-goers looking on in envy...
www.mamounialounge.com