It was on a random vlog that I first discovered Comptoir Libanais, albeit at the time they only had locations in London. I watched as the vlogger panned over their plates of food, including dreamy-looking hummus and luminous pink pickles and I knew I wanted to try the place out. Who doesn’t have a thought like that when they see luminous pink pickles?
Anyhoo. Fast-forward a couple of years and I’ve moved back to Manchester not long after Comptoir Libanais has finally made it ‘oop north. Located in Spinningfields (where, incidentally, venues seem to open and close at a bit of an alarming rate), it sits alongside a couple of other newer additions, who all seem to have used the same interior designer as Wahaca; all colour-clashing and loud prints. Not that I’m complaining.
We chose a seat inside as, despite the inclement weather that day, it wasn’t quite nice enough to sit out on the covered terrace at the front. The waitress quickly gave us menus and took our drinks orders – a fresh rose mint tea for me, a Vodka Roomana for Scott (pomegranate & orange blossom lemonade with vodka).
The tea was poured the traditional Middle Eastern way, from a height into a dainty glass, and was almost tooth-achingly sweet, but had the amazing aroma and taste of something exotic, probably due to the rose water. Scott’s cocktail was refreshing and heady (from the pomegranate, not the vodka).
The food menu is fairly concise, consisting of cold and hot mezze bites, salads, koftas, Lebanese flat breads and a handful of tagines. We opted to share a Dip Platter to start – hummus, baba ganoush, labneh, pitta bread and pickles – along with an order of falafel (sadly not photographed here).
The hummus was wonderful, definitely erring more on the side of the tahini and chickpeas than the garlic and oil. I’d never had baba ganoush with pomegranate seeds before, and they definitely added a nice little zing to every mouthful, but the labneh was just average for me (a personal taste thing, I’d rather just eat an extra portion of hummus). The pickles were described as Dead Sea pickles and were unusual and salty in taste, although not too vinegary as to give you the Chief Inspector Dreyfus squint. Falafel were delectable and probably the tastiest I’ve ever eaten (and I’ve eaten a LOT of falafel). Perfectly crispy on the outside, fluffy and flavourful on the inside. Each portion came with three, and a side of tahini sauce.
Next up, we ordered a Halloumi Cheese & Zaatar Man’ousha and a Chicken Kofta.
The ma’nousha was like a thin pizza base, topped with grilled halloumi, zatar, fresh thyme and mint. The mint gave the most amazing flavour to the cheese, which was the most melted I have ever seen halloumi go – I assume a sign of good quality halloumi? This dish kept fooling my tastebuds, because the pizza-like appearance lends nothing to what the actual dish tastes like. Just try it.
When we were offered either rice or “chips” with the kofta, we ordered the latter assuming that they would be an underwhelming afterthought. How wrong we were. The crispy squares of potato (more like American home fries) were seasoned with herbs and chilli and even the tomato that accompanied everything was bursting with flavour. And that’s to say nothing of the kofta – crammed with herbs and spices and perfectly lean.
I really hope Comptoir doesn’t fall foul of the fate of some other Spinningfields establishments, because it’s so nice to have a good Lebanese restaurant around, if only so I can get my falafel and hummus fix while admiring all the shiny teapots and woven handbags that I’ll sadly never purchase.
- 18-19 The Avenue, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3HF
- Open Mon – Weds 8am – 11pm, Thurs 8am – Midnight, Fri 8am – 1.30am, Sat 10am – 1.30am, Sun 10am – 10pm
- www.comptoirlibanais.com/locations/manchester/
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