Byblos: a slice of Lebanon

So we went out with a bunch of our buddies here in Bangalore one Saturday night. And there we were swinging and dancing to some really fun music being belted out at 'The Humming Tree' another watering hole that had just opened its doors barely two days before. We jostled through a huge bunch of curious party-goers that filtered in to check this new place out.

After a wonderful time, everyone was famished! we all started suggesting our favourite restaurants in good ol' Indiranagar that already has us spoilt for choice.

"Byblos!" piped in a pal. "Lets try this new Lebanese restaurant down the road". Now having had the good fortune of living in Dubai for several years, and also having made some wonderful Lebanese friends who often treated me to their delicacies (In exchange for our Indian specials! ;-)) I am convinced that we are yet to find a place serving authentic Lebanese cuisine right here in Bangalore. Many places claim to serve Arabic Shawerma which honestly, is not even 'Close' to Arabic! So we find roadside corners (just like we see all over the UAE) with chicken stuffed on this machine that turns around to grill the meat with perfection. And post that, the authenticity disappears, as every place has their own version of making Shawerma which I presume is Indianised to suit our palettes. And why not, considering we have Indian Chinese (which I personally prefer to authentic Chinese) and then a chicken or paneer tikka pizza at a Pizza Hut which goes down the Indian throats really well. But somehow, an Indian Shawerma just doesn't cut it for me.

So getting back to Byblos, walking into that restaurant already made me nostalgic about the Dubai I spent a good deal of time in. The open kitchen reminded me of so many of our old popular favorite restaurants. And then we were introduced to the proprietor who is... Well, Lebanese (joy!). 

By then I was actually excited about our dinner. He stood at our table and talked in his cute Lebanese-English (it's the accent) and suggested some of their popular favorites. I already knew the dishes he was talking about, and all I could say was "bring it on"! 

The Falafels were truly manna. They were crisp, delicious, and left us wanting more. We dunked them generously in the garlic cream and tahini sauce that accompanied it. The kebab platter was fantastic. And it was served just like we loved it, with slim pita wedges that were coated with a spiced red chilli paste. Deelish!! We couldn't stop eating the Hummus, Moutabel and Babagannouj dips that came with wonderfully puffed hot Pitas that were brought to us in these  bread baskets. Then came the Kabab platter, right out of Lebanon! It was a combination of chicken, lamb and seafood, all individually skewered with their respective flavors wafting right towards us. The meats were tender, moist and perfectly marinated. The spices were just right. And the taste, perfect.

Everyone silently wolfed down the exquisite spread that was placed before us, must have been the respect!
A grand ending was the platter of Baklava that the chef recommended and personally hand-picked for us. Now, I have eaten authentic Baklava in the UAE when I lived there. and then tried the Indian versions of the same.

Anand sweets, Manak Mewa and some others that serve the excuse-of-a-Baklava thing, get them to look just like the real thing, but they fall too far away with respect to taste and texture. I guess here, the makers tend to use a whole lot of substitutes instead of the real thing. I presume Dalda replaces the rich ghee and a generous quantity of peanuts get interspersed with the Cashew and Pistachio powder to reduce expense. So the flavor is never right. Nevertheless, you want GOOD Baklava? Byblos has it! We loved those rich honey and ghee-soaked, nutty wonders.

All in all, the perfect ending to a wonderful evening that left us wanting to do this again.
They say that a perfect meal is the answer to many a problem. Now, 'They' couldn't be more right!