Pining for Lebanon
Almost half of all Arab-Americans are of Lebanese descent. The solid numbers mean that finding good Lebanese food in America is no real challenge, especially throughout major metropolitan areas of the United States. Thankfully for Warsaw, finding decent Lebanese food is becoming less and less of a challenge here. The latest addition to the Middle Eastern milieu is Byblos, owned and operated by the same Lebanese folks that handle the delightful land of Le Cedre on Aleje Solidarności. Byblos is kind of Le Cedre's little brother - smaller and lower budget, not as mature, but it's managed to find a cooler place to hang out. Ulica Wilcza has more of a neighborhood feel and Byblos seems to fit right in. The restaurant, open since February, is light and airy enough to seem appropriate for the ever-more-spring-like weather shining down on Warsaw. Yellow tones and generic-looking murals decorate the walls while a friendly staff moves efficiently among the tables. During a recent visit, the clientele were largely suit-clad businessmen on lunch but the atmosphere was still casual and the price-range affordable. The menu offers standard Middle Eastern fare - nothing too surprising but just about what you want when you go to a restaurant named for one of Lebanon's oldest and longest continually inhabited cities.
(Byblos, about 50 kilometers north of Beirut, is the site of the multi-layered ruins of one of the most ancient cities of Lebanon, inhabited since Neolithic times and closely tied to the legends and history of the Mediterranean region for many thousands of years, and is directly associated with the history of the diffusion of the Phoenician alphabet, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. You won't be quizzed on the history lesson and you would probably bore a date to death with that little bit of information, but I need some filler for this column.)
So how's the food? Good. But it could be a lot better. My colleague Michael started with the Greek salad, a big bowl of Boston lettuce, ripe tomatoes, cucumber, creamy feta cheese and onions. The salad was a healthy start and the ingredients were fresh and tasty. It was clearly an above-average entry in the world of restaurant veggies. I opted for the tzatziki, a cucumber and yogurt mix perfect for pita bread. The sauce had a delightful hint of mint, a properly sour yogurt and a kiss of garlic that lingered pleasantly on the palate. Michael charged into his main course, a gyros entrée made of chicken and accompanied by French fries and garlic sauce. The chicken was a bit dry and, as the plate cooled off, it became rather blah. "It tasted like some average-old chicken-gyro matter," he said of the dish. The fries, not something I usually dwell on, were real potato wedges fried perfectly. The garlic sauce was powerful.
My kofta was one of the day's specials. Our helpful waitress discussed a couple of options with us and recommended it as one of her favorites. I'm thinking a little something got lost in the translation though, because it was good but not what I could characterize as a favorite. The minced-meat patties mixed with onion and tomato had an all-right flavor but the plate was uninspired. Not bad but not a truly memorable dining experience. We really only ran into objectionable problems when it came to dessert. The baklava was not what it should have been. The pastry lacked the obligatory honey sweetness and was heavily doused with a thin lemony syrup. In the middle was a waxen lemon ball reminiscent of a dollop of furniture polish. It was kind of icky. While I would not try the baklava again, I would go back to Byblos. All the portions were generous and the atmosphere affable. Our meal came to zł. 91 ($22).
On the menu Tzatziki zł. 11 Greek salad zł. 14 Gyros zł. 16 Kofta zł. 18 Baklava zł. 9
