Dinner at Ali Baba Restaurant, Gzira

Wednesday, 15th October, 2014.

Ethnic restaurant such as Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, various other combined Asian, Moroccan and other Arabic cuisine restaurants, etc., have always been operated in Malta under one form or another, as happens always, most simply cater for local tastes rather than projecting the authentic, ethnic cuisine, with choice of the freshest ingredients which depict the mother country, and which would, for a couple of hours transport the diner to that far away place through the authenticity of the cuisine, its flavours and taste.

We were very pleasantly surprised last Wednesday, when we paid a visit to Ali Baba Restaurant in Ponsonby Street, Sliema. This restaurant has been serving genuine Lebanese food for over twenty-five years, having been originally opened by Abdul Rahman Harb back in 1987, serving traditional couscous and other Lebanese staples, prepared by Abdul Rahman and his wife . This restaurant, has since passed on to the son, Hany Harb, who received his kitchen training from a very early age, under his father’s watchful eye, augmented later on by culinary education and training with ITS, overseas training , experience with a local restaurant chain as operations manager, finally culminating in what was predictable from the start. Hany took over the family restaurant, bringing with him his acquired experience, and evolving the restaurant in what it is today, serving authentic Lebanese cuisine as well as some selected North African specialities.

The menu is divided in selections of cold and warm Mezze’s offering the best tasting specialities from Lebanon all priced to order individually or as a tasting in a selection; two soups; selections of traditional main courses; side dishes and what we consider the cherry on the cake especially in any ethnic restaurant, home-made desserts that are favourites in the old country.

Our food choices naturally consisted of a selection from the mezze’s to share between four, individually chosen main courses, and again a selection of the desserts to share. In this type of restaurant, sharing and enjoying the food with family and guests is the way to go.

Food served:

An amuse bouche of the Shourbet Addas which is a thick red lentil soup with onions and potatoes, coriander, fresh tomatoes, ginger and chillies.

Mezze’ choices of the:

Arayess Ghanam which is toasted Pitta bread.

Homous Awarma - dried chickpeas paste with tahini, garlic and lemon juice, topped with home-made corned lamb and toasted pine nuts.

Muhammara - Oven-roasted red bell peppers, walnuts, brown bread crumbs, garlic, chilli and pomegranate molasses.

Feteyell Ghanam Meshwieh - Lamb tenderloins marinated in bharat (mixed spices), sumac and ghardall (grain mustard) and grilled.

Kibbeh Maqlieh - A mixture of lamb, burghul (cracked wheat), onions and cumin filled with lamb and pine nuts and deep fried.

and their excellent

Maqaneq Ghanam - Aromatic lamb sausages prepared in-house.

Main Courses:

Sharhat Lahmeh Meshwieh - Veal strips marinated in garlic, parsley, fresh tomato juice and white wine vinegar, bharat (mixed spices) and grilled.

Firri Meshwi - Pan-seared boneless quails in garlic and pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, sweet spices and parsley.

Farrouj Meshwi Ma Toum - Boneless cockerel marinated in cardamom and harissa, aseer hosrum (verjuice), thyme, garlic and mixed spices, grilled and served with home-made garlic mayonnaise

Castaleta Ghanam - Lamb cutlets lightly marinated in herbs and spices and grilled.

Dessert:

One aspect of a very good dinner that would count towards a high point rating from us, in any restaurant, especially ethnic restaurants such as this, are home-made desserts recipes for which originated from the home-country. The chefs at Ali baba passed this test admirably with a selection of Lebanese desserts as shown below:

Knefeh Mafrookeh Bil-Ashtah - Thin angel hair pastry rubbed with samneh (ghee), filled with ricotta-like cheese and oven baked.

Atayef - Thick pancakes filled with pistachios, raisins, walnuts and cinnamon, deep fried and served with Pistachio ice-cream and honey.

Sfouf Bil-Fistoq We Zeyt Zeytoon - Warm pistachio and olive oil cake with milk and rose water ice-cream.

Mouhallabieh - Milk and rose water pudding, with crushed nuts and cinnamon.

Drinks and beverages: To accompany the dinner we ordered a bottle of their champagne beer which was excellent as an aperitif and at the same time very refreshing (EUR25 for the bottle by the way); two bottles of water and of course a bottle of Masar Jeune Lebanes wine (EUR24.50). Traditional Tea and coffee were presented to finish off the dinner with a platter of baklawa (petit fours Lebanese style). Complementary sweet dessert wine was also served.

Service: Front of house is taken care of by an experienced head-waiter who incidentally we had met in other restaurants before, together with Hany Harb the Chef-Patron, smartly dressed in chef whites, who greets all clients as they enter. Service throughout the dinner, although the restaurant was full, was very efficient and attentive.

Value for money: The value of a dinner at Ali Baba depends as always on food selections and quantity of platters. All items are individually priced, and one can order personally or to share.

The food bill as per the cuisine shown above, ( excluding wine, water and pr-dinner beverage) came up to: EUR 146.55 (EUR36.64 per person), which is very reasonable.

Reviewers’ Impressions:

Ambience: Good.

Atmosphere: Good.

Cuisine Quality: Very Good +

Preparation and presentation: Very Good +

Harmony of menu: Very Good +

Service: Very Good.

Wine list: reasonable selection, decent mark-ups.

Value for money: Very Good.

Rating: 9/10 Category: Ethnic Lebanese.

Recommended.

Contact details:

Ali Baba Restaurants,

Sir Frederick C. Ponsonby Street, Gzira.

Tel: 2134 0119.