Reviewed
05/04

Located on the Cowley Road opposite Tesco's, Ali's Lebanese Takeaway & Vegetarian Specialist is haven for both vegetarians and lovers of Lebanese food. Even if you are not a vegetarian, like myself, it is easy to succumb to the delectable dishes which Ali has to offer. The menu comprises around 30 vegetarian items and 5 meat-filled specialities and of these there are several snack items like kibbeh (meat or vegetarian), falafel and fatayeri (spinach and lemon cakes). Almost all of the other dishes are available in sandwich form -- shish tawouk and lamb kafka both make excellent meat sandwiches while the spinach bezeit and falafel sandwiches are recommended vegetarian options. If you have a cold, why not attack it with a serving of batata hara (hot!) or have a batata hara sandwich with houmous to cool your mouth down as you eat it. The tabouli is another particularly good dish. As for dessert, there are some excellent baklava available -- well worth popping in just for these treats if nothing else. A small selection of soft drinks are available and cost 60p. Definitely not a place to be missed. One last note: make sure you meet Ali. He's great.

Dunstan Barnes, 31.05.04