Al-Salam

6 Park End Street, Oxford
tel: 245710

Reviewed December 1999. Click here for menu.

Opening a Lebanese restaurant in a city already spoilt with several wonderful Lebanese venues cannot have been easy. But Al-Salam has managed to rise to the occasion to bring a dash of Middle Eastern glamour to the dark fringes of Park End Street. When we arrived the restaurant was already buzzing, and the cold November evening outside was immediately dispersed by the lively Arabian music and fragrant smells. The modern decor of the restaurant combines with the spick and span waiters and sparkling mirrors to give the place a wholesome sheen that is both modern and authentic.

For a starter, we chose a selection of five dishes, mainly due to the fact that we couldn’t decide between the vast and varied selection of sumptuous sounding starters (forty of them, to be exact, all reasonably priced between £2.00 and £4.20), and to my obsession with aubergine. Having ordered, we were brought a plate of fresh, and pleasingly colourful, salad vegetables. Although slightly puzzled as to whether we should wait to dip them in the hoummous, or whether we were expected to rip them apart there and then, we decided on the latter, and devoured the whole pepper, whole tomato, several green chillis, olives, small whole lettuce and small cucumber with truly exotic abandonment. You really coudn’t ask for more as a complementary appetiser, and this introduction is a hint that this kind of meal is definitely a fingers affair - the knife and fork is out of bounds, at least until the main course. We also ordered a bottle of Nakad, which despite being the cheapest Lebanese wine on the menu, proved to be delicious.

We made the right choice, as when our starters did arrive our table could not have supported any other dish. I sank into the Moutabale, a gorgeous vegetarian concoction of grilled aubergine with sesame seed oil, lemon juice and garlic, while he devoured most of the Labneh, homemade Lebanese cream cheese, declaring it unequivocably delicious. We both loved the Sebanikh Bzeit, fresh spinach with onions, lemon juice and olive oil. Spooned into a pitta bread it is just wonderful. The Fatayer Sebanikh were slightly less my thing, small pastries filled with spinach, onion and pine kernels, although for the samosa/spring roll fan, these Lebanese equivalents would certainly satisfy.

For the main course he had ( having been persuaded that he could have steak anywhere) Kibbeh Istanbuliyah, described as ground meat with crushed wheat stuffed with meat and pine kernels and grilled. He decided this unusual dish was rather nice, especially when smothered in yoghurt. I had the Al-Salam special, a variety of Lebanese vegetables grilled and served with rice and sesame sauce. The vegetables tasted almost barbequed, and they too were especially good when daubed with yoghurt. We loved the rice, wholegrain and very wholesome.

And finally, dessert. Mmm... My love affair with the honey-soaked treats of the Middle East could hardly contain itself as we were offered a plate of different pastries to choose from. He had the cream cheese variety, while I, of course, plumped for the baclawa. Don’t be put off by the description of cream cheese, for this is definitely the Lebanese variety. The stuff has a weird, slightly medicinal flavour which has the strange property of making you like it more and more as you eat increasing quantities of it. I imagine it could be very addictive. The baclawa was as it should have been - dripping with honey and marvellously decadent.

Meanwhile, the packed restaurant did not seem to worry the waiters who were polite and attentive throughout. The bill came to an astoundingly cheap £42; for this reasonable amount we had dined like kings. All in all, a wonderful evening was had in a restaurant where an upbeat atmosphere, impeccable service, excellent prices and glorious food combine to create a wholly enjoyable experience. Get in there, and abandon those forks!

Jane Labous
December 1999