…Kate is a sweet Lebanese British national… tall, fit and fun to be around, she is also a food connoisseur, her husband Leopold on the other hand is of Italian descent, equally tall, handsome, with that wide white toothed smile a la Johnny Bravo, his modelling career doesn’t prevent him from accompanying Kate in her quests for best food in town… And so they were with us: Kate & Leopold along with my wife Cozy and our favorite Lebanese memes guy, Chicho, for a brunch at Memory Lane Mar Mkhayel…
It was around 11:00 am and the weather was still chilly… quite normal for a December…
Our good friends from Zomato were there too, welcoming us along the Memory Lane friendly staff with a drink…
- Oh non merci… not for me… only water avec une tranche de citron…
I roamed around the place for few minutes… you could tell that the place was a carpentry and a fabric workshop thanks to the wits of the interior designers who included pieces of the past, smartly blended with the elements of the present… Walking into Memory Lane, you wouldn’t notice at first glance that the place is that big… just follow the road signs, they will lead you safely from area to area… You can expect nice surprises… so that’s why it was called Memory Lane…
- Oui Cherie j’arrives… (my wife was calling)
Oh ! que vois – je ? A platter of charcuteries… more specifically slices of Salchichón (Spanish summer sausage made from smoked dried cured lean pork…), Slices of Chorizo (another delicious sausage with Spanish origins) and slices of Lomo (slices of dry pork tenderloin – South American, Peruvian I think)
There was also that basket of fresh bread rolls… The brunch starts with a bang…
Then came a mix of Kaak Labneh, Kaak Zaatar and Kaak Halloum… so fresh, so traditionally presented… the Zaatar (le thyme de mon pays) was excellent, very flavorful… The labneh and Halloumy were so fresh you could hear them bleat while grazing on a vast green grass field under an azure blue sky and a golden warm sun on a morning spring day… breathtaking… but it was a winter day and that food was so good you could’ve thought it was made by your granny at home…
The Lebanese platter was handsome, colorful and an utter palet delight: Grilled Halloumie slices, exactly what I needed, a bite of salty grilled heaven… Fresh zaatar leaves bathing in olive oil with slices of tomatoes… believe me when I tell you that you could smell the earth out of them… and again… that Labneh… les mots manquent mais la magie demeure…
Kate was absolutely in Love with the Kaak Zaatar… who could blame her here… Leopold maybe? He was, after all giving her some jealous looks each time she took a bite of that Kaak after she had soaked it with Labneh…
We all ordered different hot dishes among a nice choice of Scrambled eggs, Omelets and Ham & Cheese crepe
Kate and I, of course, went for the scrambled eggs, sided with bread and sausages… my all-time favorite, but to my utter disappointment and in contrast with the goodness we just had before… the eggs were tasteless… no seasoning whatsoever… not even a hint…
The ham & cheese crepe was ok… nothing fancy, high quality ingredients, simple crepe…
The omelet was fine as well in its simplicity: not many ingredients inside it while it was also lacking seasoning… Decidement the Kaak and the Lebanese platter were the highlight of the brunch…
But hey… here comes the sweets…
The Fruit Salad & Granola was really good, fresh cuts of juicy fruits topped with much needed granola to add texture was the perfect dessert to end a really enjoyable brunch… though more was there:
The Nutella banana crepes and Nutella Strawberry crepes: same dessert different fruit inside… now don’t get me wrong it was good, I mean hey, who doesn’t like Nutella… but here’s the problem to me… it was not creative enough next to what we were already presented with… Not creative enough to be on the menu of the highly creative Memory Lane…
Definitely a nice place, calm, relaxing, great food, great people… you will be seeing us again soon…
Gaston Le Berger…
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