THE MOOD: After a day of shopping in Westfield Shepherds bush you soon work up an appetite and luckily there are a number of places to eat. The food court however seems to have suffered of late and not really a comfortable place to drop the shopping and have a nice relaxed meal. The nandos here is large but the queues also the same so best to head out to the range of shops on the walkway.
The Mandaloun is located outside just opposite House of Fraser and serves up traditional Lebanese food and you can also have Sihsa outside which has grown in popularity.
"The decor is nothing too special and it was a cold day out but also cold inside for some reason. So something for the management to maybe look into."
THE FOOD: There is a lot of choice from the menu so I would love to go back to sample more of the menu.
We started with the Falafel [Crispy deep fried balls of ground chickpeas, broad beans, celery, garlic, coriander, red and green pepper], which is a good way to test any Lebanese restaurant as its a staple item so you can gauge whats to come. You get 4 pieces which arrived in good time, came to the table warm and had a crispy coating. Just perfectly cooked with a good traditional taste but not too dry and not spicy so suitable for all.
To complement we also had the Kebbeh Halabieh [Lamb meatballs mixed with cracked wheat stuffed with minced meat, onions and pine nuts. Deep fried], translated these are dry lamb Meatballs, again you get a reasonable portion of 4 but quite large and both well spiced and meaty taste. I would recommend these.
Had the Mixed grill with rice [Selection of grilled skewers: lamb, shish taouk, and kaftah marinated in special sauce with mustard], The chicken and lamb were well marinated and nice charcoal taste (but not burnt) and not dry with great fresh flavour. The kebab was also really nice and all in all a well put together dish with a good selection.
You also get a good selection of dips with the chilli sauce worth a mention. You get a little kick of spicy but works well with all the dishes and not too spicy so just right for all. Another good test of a good Lebanese is the chilli sauce and the right sauce can be the make or break...
THE DRINK: Virgin Mandaloun - Non alcoholic passion fruit cocktail. Sweet and I really liked this refreshing drink but I must ask for a lot less ice in the future as you get a few good sips and it is soon all over.....
THE VERDICT: The meal came in at £50.00 and I am surprised to the read the somewhat negative reviews as I was happy with the food and yes service was a little slow but the staff were friendly and happy to help. I have yet to try the other restaurants available but this was a good start and would recommend eating here and hopefully over time will be able to bring you a review of more dishes as well as more restaurants in the shopping complex. By the way the menu prices on the website are not accurate and have gone up, just to bear that in mind. read more