Levantish Lebanese Restaurant & Sweets — Restaurant in Dubai

Levant’ish, the New Kid In the Block, serves exquisite Levantine cuisine in an unmatched ambience. This place which has opened its doors big time to the overwhelming and profound culinary space of the mass-developing Qusais megalopolis.

The tastes of the Levant or the Bilād al Sham( in Arabic meaning ‘the land to the North’) ; is the cuisine of levantine influences that continues to carry an inspiringly mainstream character in a majority of the dishes today of Middle East. It is found in the modern states of , Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Syria and parts of southern Turkey; it, however has been adapted widely all over the Arabian peninsula.

It was a weekday and the place was already swarmed by a myriad of people waiting for their turns to have a go at this new place.

The interiors were subtle yet projected a swanky outlook; I particularly liked the copper conduits on the ceiling and the brick linings on top. The seating was gargantuan with turquoise coloured settees gave a classic yet contemporary touch to the whole fray.

We settled and tried the orange, melon juice and a vanilla shake. Presented well, nicely blended; especially the orange juice tasted exceptional.

Chicken soup for the soul- nothing can beat a bowl of simple, humble, hot and luscious chicken soup; more so if it’s absolutely mouth-watering with subtle undertones of nut-like creamy flavours! Brilliant!!

Followed by that was a Chicken Shawarma plate and an Iskander Shawarma- the chicken shawarma plate had a scintillating tone about it and was delish; However the Iskander Shawarma grabbed my attention by storm. Even though It looked like a typical curry at the outset, it’s a Turkish dish- the magic happens in a oval/ round dish straddled with fried bread/ croutons onto which tomato purée and glazed butter cooked in a pot with added condiments is poured over; and to them is added a generous mound of yogurt. Thereafter, from the Shawarma stand liberal helpings of Shawarma is added to the dish which gives it a new perspective and a juicy taste. This is indeed a star dish which you can combine with Pita bread, Ouzi rice or practically anything since it is delicately seasoned. The dish was a delightful surprise for me; dainty feast for the eyes.

Since it was a Levantine Place, a Lamb Chops was quite in order. The dish was nicely presented and the marinade was mellifluous in taste but very very raw.... totally uncooked meat.

For cold dip I asked for a Humus Beiruti, a Lebanese variant of humus, with an exceptional tinge of garlic and a nutty tone to it.

Ouzi Lamb, a traditional twin layered and coloured rice, garnished with nuts and topped with par-boiled pieces of juicy slow cooked lamb. The dish is class, inviting and was truly delectable. An outstanding dish.

Well how can you wind up a Levantine course without a Knafeh or a Kunafah as it is known in certain circles? Normally I prefer the cheese Knafeh but this time opted for a cream Knafeh which was delish. The portion was gigantic too!

I washed it all down with a swig of...

“Levant’ish Restaurant and Sweets”... a newly opened affordable gourmet concept restaurant is located in Baghdad street, Al Qusais. This is a new concept of Caviar group which opened its gates on on 26 April 2019.

Levant’ish is truly a place where you can enjoy the delicious delicacies of  the Levant region. It offers everything .... from the grills of Syria & Turkey to the yummy shawarma of Lebanon...... to mansaf of Jordan. .... from Kunafa to muhalabiya along with a selection of awesome cakes & pastries. The ambiance is decently decorated ...... with a huge open kitchen, where you can see the shawarma ... menakeesh ... arabic breads & much more being freshly prepared in front of you...

Coming back to what we had that day ...... we were so confused so we opt for the Chef suggestion & go for their 6 course tasting menu (costing just AED 69).

We started with some fresh juices & requested them to serve us without adding any sugar .... & believe me the juices were just amazing... we had Fresh Watermelon juice & Pineapple & Honey Melon juice

From the starters they served us Chicken soup.... it was definitely one of the best chicken soup I ever had. Mixed platter of cold mezze served with freshly baked bread. ...we just loved the hummus & baba ganoush ... How can I miss to have Falafel & Kibbeh .. that my all time favorite & I can have it at any time of the day .. 😍

From their mains ... they served us.. Chicken shawarma & Meat Shawarma platter ... freshly & perfectly made Mixed grilled platter.... I love the levantish grills ... with very less spices & grilled really well .... Mansaf Halabi..... a famous traditional Levantine dish made of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt & served with rice ... a highly recommendable dish...

From desserts we choose to have their authentic cheese Kunafa .... amazingly delicious... definitely a must to have.

The service was really good ... Chef Mohammed & other team remembers took good care of us & made our time here a good one. Definitely a...

Levantish is our go to restaurant if we want to have lebanese, arabic cuisine. I personally love Arabic food as it has less of oil. The restaurant serves Turkish - Lebanese cuisine. The best part is they serve hot freshly baked khubs.

We were impressed with the interiors done. Simple yet elegant look it had. I wanted to try out their shawarma as I got to hear that they have real good shawarma’s. We never liked shawarma from most of the places other than few couple of tried and tested places. But, the Levant’ish shawarma's was just amazing in taste. Both the chicken and beef shawarma in saj was full of flavor and taste. Thoroughly enjoyed their Mixed cold mezze platter along with the mixed grill which pairs well with the fresh hot oven baked pita breads. I love hot baked breads which we get from the Arabic restaurants. Something new what I tried for the first time was Mansaf Halabi – an Arabic dish layered with cooked wheat and rice and topped with the very well-cooked mutton and a sauce to compliment the dish. That was the star dish for me. I just loved the flavors and seasonings used in the manasf halabi. What a dinner without a dessert, so we had cheese kunafa. I personally prefer hot kunafa’s where the cheese is melted well, and strings are made when we pull it for eating. But, Levant’ish kunafa was not hot for my taste buds.

I strongly recommend this restaurant to those who love Arabic cuisine. The pricing was also pocket friendly which again is a happiness to the soul. In short happy tummy and happy soul you will be when you leave from Levant'ish. Their foods were fully packed with the perfect flavors...