Comptoir Libanais Oxford — Restaurant in Oxford

Had dinner here spontaneously whilst in Oxford. Walked in the guy serving at the front desk walked off as we walked up, without acknowledging , eye contact or greeting us (first impression) which I thought rude. He returned only a few minutes later, and showed us to a table. The place is big and spacious get them in, get them out kind of restaurant. Menu came quite quickly, waiter was friendly and did his job.

The mezze platter I ordered was 'OK' but not brilliant value for money at £13.95 basically it was a plate of hommus with a flatbread. The pickles were bitter (not to my taste) falafel was overcooked (borderline burnt) and dry, small cheese pancake was ok but tasteless, they gave you a spoonful of chopped up parsley and mint (not exactly tne 'quinoa tabbouleh' listed on the menu). Overall it was pretty bland and expensive for what it was. A bit of fresh salad would not have gone amiss (and not expensive to add to the dish) pickled turnip and sour/bitter chillis have a lot of room for improvement. He ordered the Beiruty similar look to mine really, pile of hummus with chillis, falafal flatbread, similar feedback to me. Bland, unexciting.

I'm sure students love it because compared to other restaurant choices it is relatively cheap to eat there and does the job.

My ABSOLUTE pet hate is that they AUTOMATICALLY added a service charge of 12.5%!!!! to the bill WITHOUT ASKING!

WHY?

If you want to increase the price of your restaurant bill, (and your turnover!) then be upfront and transparent about it and increase the prices on the menu.

A tip is descetionary and the customers perogative. Good service is the MINIMUM expectation, the standard. If you work as a service provider it is your job to be friendly, polite and do what you are being paid to do. If the customer considers your service, attitude or food exceptional and exceeds expectations, then by all means give them a tip. To include a tip without asking is unappreciated, unwelcome and will gain your restaurant negative feedback, and when the food is 'average' at best, it is...

I agree the interior of the restaurant is very bright and colourful and enticed you in. It was not a meal to savour and relax over, agreed it was a Saturday night and they were busy but we were rather rushed. Sadly the service was not all that good, my red wine arrived in a champagne flute, which was unusual but not something I would worry about, however a lot of the wine had been spilled on the tray, the glass was placed on the table without an apology and the waiter didn't return to clear it up, we had to ask a different person who came with our starters for a cloth. The food was tasty but rather over priced, my husband had Marinated Chicken Taouk which was chunks of chicken, a big pile of rice and a large salad which cost £13.50, I'd of happily paid £9.95 but £13.50 was just too much. The drinks were also over priced. We were given the bill pretty much as soon as we had finished our meal even though we hadn't asked for it and were still finishing our drinks, then the young man arrived with the card machine, again without us asking we were still drinking and looking at the bill. Do note they put an optional service charge on your bill of 10%, we only just noticed the waiter came to take the payment so quickly and did not ask us if we would like to pay this "optional extra". We left feeling disappointed and will not be...

Had a wonderful evening at Comptoir Libanais. Went on a Tuesday evening with my partner after watching a movie at curzon. We ordered a mezze platter for 1 and a lentil soup. I had a hot rose mint tea and he had a cold rose mint tea. Firstly, the decor is quite lovely and vibrant. The wait staff was attentive and friendly. We were quickly sitter without a reservation but on the weekends it gets quite packed so I would recommend booking ahead of time from Friday to Sunday. The food came fairly quickly. Everything was delicious! The soup was blended lentil with olive oil and small bits of pita bread. The mezze had good hoummus, babaganoush, falafel and other veggie options. Both my partner and I enjoyed our meals. He even got a falafel wrap to take away for lunch the next day. My warm rose mint tea was beyond delicious, it left me feeling relaxed and stressful. Had the feeling of just having a massage. Slept like a baby after having that tea. Highly recommend it if you need to relax. Comes in a nice silver pot. Overall the prices are moderate. The entrance is wheelchair accessible. There are items on the wall that are for sale which makes the environment feels fun. Great place for vegetarian or vegans. The ambience is laid back and great for groups, solo eating, families, friends or just partners grabbing a bite....