The ingredient missing in this place is training the waiters.
There are equally balanced local Londoners, and visitors from other part of London. Arabics, Iranians, And White locals, and me, an Asian.
I used to live in Edgware Road 15 years ago. Most of the neighbors were from Iraq and Some Iranians. And, this last visit was my homage to the school days and my student life. Bakc then, Al-dar then was new and nobody really cared in the 90s. Now, locally well-established Maroush moved across the street/perhaps downsized? and having had few competitions, this place seems to be crowded at around 8pm.
Casually set, the local waiters greet us in. The tables are quite small for dinners, and very tight next to other guests. You will feel your privacy is compromised.
After seated, we didn't get our menu for next 15-20min. Then the older manager/owner?( I recognize him from 90s) brought the menu, and we ordered our smoothies and appetizers, main. Well, 3 more groups were seated. They got their drinks. I knew our drinks were sitting on the counter, prepared by the juice guy, across our table, but the servers neglected it for next 20 min. We had to grab one waiter to wait on our table properly.
The juice was fresh, but not cool enough.
The appetizer, selections of Mezze were good experiences in the eyes and mouths. So were the thin bread. well-toasted.
Main was fresh enough, knowing that Lebanese foods does not have much of the spice or full flavor, but freshly cooked ingredients are the key for their reputation.
But, when I find that it is as simple as 7-8 variations to create all the menu, and once I got bored finding how simple the ingredients actually are, half way to swallow the main plates, that was it. NO Ingenuity, No Interpretation, No Inspiration. And, the worst is their absence of Serving skills. I figured their limit to the road to the success.
The Older manager/owner, may be friendly, but very bossy with us. Then I vaguely remembered he was a very arrogant one, who was harsh to my Iranian friend who did not wear those conservative head pieces, showing her naturally long curly hairs, becoming a quick but bizarre argument back in 90s. And, we walked off during the meal. Today, he is slightly intimidating, and often pushy. Now, the waiters, although they seem to appear busy. they are quite useless. It wasn't just an efficient service. They need very serious training. But, I felt that they would never figure out the issues to cover, due to the cultural differences.
For the locals on Edgware Road, this will be still a better dining place than the others, but I have seen posher, better Lebanese in Queensway and other areas in W1 than Al-dar, with higher prices to pay.
But, if you happen to be in Marble Arch, try Maroush Cafe or Al-Dar. They are casual enough, inexpensive, and authentic enough.
+ They include service fee of 12%+ in the bill. That is new. read more
