dbHK Eats: Maison Libanaise

Any time a restaurant tells you that their food is served in a “family way”, most of the time you can be sure there won’t be actual families dining there. Instead of large clans lining up at dining tables and sharing platters, you will most likely see hipsters and young couples languishing in front of their menus, wondering what food on it is actually gluten-free and low-carb.

Maison Libanaise is, thankfully, not that kind of place.

Located just off the escalator in Central, this three-storey restaurant has trappings that evoke an excursion back to 1960s Beirut; with a large mural of a Lebanese woman, Arabic style windows, vibrant ceramic tableware and a colourful staircase painted with geometric designs that opens up to the main dining room – Le Salon, on the first floor (second floor for the Americans).

The food here is curated by talented young chef James Harrison, who is a master of cooking up tasty shish taouk (chicken skewers), decadent lamb shoulders, refreshing Tabouleh, ultra-silky handmade Burrata and a various range of mezze options – Hummus bi Tahini, Baba Ganoush, Pan-fried haloumi with honey glaze, date and salt-baked carrots with cilantros.

Tread carefully when ordering platters, the folks here are not taking family sharing philosophy lightly. The main dishes come in huge portions that are more than enough to feed a whole mass of your ravenous extended family.

The humongous salmon tarator

When we are confronted with the whole salmon tarator and the whole baked lamb shoulder with goat’s cheese, fried basturma and a generous coating of herbs and spices, ‘whole’ is really the key word to watch out for.

If this flurry of authentic Lebanese food is not yet enough to get you excited, its extensive Lebanese wines might do the trick.

Having allied with Hong Kong’s biggest Lebanese wine importer, Red Mills Ltd, the wine list boasts Bekka Valley’s most prized bottles from Château St. Thommas Obeidy, Château Kefraya, IXSIR Altitude Rouge, Massaya Silver Selection Rouge and Château Ksara Rouge to name a few. For serious (and deep-pocketed) Lebanese wine lovers, there’s a vertical of Château Ksara from 1990 to 2007 to sample.

For those who want to enjoy an al fresco meal, overlooking the lively streets of Soho, head up to La Buvette, the restaurant’s cozy rooftop space. We guarantee you all the Middle Eastern tourist traps like Shisha, sitar music are mercifully not in evidence. Take-aways are also available on the ground floor.

Address: 10 Shelley Street, SoHo, Hong Kong

Opening hours: 

11am – 11pm (Sun-Thur)
11am – 12midnight (Fri-Sat)

Le Salon:

12noon – 11pm (Sun-Thur)
12noon – 12midnight (Fri-Sat)