Step out of Christmas with a Comptoir festive feast
If you want a festive feast with a flavour of the Middle East, step into Exeter’s Comptoir Libanais this Christmas.
You won’t hear Slade, Wizard or Mariah (thankfully) and the décor is refreshingly tinsel-free.
What is guaranteed however, is a tongue-tingling table full of treats.
The mixed mezze starter is a meal in itself and comes with two vegan and two meat dishes.
The vine leaves stuffed with rice, pine nuts and pomegranate seeds were surprisingly tasty, fresh and fragrant, as was the Aubergine with Tahina, which was laced with garlic parsley and Sumac, that ever-present spiced with a tangy lemon flavour.
I particularly enjoyed the Lamb Samboussek – perfect little pastry parcels, reminiscent of Cornish pasties but with a little more swagger.
My dining partner gave top marks to the Harissa Spiced Chicken which had a real zing but came with a healthy dollop of fresh, cooling Hommos.
We were pleased to see there wasn’t a sliver of turkey in site on the main course menu but struggled to decide between the Roasted Sea Bass with confit tomato, Kalamata olives and a coriander and garlic dressing; The Harissa & Honey Grilled Baby Chicken with spiced Lebanese potatoes and garlic sauce; Lamb Kofta with Rice and a Tahina and for the vegetarians and vegans Aubergine & Feta Shaksuka – a pokey stew of peppers, tomato onion and garlic topped with feta cheese.
After much debate over a crisp glass of Prosecco, I decided on the vegan option while my dining partner opted for the fish.
Both dishes were a perfect balance of taste and texture. The sweetness of the bass was balanced with the light aniseed notes of braised fennel, meanwhile the aubergine and tomato dish was deceivingly packed with heat and sprinkled with creamy, crumbly Feta.
This all hardly left room for dessert but I decided a could just about squeeze in a Christmas Date Pudding with vanilla ice cream, date syrup and mixed nuts and my partner loosened her belt a notch to make room for Chocolate cheesecake topped with a layer of sultanas, pistachios and a bitter orange compote.
However, at the end of the day the desserts defeated us with neither bowl being emptied.
The other options included a traditional Lebanese rose water milk pudding with slow-cooked red berry compote and an Orange & Almond Cake served with orange and sultana marmalade.
We both agreed that all of the dishes were excellent and that the Souk-type ambiance made a refreshing change from the wall-to-wall Christmas songs, snow and sleighs everywhere else.
The only nod towards the annual festivities was a small tree and a window decoration of a polar bear ice skating… I kid you not.
And not one of the attentive and helpful waiting staff had donned a snowman jumper or elf hat.
With bellies so rotund they made us look like a pair of Santas, we waddled out into the winter sunshine and headed for a nearby shop to buy wrapping paper …and our ears were immediately assaulted by the strains of … Slade singing ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day’!
After the fantastic food we enjoyed, we wish it could be Comptoir every day!
* Comptoir Libanais is in Queen Street, Exeter. Call 01392 249588
Go to https://www.comptoirlibanais.com/restaurants/exeter for more information and the menu
