If you have never eaten Lebanese food before, the menu can look long. The good news is that you are not meant to choose one dish. Mezza is a table of small plates that everyone shares, and the pleasure is in tasting a little of everything. This guide walks through our menu in the order the food arrives, and ends with how much to order.
What mezza means
Mezza (you will also see it written mezze) is not a course so much as a way of eating: many small dishes in the middle of the table, bread to scoop with, and no hurry. In the cafes of the Middle East that Tarboush takes its inspiration from, friends gather to share mezza for a whole evening. Our team’s advice to new guests is the same: share like the Lebanese do - order mezza and mains for the table. It is all about connection, variety and trying a bit of everything.
Cold mezza: dips first
Cold mezza arrives first and is eaten with bread. Three dips make a good foundation:
- Hummus - chick peas blended with tahini and lemon juice. The benchmark of any Lebanese kitchen.
- Moutabal - smoked aubergine with tahini and lemon, also known as baba ghanouj. Smoky where hummus is nutty.
- Hummus Beiruty - hummus with parsley and the bite of fresh green chilli, for those who like a little heat.
Beyond the famous three, Al Raheb is smoked aubergine with green peppers, tomatoes, spring onion, garlic and lemon; Tzatziki is yoghurt with cucumber and mint; and Taramasalata is a creamy fish roe dip.
Something fresh
Dips need something sharp beside them. Tabouleh is mostly parsley, with bulgar wheat and tomato in lemon and olive oil. Vine Leaves are stuffed with rice, tomatoes and spices. A Fatoush Salad adds crunch from toasted Lebanese bread, and a plate of Mixed Pickles or Mixed Olives costs little and keeps everyone nibbling.
Hot mezza: the crowd-pleasers
Hot mezza is where the grill and the fryer come in.
- Falafel - freshly cooked, with a tahini dressing.
- Batata Harra - spicy fried potatoes with coriander, sweet peppers and chilli.
- Grilled Halloumi Cheese - cooked over charcoal.
- Arayes - Lebanese bread filled with minced lamb and parsley and cooked on the grill.
- Sujuk - Lebanese spicy sausages in a spicy sauce.
- Grilled Chicken Wings - marinated and grilled.
Two dishes show how mezza can be a small meal on its own: Hummus Shawarma Chicken is hummus topped with chicken shawarma, and Foul Modamas combines broad beans with parsley, tomato, garlic, lemon and olive oil. For seafood there is Whitebait and Calamari, both with tartar sauce.
From the bakery: sambousek and kibbeh
Sambousek are small filled pastries: lamb with onions, chicken with garlic, cheese, spinach with onion and pomegranate, or spicy vegetable. Kibbeh is a bulghar wheat shell filled with minced lamb, onions and spices; there is a mushroom version and a potato one too. One plate of each is the usual order for a table.
Then the charcoal grill
If you still have room, the main courses come from the charcoal grill and the rotisserie. Chicken Tawouk is chicken marinated in garlic, lemon and olive oil and grilled on skewers; Lamb Kofta is minced lamb with onions and parsley; Mixed Sharwarma is lamb and chicken slowly cooked on a rotisserie. Cannot choose? The Mixed Grill has skewers of lamb, chicken and kofta with salad and rice. Away from the grill there are slow-cooked tagines, and a Grilled Butterfly Seabass.
How much should we order?
A simple rule: two to three mezza dishes per person if mezza is the whole meal, or one to two each if you are following with a main course. Mix cold and hot, and include something from the bakery.
- For two, mezza only: Hummus, Moutabal, Tabouleh Salad, Falafel, Batata Harra and Lamb Sambousek.
- For two, with mains: three mezza to share, then a main each.
- For four: six to eight mezza, then two or three mains in the middle rather than one each.
Let us choose for you
Not sure where to begin? The menu has ready-made selections: a Vegetarian or Vegan Mezze for one or two. Groups of six or more can take the set menu, where sharing platters of starters, grilled mains and baklava are brought to the table - see our guide to group dinners.
A few table manners (the relaxed kind)
Tear the bread and scoop - no cutlery needed for the dips. Order in rounds rather than all at once if you like to linger. Tell your server about any allergy; the letters after each dish on the menu show what it contains. And leave room: most tables order one dish too many, and nobody ever regrets it. Finish with mint tea or Arabic coffee.
See the full menu with prices or book a table.
