Overall Rating: 1/10
Address:
Cuisine Type: Lebanese For all the lovely people out there planning to dine out on Valentine’s Day, if you are anywhere near South Kolkata, do read this review. Someone wise once said that in order to understand what you should do in life, you must gain the acumen of putting a seal on what you should NOT do. This SHOULD NOT part is what we, unfortunately, have to focus in this review, courtesy: our fantastic experience at Lebneh. But don’t just stop here, we urge you to read the full review before you jump to any conclusions. After all, any decision, however small, should be informed and rational.
Other Details
Bar Available: No
Veg/Non Veg: Veg and Non-Veg both
Hours: 12 PM to 10 PM
Payment Options: Cash/Credit Card (Debit Cards not accepted)
Payment Options: Cash/Credit Card (Debit Cards not accepted)
Home Delivery: No
Attendees: Red Chilli and Green Chilli
The Menu
We wanted to try minimum four to five items from the menu and the Family platter seemed quite comprehensive. Therefore, we went ahead and ordered one. Following were the items on the menu during our visit:
Family Platter (Rice cooked in cheese and mild herbs+2 Chicken Shawarma Wrap+ Half Grilled Chicken+ 6 Pcs. Chicken Shish Taouk+ Choice of Bread-2 + Soft Drink ) = 620/- (Inclusive of all taxes) +10/- tip
Pros and Cons
A brief summary of this restaurant review:
Pros
Only the name of the cuisine may be?
Cons
What not? Read the entire review.
Our Platter
A plate-by-plate account of our experience:
1. Rice Cooked in Cheese and Mild Herbs
Decoding the dish: Mildly salty rice with light cheese, carrot bits and olive oil flavour.
WWEat thinks: Rice was semi cooked. But at least we could finish it.
2. Chicken Shish Taouk (Kebab)
3. Half Grilled Chicken & Cheese Garlic Dip
Decoding the dish: Slightly scorched chicken, sour in taste with salty cheese dip.
WWEat thinks: As usual, odorous chicken, not even properly washed. The more we say the more you’ll dislike. In the dip garlic flavour was missing.
4. Chicken Shawarma Wrap
Decoding the dish: Beet root, carrot, cheese, salsa sauce, marinated shredded chicken wrapped in pita bread.
WWEat thinks: Chicken was not fresh, stinky. No difference from a regular chicken cheese roll.
5. Pita Bread & Hummus (Dip)
WWEat thinks: The bread needed to be baked little more and shouldn’t have been so dry and dusty. Hummus happens to be a thick dip while here it was quite thin just like Indian Daal.
Overview/The Restaurant
It is an occupational hazard for every restaurant reviewer to explore the good and the bad. But maybe the almighty (or whoever is scheming up there) had plans on presenting us with the worst. How delightful it was to have the cockroach in water as our appetiser when our stomachs were growling with hunger after all the waiting! Pardon me, I mentioned the climax too early. Let us begin from the horrible beginning of the moment of misjudgement when we entered Lebneh.
We already knew that the place was small, dine-in arrangements were not available for too many. So it was not a surprise or put off in any way when the person at the restaurant counter asked us to wait for 10 minutes to get a seat. After all, you should never judge a book by its cover. Lebneh is a small two storied restaurant with two tables and sofas in the ground floor, the kitchen being exactly opposite to it, allowing a little space for anyone to stand.
We asked them to reserve a table for two and took a short walk around the corner spending (at least) 15 minutes. However, when we returned, the table was still not available. After waiting for a bit, the (I am assuming) manager informed us that our table is ready upstairs. When we ascended up the stairs, the first thing that struck us was the low ceiling. Two sets of sofas with a table in-between, the entire floor would, at most, allow 12 people to sit- 3 in each sofa. However, we shudder to think what kind of situation it would be with 12 people breathing out in that small vault without any ventilation and with the low ceiling stooping on their neck (Seriously, you cannot even stand upright there!!)
However, we calmed ourselves by assuming that such claustrophobic decor had something to do with Greek architecture may be? Or may be not (who are we to comment on architecture, we know bupkis about it).
Then of course was the fact that if you are sitting on the 1st floor, you would have to sit there for eternity and keep guessing from all the strong odours whether your food has been plated yet. Because after 20 more minutes of waiting (even though we had placed our order 15-20 minutes before) we still didn’t have our food or any update on the same. Luckily, the people sitting adjacent to us seemed to know the owner (or head chef) and beckoned her (by loudly shouting out her name). Then only she remembered to come upstairs and we had the pleasant fortune of asking how many more minutes we’d have to play “guess if your food has been plated yet” (I wish I were quoting myself). She behaved very cordially and said she’ll provide us an update. Then a very ruffled looking gentleman came and informed us that since there were a lot of items in our order, it is taking some time. So, we did the only thing we could i.e. waited patiently and prayed that the food will be delicious enough to make us forget about the uneasy grumblings in our stomach.
Then of course was the fact that if you are sitting on the 1st floor, you would have to sit there for eternity and keep guessing from all the strong odours whether your food has been plated yet. Because after 20 more minutes of waiting (even though we had placed our order 15-20 minutes before) we still didn’t have our food or any update on the same. Luckily, the people sitting adjacent to us seemed to know the owner (or head chef) and beckoned her (by loudly shouting out her name). Then only she remembered to come upstairs and we had the pleasant fortune of asking how many more minutes we’d have to play “guess if your food has been plated yet” (I wish I were quoting myself). She behaved very cordially and said she’ll provide us an update. Then a very ruffled looking gentleman came and informed us that since there were a lot of items in our order, it is taking some time. So, we did the only thing we could i.e. waited patiently and prayed that the food will be delicious enough to make us forget about the uneasy grumblings in our stomach.
So, even though my appetite was completely gone, I started spooning through the rice which in fact had a different tang to it, although it was semi-cooked. But, the fact that we could finish the rice deserves a mention, since that was not the case with most of the other dishes. Then we tried the Chicken Shish Taouk (Kebab) which had the kick of herbs in it. However, the novelty in taste wears off after having the first one. The overpowering smell will bother you in the second helping, so you won’t try it for the third time. Thus, it is best to order six pieces of the Kebab if you are dining with a group of six people.
Moving on, we tried to taste the half grilled chicken which was, in plain words, just nasty. Let’s just leave it at the fact that we gave up after having two bites. The cheese dip was pure melted cheese though. And it is what we kept going back because it clearly was the only good thing in the entire platter.
The Shawarma rolls had the same shredded chicken from the Kebabs with an added stink. Green Chilli, the courageous one tried to manage it (but could not), while I gave up in the first bite.
The Pita breads were soft but dusty. We just had one and didn’t bother to touch it again. The Hummus did not have any impressionable flavour.
Only three lovely words based on our experience: do not visit. Have you been here? How was your experience? Do drop in your thoughts in the comments section.
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