Where: Mezza House

Cuisine: Levantine

How Much: AED 250 for two (approx.)

Recommended: Fattoush and Hummus Beiruti

Mezza House is a Levantine restaurant that is often complemented for having the best hummus in town. Also, a place for a casual hangout and a good ol’ shisha. Here’s the complete Mezza House Review:

Food

Mezza House’s extensive menu is guaranteed to appeal to a wide range of taste buds, especially those that enjoy Arabic food.

Starters

For appetisers, we had a Levantine salad called “Fattoush” and two different kinds of hummus.

We were pleasantly surprised by how fresh the salad looked and tasted. Having eaten fattoush very frequently at my parents’, I have to admit there was a nice twist this time with the addition of bell peppers, which I’m traditionally not accustomed to. The lemony dressing was specifically yummy with an extra kick from the deep rich flavour of pomegranate molasses.

The first hummus we tried was a simple plain hummus plate with some crunchy pine nuts and cashews. It had the perfect blend of tahini and chick peas, giving it a smooth silky texture.

“Hummus Beiruti” was the second type on our table. I have to admit this appetising dish was the star of the night. Hummus Beiruti is hummus taken to a whole new level thanks to the addition of garlic, cumin and some finely chopped tomatoes. The bread that was served alongside was also soft, hot and delicious.

Mains

For our main dishes we had chicken and meat skewers, recommended by the restaurant manager, along with stuffed vine leaves or “Warak Enab” as Arabs would call them.

The chicken skewers were soft and well marinated although my friend had a slightly undercooked piece of chicken on his plate. The meat skewers were flavoursome and mostly tender with some chunks being tough to cut through.

Warak Enab did not have any wow factor except for the lamb cutlets that accompanied it, which were as soft as butter.

Drinks

We had a mint lemonade and a fruity drink called “Ginger Passion” consisting mainly of – as the name suggests – passion fruit, ginger beer and soda.

I would recommend this refreshing beverage to cool down after a heavy meal particularly in the summer time.

Desserts & Shisha

 

We had an Arabic dessert called “Osmaliyeh” made of vermicelli baked with fresh cream – or “Ashta” in Arabic – and served with a sweet syrup on the side. I have tried this dish at other places where it was strictly served in its traditional style.

Mezza House has it own version of Osmaliyeh with a thick scoop-resembling layer of baked cream that tasted more of vanilla ice cream.

With the common flavours available, the shisha didn’t last as long as we’d have liked, but was decent paired with the space.

Ambience

The restaurant has nice interior decor with colourful graffiti on the walls. The lighting was a bit too dim – as the photos probably show – for a casual restaurant in Downtown.

There was no music when we arrived by 8:30 until it got quite loud and noisy as an Arab singer started performing at around 10 pm. The volume was too loud for people to chat and actually hear each other. The chairs were slightly uncomfortable and the section we were seated in was jammed with tables making it difficult to move around.

To our surprise, the restaurant was also quite busy for a Tuesday night. The outdoor seating area was definitely much nicer and more spacious with a full view of Burj Khalifa and its colourfully illuminated facade.

Service

The service was the letdown of the evening; friendly and polite, but rather slow.

We had to wait around twenty minutes for the salad to arrive and another twenty minutes for the Hummus only to be surprised that the main dishes were also served simultaneously (not the norm usually).

Some waiters were inattentive and seemed confused about the table numbers.

If you’re interested, take note:

Valet parking is available with a fee of 25 dirhams.

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