Noura
16 Hobart Place
SW1W 0HH
020 7235 9444
Date of Last Visit: Friday, June 25, 2004
The Victims: Rutton, Ashley, Fredrik, Sophia, TJ, Haitham
So someone says to me at Coq d’Argent, "Do you like Lebanese food?" and I say "YES!" because I love Maza in Chicago on Lincoln. And before I know it, I’m in a taxi on my way to a place called Noura that everyone assures me is VERY casual and I’ll fit in fine in my sporty "Casual Friday" attire.
Uh, NO. I get to Noura and it is FANCY. The room is EXPANSIVE and well-lit and the vibe is TRENDY. I love it and hate it at the same time. We sit down and are waited on by 12 different people, which is somewhat annoying. Rutton deals with this and suddenly we only have one very, very attentive waiter and he is SO cute. He makes my night.
We eat hummous and babaganoush or however you spell it. And then they bring lots and lots of eggplant because I mentioned in passing that I LOVE eggplant.
And then they bring raw lamb to the table, two portions, one with cracked wheat and one without.
Now, I never actually thought I’d eat raw meat. But I did at Noura. And it was okay. I mixed it up with some hummous and olive oil and it was good. It wasn’t earth-shatteringly good, but it was good nonetheless. But disgusting looking, for sure.
We drink French wine and I’m mad about this because I LOVE Lebanese wine–it’s spicy and dirty. But I was not in charge, so that’s that.
We had some delicious Lebanese pastries and I had some Lebanese coffee. Zowwiiee.
The Verdict: All in all, a fabulous meal and a fabulous evening, but a bit too trendy for my everyday tastes. It would have to be a purposefully fancy evening for me to go again. I’m just too relaxed for this!
