Ok-here it is, finally my review on Bacchus of Lebanon. I must warn you-my pictures are not that great because it was really dark in the restaurant, and when I used my flash you couldn’t see the food.
My friends and I decided to go to Bacchus of Lebanon in Bethesda, MD on Thursday night for my friends birthday as well as restaurant week.
I wasn’t sure what to expect being that this was my first time to the restaurant, and I had not even heard of it before. I know I love Greek food, and Mediterranean food, and I figured this was very similar, but I was still a little worried.
First things First-
When we got there we started out with a white wine and a red wine. I let the group pick the wine since I didn’t want to act like a know it all. They picked a Chateau Ksara Blanc de Blanc
and Domaine Wardy Syrah.
The Ksara Blanc de Blanc was crisp, and refreshing. It was not the best white I have ever had, but it very easy to drink in this setting. The Syrah was hard, tannic, dry, and had a bitter taste to it. I absolutely hated it. The Ksara blanc de blanc was perfect with our meal because Lebanese food is a little spicy, and it was the perfect compliment to all that spice.
Bring on the Food-
Since there was about 14 of us we decided to go with a family style meal. I like this because the menu is set and you get to try a little of everything, and boy do I mean EVERYTHING! The appetizers were enough food alone to be the meal, but it just kept coming and coming. We had fresh hummus (ground up chick peas with olive oil and spices),Baba Ghannouj (pureed baked eggplant with olive oil and spices),
Bethenjan Al-Raheb (grilled eggplant, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and pomegranate molasses),
Ma’anek (a Lebanese spicy sausage-and I’m talking SPICY),
Falafel (chick pea balls with spices deep fried, and served with a Tahini sauce),
Bacchus Drumetts (Chicken drummetts marinated in olive oil, lemon, and spices, and grilled).
And with all of this, they serve fresh warm pitas, not as good as Levantes, but still ok, and a type of sesame and olive oil dip.
I am not sure what was in the dip, and I know it doesn’t look appetizing at all, but it was delicious and flavorful. All of the food tasted fresh, it was well seasoned, and I enjoyed all of it. Most of all I enjoyed how well everything went together.
You could eat it in any order, or all together, and it tasted great. My favorite was the Bethenjan Al-Raheb. This was like a French Ratatouille on crack. It had all the same elements, but had a slightly different taste. It also included small pieces of crispy pita with the pomegranate molasses, and it was truly an amazing experience in my mouth. The crunchy and slightly sweet pita chips with the salty and garlicky eggplant.
So yummy!
On to Dinner-
By this point I was pretty full since I thought the appetizers were the main course, but the waiters proceeded to bring out massive plates of meat, rice, peppers, onions, and mushrooms.
With the dinner they included a refreshing salad with a vinaigrette dressing, and plates of grilled eggplant with ground beef, spices, and crispy pita chips in pomegranate molasses. I had a bite of all the different meats, which included beef, lamb, chicken, spicy sausage, and white fish.
I enjoyed eating the different meats with some rice, the peppers, onions, and mushrooms, and the Labneh, which is a yogurt sauce with spices, olive oil, and a little mint. I would put everything together on my plate and eat it with the warm pita. Whether this was the proper way of eating it-I don’t know, but it sure was delicious. The yogurt sauce was thick, and gave a wonderful mild flavor to the spicy beef. Although I have to say I have a serious addiction to those crispy pita chips they put in everything. Can I just have a side of those?
Any room for dessert?
After the meal I was stuffed! Not pleasantly full, but STUFFED. The server waited a while to bring out dessert, which was a good idea. The dessert was small and simple, which I was ok with. The dessert was traditional Baklava, which was an assortment of pistachio and walnut filled pastries. Coffee also came with the meal so I decided to get a cup to go with my dessert. I really enjoy a small cup of coffee after I eat. I picked this trait up when I went to France. The Baklava was accompanied with Baluza, which is a fragrant cream pudding with a layer of lemon and orange custard.
I normally don’t like Baklava because it is too sweet, but this was light and mildly sweet, and was wonderful with my coffee. The Baluza, however, was disgusting to me. Others liked it and reminded them of fruit loops, but it was just unappealing to me so I enjoyed my baklava and coffee.
All in all-Bacchus of Lebanon was clean, friendly, and delicious.
It was reasonably priced as well. The bill came out to around $50/person, but that paid for all the food, dessert, coffee, 5 bottles of wine, tax, and tip-not so bad. I mean we are talking A LOT of food. I had a really enjoyable experience, and thought the food was spectacular. It is hard to find restaurants these days with really decent food. I will certainly be going back some day, and I will make sure people know about this wonderful little gem!
