Tony grew up in the kitchen where his love for food developed, with his mother and grandmother always cooking delicious meals for him and his family at their home. This love of food and his upbringing is what drives his ambition to share the unique food and culture from Lebanon and the Middle East with the rest of the world.


Within the “souk” feel of the restaurant there is also a real “souk” (market), created by Tony to help guests find hard to find ingredients which are essential to make Middle Eastern food. These include spic’s such as Sumac, Zataar, or Orange Blossom, Rose Water, Tahina, and sweet treats such as Nougat and Baklawa. There is also homeware and goodies and handmade bags which are made by woman in local villages. For those who want to cook Lebanese food for their family and friends, there are two cookbooks, written by Tony and they have recently launched their third highly successful cookbook: Feasts from the Middle East . The book aims to enable guests to create a taste of the Middle East in their own kitchen at home.  (Shhh, don't tell Todd, but I ordered one from Amazon!)


The menu is made of recipes which Middle Eastern and Lebanese mothers use at home including Tony’s mother. Comptoir is a place that serves food all day from breakfast until dinner. It is a restaurant where everyone can eat casually and the food is served with warm and friendly hospitality, just like back home in the Middle-East and North Africa. Breakfast is an important meal in the Arab culture, the menu includes dishes such as Shakshuka - a classic dish made up of slow cooked tomatoes, red onions and peppers mixed with parsley, coriander and garlic. Topped with a fried egg and crumbled feta and served with pita. Alternatively , Man’ousha flat bread or full Lebanese breakfast.


The all day menu includes a huge variety of different dishes from a large selection of hot and cold mezze which are ideal for a quick snack or to share with friends and family. All the usual dips, salads and dishes are also available, from Baba Ghanuj to Marinated Jawaneh - Chargrilled marinated chicken wings with garlic, lemon & pomegranate molasses. Warm Lebanese wraps (served with a Comptoir salad and pickles) are especially popular, as are the Marinated Grills and Tagines.


No Lebanese meal is complete without something sweet there is a selection of Baklawa and Lebanese desserts, which are delicate, fragrant and delicious, such as Dark Chocolate Orange and Cardamom Cake. Refreshing homemade lemonades such as Romana - orange blossom water and pomegranate lemonade and Rosa - rose, lemon and lime lemonade, as well as Fresh Rose Mint Tea , served in a silver teapot are the perfect accompaniments to the meal as well as freshly squeezed juices, cocktails and a selection of Lebanese wines and beers, specially imported from the Bekaa Valley.

We were really spoilt for choice.  They offer a variety of drinks for their customers.  Hot drinks such as teas, coffees, chocolates (both European and Middle Eastern choices) along with a variety of wines, beers, spirits, cocktails and cold drinks.  We don't drink alcohol, tea or coffee, but were keen to try some authentic Home-made Lebanese Lemonades.

(Sorry we had taken a bite before I took the photo)

Lamb Kibbeh (3 pieces) (£6.25)  - Minced lamb cracker wheat parcels, filled with lamb, pine nuts and onion, served with a mint yogurt sauce.




Tony started his entrepreneurial flair from a young age selling lemonades and sandwiches outside his home on the street in Algeria. This drive inspired him to come to London with very little and grow the restaurant business that he has today. The authentic journey of flavours from the regions where Tony spent his childhood and where he still regularly travels now, continuing to source ingredients and decorations that will enhance the intoxicating eating experience of the Middle East.

The food is available to eat in the restaurant or to take home back to the office or to your home. Takeaway food is part and parcel of Middle Eastern culture and so Comptoir Libanais s proud to offer this service to guests at the Cheshire Oaks restaurant. Not only this, but the team will soon be launching an exclusive delivery service with Deliveroo . Comptoir Libanais will, therefore, provide the perfect option for eating at home or for picking up on the way back from work.

The restaurant also offers a large dedicated children’s menu with an activity pack and colouring in section to keep the little ones entertained. Priced at £5.95 it includes a main course, drink and dessert and includes favourites such as Halloumi Halloumi platter with falafel and hommos and Chicken wings with hommos and Lebanese fries.


About Comptoir Libanais 
There are 23 restaurants across London and around the country, including Manchester, Bath, Leeds, Reading, Birmingham, Oxford and Exeter. Comptoir Libanais also has a branch in Holland and is in the process of expanding further internationally, with restaurants in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Founded in 2008 by Tony Kitous, the name means Lebanese Counter, as it is a place where everyone can eat casually and enjoy Middle Eastern food, served with warm and friendly hospitality, just like back home.

www.comptoirlibanais.co.uk

60ml of milk or cream, gently heated (/4 cup)
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 5.  Have ready a baking tray.  Cut a thin sliver off the tops of each of the crusty rolls.  Using your fingers remove as much of the insides of the buns as you can, without tearing the outside.  You should have a thin shell.  Place them onto the baking tray.   Divide the meat filling between each of the four rolls, Pressing it down lightly.   Divide the cooked vegetables between each bun, placing them on top of the meat filling.  Divide the mashed potatoes amongst each bun, piling it on top of the vegetables and roughing it up with a fork.  Sprinkle the cheese over top of all and then place the baking tray in the oven.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown and everything is piping hot.  Serve immediately.

My husband is a really simple man with very simple tastes.  If meat and potatoes are on the menu, he is one very happy camper indeed!  He's been working really hard getting our garden Spring ready these past few days so I thought I would treat him today to a simple stew . . . which is one of his favourite meals of all.

 

I had some cubed leg of lamb that I had picked up at the butchers . . . perfect for a simple lamb stew.   It seems kind of silly presenting this as a recipe as it's something which I just kind of throw together . . .



There might be a few of you though that would appreciate some simple instructions as to how to go about it.   I can do it with my eyes closed, but that is because it is something which I have been throwing together for many, many years . . .

 

Stews are simple creatures . . . a bit of browned meat, some herbs, stock, a few vegetables . . . and you have something which is quite delicious and family pleasing.  Today I had some Chantenay Carrots that I had picked up the other day for 50 pence.  They were a bit larger than they normally are . . . each being about 4 inches in length. I thought it would be fun to simply peel them and then cut them in half before adding them to the stew.



I thought it gave a nice  look to the finished dish . . . unusual . . . and in that same vein of thought, I added peeled whole new potatoes, which held their shape nicely and were not overly large.  Altogether it gave a very rustic look to the finished dish, which I garnished simply with some chopped parsley and a few fresh thyme leaves . . . a bit of coarse salt and black pepper.   It went down a real treat and we are both looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow . . . because as anyone knows, any stew tastes twice as good for having ripened overnight in the refrigerator.




*A Simple Stew of Lamb*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
I love the simple things in life.  They always please, no matter what.


1 TBS olive oil
1 pound leg of lamb cut into bite sized chunks
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 leek, washed, trimmed and cut into rounds
2 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped
2 TBS flour
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 TBS dried parsley
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
hot chicken stock (about 1 litre)
4 carrots, peeled and cut into batons
(Today I used half a bag of overgrown Chantenay Carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise)
12 medium new potatoes, peeled
1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
a handful of cubed Swede (Rutabaga)

 

Heat the oil in a medium sized heavy dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add the lamb cubes, celery, onion and leek.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften and the meat to brown.  Once the meat has browned all over, sprinkle it with the flour, rosemary, thyme, parsley and some salt and pepper.  Cook and stir to coat meat.   Pour over hot chicken stock to cover, giving it all a good stir. Cover tightly and simmer for about an hour.  Add the carrots, parsnip, swede and potatoes, adding more stock as necessary and leaving the potatoes whole.   Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a slow simmer.  Cover tightly and cook until the vegetables and meat are very tender.   Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.  Spoon out into heated bowls to serve.

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a number of years now might remember a few years back when I did a review of this food company called Gousto.  Gousto is a London based company which is devoted to ensuring that families enjoy quality food in the comfort of their own homes, even after a busy day.  They have a professional team of chef's creating delicious recipes weekly.  All the shopping and measuring has been done for you.  All you have to do is to pick what you want to eat, and order it . . .oh, and cook it, of course, but if you are like me that's the easy part!



They contacted me again several weeks back and wanted to know if I would be interested in doing another review for them.   They said that they had made some improvements since my first time reviewing them and they were keen to have me do another review.   They did not have to ask me twice.  I remember really enjoying my past experience with them.

First of all the packaging was slightly different.  The box was extremely well packaged, the contents being divided and separated so the herbs and vegetables didn't spoil by getting too cold by being too near the meat and poultry. The meat and poultry were packed in a special woolcool bag which kept them perfectly cold.  ( This bag is biodegradable and can be put in the compost bin when taken out of the plastic.)    95% of the packaging materials Gousto uses are recyclable. Cardboard boxes can be disposed of in your recycling bins.

The vegetables are and Soil Association certified organic and Gousto use meat and poultry from high quality animal welfare British farms.  They have also lowered their prices by 17% and now offer meals costing between  £5.00 to £7.00 per portion, which includes delivery.  When you are talking about high quality, farm ingredients, this is pretty economical and on average that is substantially better than most supermarkets.   Gousto have worked really hard on making improvements and have passed on any savings to their customers.



Included in my delivery was everything I needed to make three main course meals, two (two serving) ones and one (four serving) one . . . fresh organic produce and meats in perfect quantities for each recipe, plus essentials such as stock cubes, herbs, etc.  There are only a few things that you might need to come up with yourself at home . . .  things such as olive or vegetable oil, vinegar, milk, butter, salt, pepper, sugar and flour . . .  the rest all comes in the box.  Also included are step by step recipe cards, a folder to keep your recipes in and a letter telling you exactly when you need to enjoy your meal by so that you don't risk things going out of date.



The first recipe I made was the Moroccan Chicken & Lemony Couscous.  The directions were very easy to follow.   They had sent the wrong almonds, sending me ground almonds instead of whole, but thankfully I had whole almonds in the cupboard.   The lemon was a bit on the green side, which doesn't really affect the flavour of the lemon, but was not as asthetically pleasing as a pure yellow one.   Also the onion was not fresh, having begun to spoil a bit, but I just trimmed off the bad part and used the rest.  I was a little bit surprised by that as, knowing it was going out for review, they should really have made sure everything was as it should be.

 

The dish however was absolutely fabulously delicious.   We both enjoyed it very much!  I would make it again.




Add the ras el hanout to a pan on a medium heat and cook for 1 minutes, or until the aroma is released.   Add 1 to 2 TBS of olive oil, the onion, the chilli, garlic and salt to taste.  Cook for 5 minutes, or until the onion is caramelized, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't catch.   Meanwhile chop the chicken into strips.  Chop the apricots coarsely.  Add the chicken and apricots to the pan.  Dissolve the stock cube with 300ml (600ml) of boiling water and add to the pan.   Grate the zest of lemon and cut the lemon into quarters.   Add 2 (4) pieces of lemon to the pan.  Place a lid on and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.   Once the chiucken is done, squeeze out the pulp of the lemon over the sauce and discard the rind.


Add the lemon and couscous to a bowl.   Add 200ml(400ml) of boiling water to the bowl, cover well and set aside for 8 minutes.  Coarsely chop the almonds.  Fluff th ecouscous with a fork.   Serve the couscous on a plate with the chicken strips on top and the remaining lemon pieces   Drizzle with the sticky sauce and sprinkle with toasted almonds.  Enjoy.



The next recipe in the box was for a Lamb Moussaka with a side salad.   I have made moussaka many times myself and so I was really excited about trying their recipe.  It used potatoes, which I had never done when I had made my own.

 

Once again the instructions were very easy to follow.   All of the ingredients for this dish were fresh and present.  No mistakes there.   The finished dish was quite delicious.  I think I will add potatoes myself the next time I made moussaka.  The salad was a nice touch as well.   I liked the simple dressing of olive oil and yoghurt with some seasoning.  This was really good.



Meanwhile remove the ends of the lettuces and tear into bite sized pieces.  Transfer half of the yogurt into a bowl and mix with 1 TBS (2 TBS) of olive oil, season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.


Once everything is done, use half of the potato slices to line your oven proof dish.  Layer with half of the aubergine slices, followed by half of th e lamb mince and repeat until layering is complete.  Top with the remaing yogurt and season with black pepper to taste.  Put in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden.


Allow th moussaka to cool slightly before eating.  it will improve the flavour and stop you from burning your mouth.   Toss the dressing over the salad and work into the leaves.   Serve the moussaka with the salad.  Enjoy!























 The third recipe was for Stilton & Pork Steaks with Pears and Pecans.  I actually have not made that recipe yet.  I froze the pork and cheese so that I can do it another time when I have more time.  But it does look very good.  If you want to know more about that recipe you can check it out on the Gousto Blog.

I have to say that one of the great things about this service is that there isn't any waste.  Often in the ships it is impossible to get exact amounts of what you need to cook a dish, more often than not leaving you with an acess of ingredients which may or may not be used in time.   Everything in the Gousto box gets used in order to make each recipe. Even the spices are measured out so there's no mystery, guessing or waste involved.

Gousto have recently launched a new website, so you can now easily make choices on your mobile phone. You can rate your recipes too and they're launching a few dozen new  features over the next few months. Have a look at their menu - with 10 recipes to choose from each week there's something for pretty much every taste. There is also no comittment, so there is  no monthly cost involved . . .  just a whenever you fancy ordering a box to make life easier way of doing things.  This is a fantastic option for those of you who are keen cooks, but don't have the time to faff about.  With this service all the faffing is done for you.  You simply have to throw everything together and enjoy the end results.   

At the moment you can get meals for as little as £3.30 with the order of your first box.   Also I have a code which you can use (which is only valid for 30 days) at the checkout.  You can use the code friends25 and get £25 off of your first box. 

 

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Many thanks to Gousto for sending me this box to use and enjoy.   The food was really tasty and I could not really find much fault with it, except for the two things I mentioned, which was really not all that bad in the scheme of things.  Although I was sent a box to use free of charge, any and all opinions are my own.

There are many regional variations, and it is frequently found listed amongst the usual pub grub dishes in various hostelries around Britain. The basic recipe consists of a mix made up of meat and vegetables (carrot, turnip, potatoes, onions or leek) which are then covered with a buttery thatch of sliced potato or pastry. Don't you just love the idea of a "thatched" roof of potato covering the top?