Monday, December 11, 2006

SanoBar Lebanese, One Fullerton

From left: artichoke, hummus, and baba ganoush

Here's a Lebanese place that I'd been meaning to try for a while (1 Fullerton Road #01-05, 6423-9182). We started with many of the usual favorites, including hummus and baba ganoush, the latter of which came out salsa-like, but both of which did very fine. One thing on the menu that did strike me though was the artichoke, something that I haven't been able to find in Singapore (and have gotten short-changed with bad seasonal timing on trips to Rome and California). So I was a bit surprised to find them offering this - in December, of all times. Granted, it was a pretty small artichoke, and was a bit heavy on the olive oil and lemon juice, but it all went down very quickly. I was happy with it.

Kofta KebabFinally, for the main course, I got a kofta kebab, which came off as a bit dry (and had an interesting presence of chili on the side), but I still ate it all. The service here was quite rough though, and it was completely vacant at lunchtime today, which does make me worry about this place's future in such a high rent area. I did notice quite a number of drink specials and hookas on display, so this is probably another one of those places that depends more on evening entertainment (and yes, they boasted of belly dancing) than the food itself.

Well, given that this seems to be one of the only places around that serves artichoke, then I'm sure to come back. But I'm not hoping for much else.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

hmmmm hummus.

Anonymous said...

when i had the most delicious kofte in istanbul it also came with an optional chilli sauce (similar to the one on your plate just more watery)

Anonymous said...

Have you tried Sofra in the Shaw Building at Beach Road? I believe you can see the restaurant's signboard from the street.

It's been a long time since I went, but it was pretty good.

Hope it won't be another SHS, where the magic is not quite there, though you can't fault the dishes. Hmm.