Keeping the Marriage Alive.

Good evening blog readers. It's raining in London, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying a good date. Yes, this evening I was accosted and taken out by my dashing other half (we are not married by the way, he won't even take the hint. HINT HINT.) We decided to pop on the tube to Westfield as it is on our line and has a large amount of tasty food places in a small area... although this can often be bad, as both of us are extremely indecisive. Especially when so much deliciousness is involved.

So tonight, as the boy was paying (*sigh* should have dug my feminist heels in VS. *teehee* girly giddyness), he decided on 'Mandaloun', a Lebanese restaurant that, from the outside, looked buzzing with young, fashionable people smoking shisha pipes and enjoying delicious mezze. 

Now, I'd like to point out that I absolutely love mezze cuisine, and the ability to eat lots of different, small dishes. It's the ultimate 'try a bit of everything' menu, which is great for me because I ALWAYS want everything on the menu.
There was a member of the front of house staff stood right by the entrance, however she barely acknowledged us. We stood there politely for about 5 more minutes until she looked again and we tried to signal that we'd like a table for two. She asked in a mumbled voice 'Shisha?', to which we replied that No, we were here to eat. She gestured for us to go inside, where the host took notice of us and lead us to a nice table for two at the back.

There were lots of lovely, comfy looking booths in the main part of the restaurant, along with beautiful hanging lanterns, but it felt wrong to ask for one of those lovely, big, comfortable and cushy booths for just the two of us, despite that fact that I love to eat in booths. It's great for couples who are still in love and actually appreciate being close to each other and sharing food. But we settled for the small wooden 'for two' table.

There was a huge selection of food and wines to choose from, which is always great, but we thought it easier to order the 'Grand Mezze' selection for 2 people. This came to £44.00 for the two of us, as well as this I ordered a large house Lebanese Red and my other half ordered a Mango Juice. The food came pretty quickly, despite having to wait a while to place our order. But where was my wine? I enjoyed those few strong sips before a meal that inevitably always make my meal more enjoyable. We tucked in regardless. We were presented with a selection of hummus  falafel, stuffed vine leaves, pitta breads, salad, minced lamb parcels and filo pastry parcels. The vine leaves were beautiful - they were moist and flavoursome, and I very much enjoyed them. The hummus (it seemed there were two different varieties - a smooth and a chunky one) were also nice. There was also a sort of moussaka sauce with onions and peppers which was very tasty, despite the fact that neither of us like aubergines. But the rest was a little disappointing unfortunately. The falafel and parcels were very dry... OH! My wine has showed up - great! I really could of done with that about twenty minutes ago. At least now it will help with the dryness of my mezze items... oh? Oh. It is extremely rough. Plus it's also a small glass when I asked for a large. Always disappointing.


We were then presented with the second part of our mezze.


I'd like to point out that the waitresses that cleared our table and brought our food were very lovely and smiley.

The main part was a mixed grill of lamb and chicken shish and donor meat.
The lamb shish was INCREDIBLE. Perfectly cooked with a tender and succulent pink middle. The chicken shish was passable, but the donor meat was all too greasy for me. My date had turned from beautiful restaurant wine and dine to glorified kebab shop outing. Shouldn't I have at least done a few tequilas prior?

This all came to about £65.00... including a 12.5% service charge, which I think was downright cheeky seeing as we didn't have one permanent waiter/waitress to give it to and our drinks were incredibly late. I don't think that Mandaloun is somewhere I would be returning to... My boyfriend did enjoy it though, which is good at least :)

We then journeyed to 'The Bull', and I ordered a LARGE Cabernet Savignion, cuddled up in a cosy chair and relished in the warm, smooth taste of my wine. A good ending to the evening.


I would also like to point out that my boyfriend, fantastic and handsome as he is (*vomit* I Know, Right?), returned home today with not only the intention to take me out for dinner, but a chocolate tart. Not any chocolate tart, but a 'River Cottage Deli' chocolate tart. YES! It was so delicious. The pastry was a deep, dark and rich chocolate, and the filling was so smooth and perfect that I could have died... or orgasmed... or both. I thoroughly suggest that everyone has a chocolate tart for breakfast.