• About The Hedonist
  • Bar Talk-Where we’re drinking
    • The Polo Bar @ The Westbury
    • Pink Chihuahua
    • 69 Colebrooke Row – Review
    • The Bar at the George V Paris – Review
    • Duke’s Bar – Review
    • Bassoon Bar – Review
    • Banca – Review
    • THE EGERTON HOUSE BAR -Review
    • The Lucky Pig – Review
    • Beagle – Review
    • 214 Bermondsey – Review
  • London Restaurant Reviews
    • Caractère – Review Notting Hill
    • Patri – Review
    • Villa di Geggiano – Review
    • African Volcano @  Great Guns Social  
    • Beso – Review
    • Padella – Review
    • 28°-50° London Wine Workshop and Kitchen – Review
    • The Goring – Review
    • Freakscene – Review
    • CUB – Review
    • Tsukiji Sushi – Review
    • COYA Angel Court – Review
    • Nutbourne – Review
    • Galvin Bistrot de Luxe – Review
    • Palatino – Review
    • Lao Café – Review
    • Galvin at The Athenaeum – Review
    • 7 Park Place – Review
    • QP London – Review
    • Cinnamon Bazaar – Review
    • Chinese New Year @ Hakkasan
    • Dinner by Heston Blumenthal – Review
    • The Ritz @ Xmas – Review
    • Coriander – Review
    • El Parador – Review
    • Inamo – Review
    • Ostuni – Review
    • Chai Wu – Review
    • Shotgun BBQ – Review
    • Ormer Mayfair – Review
    • Review-The Angler
    • The Harcourt – Review
    • Pizzicotto – Review
    • The Painted Heron – Review
    • All Star Lanes – Review
    • Kurobuta Harvey Nichols – Review
    • Bangalore Express – Review
    • Zero Degrees – Review
    • Chakra – Review
    • Cottons Caribbean Restaurant and Salon de Rhum – Review
    • Lotus – Review
    • Charlotte’s W5 – Review
    • Massimo – Review
    • Brasserie Les 110 de Taillevent – Review
    • The Dalloway Terrace @ The Bloomsbury hotel – Review
    • Plum + Spilt Milk – Review
    • Bella Cosa – Review
    • Roka Aldwych – Review (with Bookatable)
    • Brasserie Gustave – Review
    • Muga – Review
    • Barrafina – Review
    • Charlotte’s Place – Review
    • The New St Grill – Review
    • The Lockhart – Review
    • Kêu – Review
    • The Richmond – Review
    • Allan Pickett @ Sanderson – Review
    • Scents of Summer Afternoon Tea @ The InterContinental London
    • Tartufi & Friends @ Harrods – Review
    • The Five Fields – Review
    • West Thirty Six – Review
    • Evoluzione @ Hotel Xenia Kensington – Review
    • Rex & Mariano – Review
    • Kitchen Table @ Bubbledogs – Review
    • John Doe – Review
    • Ceru – Review
    • Kouzu – Review
    • Enoteca Rabezzana – Review
    • Old Tom & English – Review
    • The Wallace – Review
    • Zaika – Review
    • Xmas at Boulestin – Review
    • Crocker’s Folly – Review
    • The Cavendish – Review
    • Laurent-Perrier at The New Angel – Review
    • Assado – Review
    • The Life Goddess – Review
    • Bubba Gump Shrimp Co – Review
    • Ember Yard – Review
    • The Palomar – Review
    • Blanchette – Review
    • Cannizaro House – Review
    • 1901 Restaurant at Andaz – Review
    • Notting Hill Kitchen – Review
    • The Guildford Arms – Review
    • Curry for Change @ Cafe Spice Namaste
    • Chotto Matte – Review
    • Lyle’s – Review
    • The Clove Club – Review
    • Quo Vadis – Review
    • Polpetto – Review
    • Osteria dell Angelo – Review
    • Amsterdam-Johannes Restaurant – Review
    • The Worlds End Market – Chelsea
    • Brigade Bar & Bistro- Review
    • La Polenteria – Review
    • Mele e Pere – Review
    • La Mancha – Review
    • The Well – Review
    • Harrods The Salad Kitchen – Review
    • Layla – Review
    • See Sushi – Review
    • Pescatori Mayfair – Review
    • Flesh & Buns – Review
    • Grain Store – Review
    • Acciuga – Review
    • Pizza Pilgrims – Review
    • Les Trois Garcons – Review
    • Little Social – Review
    • Review-Ametsa with Arzak Instruction
    • Review-Balthazar
    • Reviews-Brasserie Zedel
    • Review-Copita
    • Review-Hawksmoor Air St.
    • The Glasshouse – Review
    • Review-Coya
    • 214 Bermondsey – Review
  • Travel
    • Tuscany
      • Tuscany-A Florentine Feast with Anna Bini
      • Tuscany-Olive Oil Pressing in Pistoia-Olio Nuovo
      • Tuscany-Pecorino and Ricotta from the Pistoia Hills
  • Music
    • When A Gig Goes Wrong – Pop Music’s Hall of Shame

The Hedonist

Layla – Review

March 2, 2014 by Adrian Leave a Comment

Layla                                          Wimbledon

Follow @Hedonisttweets

33 High St, Wimbledon Village. SW19 5BY

0208 944. 7696/www.laylarestaurant.co.uk

01-IMG_1687

Lebanese food is firmly rooted in the geography of the Levant, that area of the Middle East that also encompasses Egypt, Palestine and Syria. But because of the country’s location there is also a strong Mediterranean influence as well as elements from the cuisines of erstwhile invaders, the Turkish and the French.
Wimbledon Village is one of London’s wealthiest and more conservative  suburbs and certainly a far cry from the urban bustle of the Edgware Rd, the hub for Lebanese food in this country. So it was going to be interesting to see how Layla could engage with a suburban clientele.

09-IMG_1695

The interior is spacious and comfortable blending Middle Eastern style with western comfort. The waitress suggested that we had three starters and a couple of main courses between the two of us so we chose two from the cold and one from the hot mezze menus.

05-IMG_1691

Raheb is a smoked aubergine salad with tomato, peppers and onion (£5.45). The gently smoked aubergine had a soft melting mouth feel and a lovely taste. For me there was slightly too much of the tomato and peppers in the dish. I would have been quite happy with the aubergine on its own!

06-IMG_1692

Vine leaves (£5.50) were clearly home-made and came stuffed with rice, herbs and spice.  They were very fresh and tasty with a good crunch to the rice and a citrus tang.

07-IMG_1693

Falafel (£6.45) were authentically made with chick peas and broad beans and were served with the classic tahini based tarator sauce and pickles. The falafel were hot and crisp and couldn’t have been any better if they had been flown in directly from a sidewalk cafe in Beirut.

To accompany the food I was drinking a Blanc de l’Observatoire from Château Ksara (£22.50/£6.50). They have been making wine in Lebanon  for 5000 years  but Château Ksara has only been around for about the last  150 and is at the heart of the country’s wine industry in the Bekaa Valley. The wine is light with a floral nose and a soft white fruit palate. Perfect with the mezze.

04-IMG_1690

My dining companion had gone for an altogether sweeter proposition. The Raspberry Collins  (£8) was a raspberry take on the classic long drink the Tom Collins replacing the lemon juice with fresh raspberries and raspberry liqueur. She sank a couple so I think she enjoyed it!

11-IMG_1697

Sayadieh (£15.95) is listed in the menu as being an authentic Lebanese fisherman’s dish and my guess is that the version served at Layla is precisely that. I found several recipes online; some dressed the fish with pine nuts and camarelised onions, some fried and some baked the fish and a variety of spices were used. The Layla version (I think) had the fish and rice baked together and for my palate the fish was a bit overdone but that is probably how the fishermen would do it rather than a trendier deconstructed version!

10-IMG_1696

Prawn Machbous (£20.95) was a fairly straightforward prawn and rice dish. The prawns were of good quality, firm and plump and served in a piquant tomato sauce with peppers and onions and served with a spicy rice.

13-IMG_1699

With some complementary sticky pastries for dessert we left Layla feeling very well fed. Lebanese food offers an interesting alternative to the French, Italian and Indian restaurants that dominate our high streets. I particularly enjoyed the mezze at Layla and would happily come back and work my way through all of them!

Disclosure: The Hedonist was a guest of Layla’s
Layla on Urbanspoon

3.5 / 5 stars     

Filed Under: Restaurants & Bars Tagged With: Lebanese, mezze, Wimbledon

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tags

Acciuga Belgravia Brighton Bruno Loubet Camden Chelsea Chiswick Cocktails Covent Garden Curry D@D Fitzrovia Gallery Mess gin Hackney Harrison's Harrods Hoxton Indian Islington Italian Japanese Kensington King's Rd London London-Unattached Marylebone Mayfair Namaaste Kitchen Negroni Notting Hill pan-asian Peru Peruvian Pizza Restaurant sake Sam's Shoreditch Sloane Square Soho tapas The Hedonist The Saatchi Gallery Tony Conigliaro

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in