A bright, glitzy restaurant in Knightsbridge serving traditional, moderately priced, Lebanese food.

The Venue
Rotana Lounge is slick, sleek and contemporary with its black shiny floortiles, ceiling spotlights, mirrors everywhere and pulsating lights on the bar: it’s a slice of Las Vegas in Beauchamp Place. The design is by Middle Eastern architect Raafat Amin and the restaurant and cocktail bar are on street level with more dining space downstairs.

The Atmosphere
A screen on the wall upstairs shows continuous Middle Eastern music videos and provides some background entertainment, although it could become annoying quite easily. The staff, of which there are a number, are patiently on call to respond to any of your needs.

The Food
Although the setting is ultramodern, the menu, devised by head chef Charbel Jaalouk, is traditional Lebanese. It’s probably best to let the waiter guide you through the menu. Mixed mezze is an easy way to start, and possibly end, as the dishes are abundant. They include a refreshing tabouleh, a nicely tart hummus, smooth aubergine puree, stuffed vine leaves and falafel which are moist on the inside and crispy outside and come with sesame sauce. But look out too for less obvious dishes such as mouhammara, a delicious, thin, spicy patty topped with nuts and olive oil, and loubieh bel zeit – green beans cooked in tomatoes.

For the main course there are charcoal-grilled skewers of tender, marinated cubed chicken or slow-cooked, crumbly lamb. There’s also chicken and lamb shawarma, as well as fish and seafood. The baked sea bass comes with tahini sauce and the grilled king prawns are served with a spicy ratatouille sauce and saffron rice. There are vegetarian options as well.

After your mains, get ready for the Lebanese sugar rush for dessert, which includes halawet el jebn (semolina and cheese dough filled with fresh cream and served with syrup) and ousmallieh (threadlike dough with custard covered with rose syrup and sprinkled with pistachios). A fruit platter is a less sweet option. It's all washed down, naturally, with fresh mint tea.

The Drink
The upstairs bar serves a selection of Eastern-inspired cocktails and the wine list is fairly comprehensive and includes Middle Eastern bottles. There are also a number of very tempting juices (mango, carrot, strawberry), as well as mint tea and orange blossom coffee. Then, of course, there’s arak, a refreshing and potent aniseed liqueur served on the rocks in a shot glass.

The Last Word

There are some very competitively-priced dishes and set menus for the area but Rotana Lounge could do with losing a little of its overstated glitz and let the (excellent) food do the talking.

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