In the run up to Christmas shopping becomes an inevitability for all, and for those of us braving the Oxford Street rush after work, it’s imperative to have a contingency plan for dinner. Somewhere to relax and drop the bags, somewhere warm and friendly, somewhere with damn good food. Enter Lazeez on Duke Street. This recently opened Labanese restaurant is right behind Selfridges, so it’s bound to be popular. Meaning tasty, Lazeez focusses on small middle eastern sharing plates, which I thought were meze, but Lazeez is calling tapas.
Despite this word foible the food was very good, the ingredients fresh and according to the owner are sourced from Lebanon. We ordered a mixed meze (sorry, tapas) of shawawrma chicken and lamb, creamy humous, herby tabbouleh, excellent sarma vine leaves and well-seasoned, crispy falafel. To accompany this we chose a brimming, smokey mutabel dip – the star of the show.
After scoffing it all down, and wiping up the last remaining smears of delicious aubergine with fresh-baked breads, we went in for some baklava, the crispy, nutty mini pastries served usually with mint tea. If you can brave the winter chill there is shisha available under the heated lamps outside, but we opted to try some Lebanese wine instead, which we were assured by our waiter was the only wine in the world which wouldn’t result in a hangover. Whether it was the fact that we’d only had one glass of the rich, velvety red, or that his claims were true, a hangover did not come the following morning. Instead I was left with a craving for more of Lazeez’s on-the-button meze, I mean tapas.
Eaten by Emilee 