Welcoming:10/10 Menu Choices: 10/10 Food Presentation: 9/10
Food Temperature: 10/10 Food Taste: 18/20 Service: 9/10
Ambiance/Music: 9/10 Architecture/Interior: 10/10 Air Quality: 6/10
Total: 91/100
- After the elevator a facade of glass separates the hotel stairs from the restaurant
- “Tous Celebres ici” printed on the glass facades
- A long place divided by the many column supporting the building creates more intimate spaces
- The open kitchen with a full display of vegetables
- Vegetables on display today: zuzhini, capsicum, pomegranate, broccoli, eggplant, fennel, apple, lemon, tomato and even more
- Pickles and casseroles behind the kitchen bar
- Fresh lemon and tomatoes decorate the tables as well as an olive oil bottle
- Two menus (white and black)
- Olive oil bottle
- A bar at the entrance in the left
- Round and square tables
- A dimmed lighting, candles in every table
- Art work on the walls as well as the signature painted casserols
- Light musical background soft low
- A fine cutlery from Hepp Exclusiv with silver salt and pepper mill
- Ratatouille. Mediterranean vegetables marinated in olive oil with feta 20,500L.L: Served cold, the mix of large pieces of eggplant, capsicum from different colors along tomato sauce is an interesting yet simple dish I appreciated specially when feeling the lemony sauce absorbed by the cooked vegetables
- Tabbouleh Quinoa 19,500L.L: Simple and clear, a quinoa salad/tabbouleh rich in colors, flavors and aromas. Few bites and it’s gone but worth a try
- Tuna carpaccio 40,000L.L: Five slices of thick tuna, soft like butter and socked in lemon and olive oil. THis fresh tuna from the local sea makes you proud of your country. I would recommend you enjoy in with style. Take three half nuts and lay them on slice of tuna, than continue by rolling it into a sandwich. Put it under your teeth and enjoy the richness behind this sumptuous bite. A tender pure tuna melting like butter at the first contact with your teeth where a burst of lemon and extra virgin olive oil dissipate along your palate. A crunch, adds the needed finesse few have thought about. The grilling feel of the nuts blends adequately with the softness of all the other ingredients making you smile discreetly. As you swallow it, the journey coming to an end leaves behind a peppery aftertaste that makes all the difference.
- Tapenade of Nicoise olives 8,000L.L: A rich concentrated bowl of crushed olives and lots of garlic, served with thin slices of toasted bread. I do recommend you order one to share
- Warm prawns with olive oil 35,500L.L: Our favorite plate tonight was recommended by the waiter and he was absolutely right. Fresh shrimps that slight under your teeth in class, marinated in lemon and soaked in olive oil, hiding a pleasant peppery aftertaste. Served warm, those pieces are to die for. Their simplicity, perfect marination and seasoning make of them a good appetizer to start with
- Pasta with Beef Ragout and mushrooms 40,600L.L: When I remember La Petite Maison Dubai, this is the first plate that comes to mind and I surely wanted to order it in Beirut. Simply waw! Large pieces of pasta cooked aldente mixed with a generous quantity of minced meat and mini mushrooms. Few basil leaves on top add a hint of color and finesse. I do recommend this plate
- Homemade pasta with squid and prawns and pork 42,500L.L: Fresh homemade pasta mixed with tomato sauce , grilled calamari and shrimps. A super aldente plate, beautifully looking, full of flavors aromas and colors. Basil leaves on top add a good appetizing smell. THis is one of the plates I’ll definitely recommend
- Rigatoni with ceps mushrooms 64,500L.L: This is the least of our favorite plates that were over coked, not aldente enough and are way too heavy. As the cream touches your thongue, you will feel like eating a whole cow. A good presentation and an interesting sweetness of the fried onions can make of this plate one of the best on the menu. Some interesting ingredients in here are well appreciated like the mushrooms, truffle oil, olive oil and spring onions
- Roast baby chicken marinated in lemon 60,000L.L: Even though the plate looks cheap and empty, the smells exploding from this chicken open your appetite even more. A slight crunchiness of the skin followed by a lemon taste before the chicken’s extreme juiciness offers all its generosity
- French fried potatoes 10,000L.L: You might ask why the fries are considered as a meal in this article. They do deserve to be mentioned as they freshness. crunchiness and seasoning are worth the price
- Red Cabbage salad 21,000L.L: Please do order this salad or side order. Awesome!simple red cabbage marinated in lemon and mixed with spring onions, orange slices, apple cubes and roasted nuts. Sweet and sour combined with an after crunchiness. Amazing textures you won’t forget easily
- Salmon carpaccio 38,000L.L: Recommended by the chef or house speciality don’t make a big difference when you smell something that unpleasant. The white japanese cabbage used has such a strong moisture smell like rotten cheese that blocks all possibilities of appreciating this place. Unfortunately for the good presentation and perfect salmon quality, using those cabbages is not the brightest of ideas.
- Warm chocolate mousse with malt ice cream 22,000L.L: That’s a rich and tasty dessert indeed. Served warm, spongy on the sides and watery in its middle, this dessert is up to the standard of fine dining restaurants. I loved it
- French toast with spice ice cream 22,000L.L: No! a big NO! Far from being close to an edible pain perdu, this dessert is better removed of the menu. Dry and crunchy on the outside and watery on the inside, I felt like eating raw eggs. As you put a piece in your mouth the extreme watery gooey feeling of the cake is so unpleasant that you feel like spitting back out. I’m sorry to tell you that in Dubai, I had one of the best Pain Perdu ever. Beirut has to find a solution
- Cheese cake (gateau au fromage blanc) 22,000L.L: Light and tasty white cheese, served on a crunchy biscuit layer and red fruits on the side. A tasty dessert it is.
We all agreed that the warm prawns were the best followed by beef ragout pasta, homemade pasta and the red cabbage salad. I would continue with the chocolate mousse if I was you.
After dessert, Elie proposed La Petite Maison’s signature digestive, the “Mentonello”. A cousin to the Limoncello with less sweetness and less alcohol. Just be prepared to pay 18,000L.L for a small shot of this drink. TO make it even better, I would surely recommend it to be served with crushed ice.
Wine coupled with tonight’s meal: Pascal Jolivet, Pouilly-Fume, 2011: A vibrant yellow color with a dry focused nose of citrus and mineral. On the palate the wine is medium in body, incredibly precise and layered with clean, driving acidity.
The pluses:
- The food is really good. Simple, non complicated, rich and flavors and tasty at the same time
- The staff is gentle, welcoming, smiling and professional
- The place’s ambiance, decoration and music are so relaxing
- We were literally sweating all night. The air conditioning system should be on at all time
- White wine was not cold enough until we left it aside in the ice bucket from half an hour
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