And it's got Saturday night belly dancing!
Restaurant review by Ruth G.
We decided to try Karaam after reading reviews on lammas.com. We had previously been to Elias but had been disappointed by what we felt was poor service and a pricey menu, although the quality of the food and portions were good.
Karaam was very quiet on the early Sunday evening we arrived, with only two couples in the restaurant. Still, a smiling courteous waiter showed us to our table and we enjoyed the air conditioning while we perused the menu and nibbled on a dish of black & green olives. A variety of hot and cold Lebanese starters were on offer at around £3 to £5 a dish. The main courses were more limited consisting of specialties grilled over charcoal. A few side dishes could be ordered e.g. fries, mixed veg, rice, lebanese salad, cucumber & yogurt etc. for between £2 & £3.
As my husband and I are familiar with Lebanese cuisine (we heartily miss 'The Cedars '- a lovely Lebanese, sadly closed now, which we used to frequent in Teddington); we decided to judge our first visit to Karaam by trying the £30 meze which consisted of a variety of starters, a main course, pastries and coffee and also 2 glasses of house wine or freshly squeezed fruit juice.
The efficient service soon brought us 2 glasses of house red - a Lebanese wine - both fruity and tasteful without being heavy and 2 glasses of iced tap water. (House wine £14.95 a bottle) Our first course arrived promptly and consisted of hummous - (pureed chick pea dip), tabbouleh (parsley salad with crushed wheat & tomatoes), falafel - (fried ground chick peas, broad beans and spices served with sesame sauce) and makanek - a small fried lebanese sausage, made from lamb and flavoured delicately with cinnamon. All this was accompanied by hot lebanese bread - which we finished rapidly and was duly replenished when we asked.
Our main courses were a mixture of lamb & chicken pieces, spiced and served on a bed of lebanese bread with sliced onions, lettuce and tomatoes. After completely demolishing our main course we barely had room for the 3 small sweet pastries - (one being baklava) which were served with our Lebanese coffee (you may choose from this, espresso, cappuccino, latte or regular coffee) We had ordered 2 more glasses of the rather good house wine which were charged at £3.25 a glass, so the total bill without service was £36.50 - we left £40 inc tip. If you price other dishes this works out at good value, s the main course are on average £10 plus a bottle of wine, starters, sweets and coffee and if you ate a la carte you could pay a lot more than we did.
I would would say that Karaam is good value although not dirt cheap - but the service, quality of food, portion size and ambiance,especially in this competitive area, make it all a very worthwhile and enjoyable experience. I will definitely be going back.
Karaam has a belly dancer on a Saturday night and also do a take away menu with free delivery in the W5 & W13 postcode areas.
September 14, 2006