Garage rocks

Garage Beirut in the Concordia Ghetto serves tasty, home-style Lebanese fare

Most Montrealers’ experience with Lebanese food is limited to that which comes from the ubiquitous shop with the vertical meat-laden spits. As anyone from Lebanon will tell you, this is hardly an accurate representation of their homeland’s rich culinary tradition. For a more accurate portrayal of Lebanese cookery, you might head to Garage Beirut, a tiny, inexpensive restaurant in the Concordia Ghetto. I met my friends Natasha and Adam there on a recent Tues­day evening for a little pre-movie bite. A proper Lebanese meal begins with a selection of shared mezze (appetizers). On the recommendation of our chatty neighbours, we ordered some baba ghanoush ($7), the familiar roasted egg­plant paste. Garage Beirut’s version was good but unremarkable. I prefer it be a little smokier, lemonier and slightly saltier.

Another familiar item we tried was hummus. This one with a twist: it was topped with almonds and ground lamb ($8). The hummus itself was smooth and creamy, and the flavours of the chick­peas and the fried, ground lamb were wonderfully complimentary. The crunchy, toasted almond slivers provided a delightful textural counterpoint. I might have preferred it served warm, however, as is the case at other restaurants.

Another one of our mezze was halloum ($6.50), a salty, firm, unripe cheese customarily served fried or grilled. Ours was lightly dusted with flour, fried to a light golden brown and accompanied with slices of tomato and cucumber. Halloum is always salty, but this one was especially so. The vegetables and pita were essential to cut the salty bite. A lemon wedge to sprinkle on the cheese would’ve been nice, to further cut the salt and give it all a little zing.

Our final mezze was something called kishek, an item I haven’t seen before on a Lebanese menu in Montreal. It’s a rich porridge made of cracked wheat and fermented milk. There were two versions on the menu; we chose the one with chunks of lamb ($9). Fermented milk, especially when heated, emits a rather pungent aroma. As a result, the flavour took a little getting used to, but all three of us enjoyed it. Be warned: if stinky, weird tasting cheeses aren’t generally your thing, this dish might not be for you.

We continued our meal with a large bowl of fattouch ($11), a traditional Lebanese salad, and a mixed grill plate ($22). I’ve had many versions of fattouch, each with a slightly different composition. This one was largely made up of crisp, green lettuce, with only a small amount of onion, tomato and other vegetables, which made it particularly light and airy. Unlike the fattouch you find at the likes of Basha, doled out from a hotel pan and usually soggy, this one was made to order and very crisp. The fried pita chunks, the signature ingredient of a fattouch, were nice and crunchy. The bright, fresh flavour of this salad was a nice antidote to the heavy funk of the kishek.

The mixed grill plate included two skewers of shish taouk, two skewers of kefta and one skewer of beef, plus some hummus, garlic sauce and a smattering of those alarmingly fluorescent pink pickled turnips. As mentioned, the shish taouk at Garage Beirut is grilled on individual skewers, not a giant vertical spit, which makes a huge difference.

The chicken chunks had a wonderful lemony aroma and were unbelievably tender and moist. A little dab of Garage Beirut’s super potent garlic sauce made them sing. The kefta had a nice springy texture and was nicely seasoned but was no sensation. The same was the case with the beef skewer; the meat was moist and tender but otherwise a bit plain. Though glad I tried them all, on future visits to Garage Beirut I’ll be focusing on the shish taouk.

We concluded the meal with a piece of kanafeh ($4.50), a rich, buttery semolina pastry soaked with lemon juice and fragrant orange blossom water. The piece was so generous that it easily served as a satisfying dessert for all three of us.

If you happen to be downtown and in the mood for Lebanese food, consider eschewing the regular fast food joints for the low-key charm and the fresh, homey food of Garage Beirut. ■

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