Al Qasr, Holland Village

I've found another place to return to for Lebanese food at Al Qasr (46 Lorong Mambong, Holland Village, tel : +65 6467 7793). I had heard about this place some time back when they started business and had always been wanting to visit. This was another one of those places that had been put on the "to check out" list for quite a long time until today.

The restaurant started off serving some appetizers which was consisted of olives, vegetable sticks and pickles. Which looked pretty much like what I remember from a neighbouring Lebanese restaurant Al Hamra.

We ordered a serving of their flat breads for the benefit of the hummus which we were also getting. The flat bread were surprisingly fragrant. They were freshly made and steaming hot and puffy when they were served.

The grilled Halloumi cheese were really good. These mozzarella-like cheese have a richer milky flavour and a higher content of salt, making them pretty salty if you ate them on their own. The melting point of these cheeses were also higher due to their composition. Hence they can be grilled or pan fried without melting into a gooey mess. The texture was enjoyably chewy coupled with fragrance from the charred parts.

Their hommos karwarma was our order of hummus. Topped with pan fried minced lamb and a sprinkle of pine nuts. Nothing better than this creamy meaty dip for the flat bread. Nothing on their menu at least.

To satiate the craving of lamb, we also went with a serving of sawda ghanam. Pan fried lamb livers with butter, some spices and lemon juice. The livers were a little tough after the cooking but made up for themselves from their lamb-y livery flavour and an appetizing sauce paired with the squeeze of lemon. Also great with the flat bread.

To top off the bunch of Lebanese tapas, we ordered a Sultani kebab which featured a spiced, but unidentifiable as lamb piece of grilled meat and a couple of kebab koobideh accompanied by saffron infused basmati rice. The kebabs were finely minced and and had a taste that reminded me of sausages. Not really how I had expected them but I guess the important thing was that they were tasty.

Dessert was a chilled almond pudding scented with rose and topped with bits of ground pistachio. This was very delicious. Sweet and creamily textured, they reminded me of a very milky panna cotta.