Breakfast at Comptoir Libanais, Broadgate Circle
Lebanese is definitely in my top 5 favourite cuisines, so its no surprise that I'm already a big fan of Comptoir Libanais - the Lebanese style canteen - with branches across London and apparently coming soon to Manchester.
Their colourful, bright eclectic interior always cheers me up - even in the very depths of Westfield Shepherds Bush - and its a great place for a quick takeaway wrap or a few glasses of wine and mezze. I'd never been for breakfast though and was excited to try out their morning wares at the newish Broadgate Circle branch. There is SO much great stuff there now, and apparently there will be skating, a giant tree and all sorts of festive things going on near Christmas.
Having been greeted excessively warmly and cheerfully for that time of morning, our friendly server took our drink orders (giant Americano for me, though the juices were tempting) and patiently helped us in the impossible task of selecting a dish each. With items like Armenian Sausage Tortilla, Halloumi & Za'atar Croissant and incredible flat breads this was really really hard.
In the end, I went for Feta, Avocado, Tomato & Olives on Toasted Brioche, which was all dressed with pomegranate molasses (one of my favourite ever ingredients and one I'd stupidly never considered for breakfast goods). It was generously portioned and seasoned to perfection. Plus it came with a lovely silky hummus. I was sad when it was over:
Across the table, my companion's pimped up smoked salmon dish was pretty special too; having been scattered with pomegranate seeds, mint and what I presume to be sumac:
Not a combination I'd have ever considered, but definitely one to try at home.
If you're struggling to choose as much as we did, then you could definitely do worse than order the Comptoir Full Breakfast. A plate full of spicy Armenian Lamb sausage, fool moudamas, zaatar roasted mushrooms, sumac fried egg, chargrilled tomato, Lebanese potatoes all served with flat bread would make anyone happy, surely.
Thanks Comptoir Libanais for a great start to the day. I'll be back for that croissant.
*I was a great of the restaurant