Great Lebanese Food for a Great Price!

My husband works in the center of Brussels, and once a week I travel there for lunch with him. Last week we decided to try a restaurant that we had been hearing a lot of good things about. Snack Libanais is a tiny restaurant situated on a busy road. Unless you are looking for it, you wont find it, as the store front awning still touts the name of the previous restaurant (Le P'tit Noeuf Gourmand). This restaurant is the real deal. Cheap, fast, and authentic Lebanese food. In addition to the dining room that seats around 20 guests, there is also a deli-style setup in the front of the store. You can purchase many items there to go, including brochettes, stuffed grape leaves, hummus and rice (more about that later).

The Inconspicuous Storefront

To begin our meal, we shared a plate of moutabal (otherwise known as baba ganoush). For those that do not know what moutabal is, it has the same consistency of hummus, but instead of chick peas being the main ingredient, roasted pureed eggplant takes center stage. It makes for a very light and refreshing appetizer. This particular moutabal had a lot of lemon added to it - which I loved, but my husband wasn't too keen on. The moutabal was served with a light drizzle of olive oil, diced tomatoes and chopped fresh herbs. We were also given slices of fresh pita to dredge through it. Yum!

For our main course, I ordered the plat du jour - which consisted of roasted meat, roasted eggplant and roasted tomatoes. This was seasoned with fresh herbs and served alongside a mound of the best rice I have ever tasted. This rice was the star of my dining experience! don't get me wrong, I loved my meal - but the rice pushed the dish from "very good" to "amazing". It is seasoned with good olive oil, garlic and other seasonings that I couldn't quite put my finger on. My husband ordered the toshka, which looked like a Lebanese quesadilla. It was made up of a piece of flat bread which was topped with spiced meat and haloumi cheese, then topped with another piece of bread and cut into triangles. This was served with a side salad topped with a very nice vinaigrette.

The Plat du Jour

Toshka

In summation, this restaurant is not a high-class establishment. There is no wine list - but there are plenty of soft drinks and beers in the cooler from which to choose from. If you are hungry, don't have a lot of time and don't want to spend a lot of money, this is the place for you!
For the two of us, including drinks (cans of soda) it was around 30 Euros. However, as I mentioned before, the rice was out of this world. So much so, that I bought a small container to bring home and eat again for dinner.

I give this restaurant 4.5 out of 5 stars. The reason that I didn't give this place 5 stars is that a lot of the foods are doused with a heavy hand in seasoning. Sometimes the seasoning can be a bit too much.

Snack Libanais

Avenue des Celtes 9

1040 Etterbeek, Belgium

027357599