MOSAIC,
Tel: 03-2179 8881
Business hours: Noon to 2.30pm,
6.30pm to 10.30pm.
No pork served.
Award-winning chef Ali El Bourji cooks up a storm at Mosaic in Mandarin Oriental.
EXPLORE the exquisite taste of authentic Lebanese cuisine as award-winning chef Ali El Bourji cooks up a storm right in the heart of the city.
Diners at Mosaic in Mandarin Oriental are promised a fulfilling lunch or dinner this weekend by the guest chef, who was specially flown in from Dubai.
Ali is the executive oriental head chef at Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai, who started his culinary career in Beirut, Lebanon.
Mosaic has a cosy ambience where one can enjoy sumptuous Lebanese cuisine.
To appreciate the likeable dip, skewers of falafel, baby marrow, Haloumi cheese and lamb kebbeh are available around the fountain.
A personal favourite is the Pomegranate Tabouleh.
Olive oil, lemon juice and pomegranate molasses whisked together reveals a robust dressing that helps bring together a refreshing vegetable medley of parsley, mint leaves, tomato and cucumber.
Another must-try dish is the Shankish Salad, a dried yogurt cheese with tomato, capsicum, parsley and olive oil.
For a green salad variety, the Lebanese Fattoush Salad is a melange of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, capsicum and crispy bread with pomegranate and olive oil.
Garlic, olive oil and lemon juice are typical flavours of Lebanese cuisine and you will see these ingredients used in abundance.
Moving on to the main course, there is a special corner for grilled meat that includes fish, chicken, beef and lamb.
Chef Ali slicing chicken pieces at the grill section.
In traditional Lebanese fare, poultry is eaten more that red meat.
When it comes to red meat, lamb is preferred by the people living at coastal areas, while goat meat is popular in the mountaineous regions.
It comes as no surprise then, that lamb is mostly served at the grill kitchen.
At Mosaic, the meat is cooked to order, so expect a waiting time of at least 10 minutes.
Other scrumptious Lebanese dishes that await are Grilled Halloumi Wrap with Kunafa Dough and Roasted Tomato, Kebbeh Bil Laban and Shish Barak (meatball yogurt soup) and Kabab Orfali with a side dish of grilled tomato, onion, capsicum and parsley salad.
Ali said, the ingredients for the dishes were flown in from Dubai to be able to present originality in the taste of the dishes.
“This is why I would suggest that patrons try a little bit of every dish served to experience the best of Lebanese fare,” he said.
Savoury Lebanese desserts such as Mouhalabiya with apricot, rice, milk, sugar and rose water, Spice Pudding Meghli, Znout Al Sit – a filo dough pastry with cream pudding and sugar syrup, Kellaj – rice flour, sugar, milk and blossom orange water pastry end the meal perfectly.
The Lebanese Rendezvous at Mandarin Oriental is priced at RM108++ per person for lunch and RM138++ per person for dinner.
The promotion is until Sunday.
This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement by StarMetro.
