Momtaz

This was a little gem we found down the street from where we where staying. Best service we received in LONDON. Excellent food, very fresh and great portions. Also their fresh juices are delicious. When we are back in town we will definitely be dinning at Momtaz!

It’s Sunday, it’s raining, and due to my incredible ability to faff it was 3.45pm before we headed out to lunch. The first string of restaurants we headed to were all closed (save for Dominos, which of course I only eat at when someone ‘makes’ me) and just as my boyfriend was about to pass out from hunger/​murder me we hit upon Momtaz.
I am not sure but I think this used to be a Southeast Asian fusion restaurant. Anyway, now it’s a Lebanese restaurant and I really wanted it to be good to (a) make up for me being terrible and (b) prove to my New Yorker boyfriend that not all English restaurants absolutely suck. Thankfully it succeeded on both counts.
We started with stuffed vine leaves and baba ghanoush. The vine leaves were wonderful — fresh, soft, tangy — the best I have had in a long while (I really need to stop buying them from supermarkets). The baba ghanoush also tasted great — it seemed much more related to aubergine than other versions I have had!
Afterwards I ordered soujok and my boyfriend got a lamb shawarma sandwich. The soujok came with cooked tomatoes and was solid and tasty. The lamb shwarma was also flavourful, especially with a bit of lemon squeezed over it. It’s worth pointing out that these two dishes were £4 and £3.50 respectively, which I thought was great value (proper main dishes are about £9).
Dessert was, naturally, a bounty milkshake. I am SO happy there is somewhere doing milkshakes near Norbiton Station, I need to try all the flavours IMMEDIATELY. I can see this becoming a serious and great problem for me in the months ahead!
Overall, delighted to try somewhere new and find it so enjoyable. This shisha café part also looks nice and of course smells great.