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| Al-Hamra |
Walking along the buzzing street of Lorong Mambong, it will be hard
to not to notice people outside the restaurant smoking Sisha.
Although it will be a common sight if you are in Bussorah Street or
Arab Street neighbourhood, you will least expect this in at Holland
Village.
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| Sisha |
Al- Hamra is one of the restaurants under the umbrella of Ambassador
Hotel Services Pte Ltd, the group in charge of transit hotel and
transit lounge in Changi Airport T2 and T3. The cuisine served here
originated from Lebanese and Middle Eastern. Though the food produced
are sourced from Halal products, the restaurant is not Halal
Certified as it served alcoholic beverages.
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| Part of Dining Area |
We
started this exotic food adventure with Cold Mezza Platter ($35) and
Hot Mezza Platter ($32). Cold Mezza platter consist of Hummus
(chickpea dip); Moutabbal (eggplant dip); Tabbouleh (Arabic Salad –
tomatoes, onion and parsley); Fattoush (Middle Eastern salad dish)
and Warak Areesh
(Stuffed Vine Leaves). Both the dips are smooth and creamy. The
Moutabbal has a smokey flavour as the eggplant was grilled before
being transformed to a dip.
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| Cold Mezza Platter Top: Fattoush (Middle Eastern salad dish) Middle: Moutabbal (eggplant dip), Hummus (chickpea dip)
Fattoush (Middle Eastern salad dish) and Warak Areesh (Stuffed Vine Leaves)
|
The Arabic salad has a refreshing flavours from the parsley compare to Middle Easter Salad. Both the salads and dips goes well with the pillow shaped pita bread. For me, I personally preferred the Warak Areesh, which is the Lebanese version of a Peranakan dish called Lemper. The stuffed rice really absorbed the flavour of the grape leaves.
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| Pita Bread |
Hot
Mezza Platter consist of Falafel (chickpea balls), Sambousik
(Middle Eastern Curry Puff), Spinach Fatayer (Spinach Pie), Lahem Bil
Ajine (Lebanese Meat Pie), Kibbey Mekli / Kibbeh (Oval shaped
meatball) and Cheese Reqaq (Cheese Spring Roll). Felafel was densely
packed, well seasoned with earthy flavours coming from the chickpeas
and broad beans. The Sambousik, which looks like our curry puff has
quite a thick pastry making it a challenge to chew.
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| Hot Mezza Platter. Top: Cheese Reqaq (Cheese Spring Roll) Closed Triangle: Spinach Fatayer (Spinach Pie) In the middle: Sambousik (Middle Eastern Curry Puff) & Kibbey Mekli / Kibbeh (Oval shaped meatball) Lahem Bil Ajine (Lebanese Meat Pie)Falafel (chickpea balls) |
Meanwhile
the Spinach Fatayer and Lahem Bil Ajine have a crisp and thin dough,
that cover the moist spinach fillings and meat fillings respectively.
Meat lovers will enjoy the Kibbey Mekli, however I must warn you that
the meat flavour is very gamey. My favourite dish from this platter
is Cheese Reqaq. The feta cheese wrapped in same style of spring
roll, it was crispy and filled with the flavours of feta.
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| Hot Mezza Platter - Up Closed |
Zatar
Bread with Cheese ($7.50). The Middle Eastern version of pizza,
topped with feta cheese. The dough is chewy and pack with olive
flavour and feta cheese. It is good enough to be eaten on its own or
you can spread some hummus or moutabbal on it.
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| Zatar Bread with Cheese |
Proceeding
to our main meals, we stared with Chicken Shawarma ($25). Sliced
chicken marinated with vinegar, sesame paste, spices and served in
boat shaped Lebanese pita bread. Best eaten by hand, the fully pita
bread wrapped the tender and succulent chicken. Tasted like a chicken
kebab except without any vegetables. It can do with a bit more
charred flavour in the chicken and a thicker bread. However,
definitely a finger licking moment with this dish as the chicken
spill over to your fingers.
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| Chicken Shawarma |
Lamb Cous
Cous ($26), combination of stew lamb cooked in tajine and served with
flavoured cous cous. The lamb was tender and absorbs the tomato
flavours from the stew. The cous cous was light and moist, together
with the nuts and raisin provided a gorgeous partner to the lamb
stew. If you are more a rice person, try their Arabic Rice with Dry
Fruits and Nuts ($7.50). The rice is tasty and flavourful, the dry
fruits provide a touch of sweetness to the rice while the texture
provide a crunchy texture to rice.
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| Lamb Cous Cous |
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| Arabic Rice with Dry Fruits and Nuts |
Of course
Lebanese / Middle Eastern cuisine will not be complete unless you
tried the Al Hamra Mixed Grill ($35). It consist of grilled lamb
cubes, mince lamb kebab and grilled chicken cubes. The grilling of
the protein was nicely executed, as all the meat retain in moisture
and succulent. The seasoning on the lamb cubes a bit on the heavy
side, so watch out if you feel your palate being over-seasoned.
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| Al Hamra Mixed Grill |
For the
sweet endings, we sample Umali ($7.50), Beklawa ($7.50 for 6 pcs) and
Muhallabia ($6.50). Umali is Arabic version of bread and butter
pudding. Instead of using stale bread, it uses puff pastry. The combo
of milk, cream and nuts are rich and delicious. Meanwhile Beklawa can
also be known as Baklava in Greek. A rich traditional Arabic pastry
filled with dried nuts and pistachio and honey. The amount of honey
used to coat beklawa will make you teeth tingle, however I find the
version here is a bit too dense. I was expecting the pastry to rise,
more air and fluffy.
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| Umali |
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| Beklawa |
Muhallabia
is Arabic Almond Cream Pudding. Smooth and velvety, the almond
flavours is actually very subtle. I personally find the rose water
was a bit too empowering almost covering the almond flavours.
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| Muhallabia |
The décor
of the place will transport you to a middle eastern settings. The
seating area is a combination of semi-circle couch with pillows and
traditional chairs. On one side of the walls you can see the drawings
of houses in Lebanon or Middle Eastern, while on the other you can
actually see the traditional Sisha pipe hanging on the wall as
decoration.
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| Wall with drawings of houses in Lebanon |
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| Traditional Sisha |
Overall,
it was indeed an unique experience to sample Lebanese and Middle
Eastern cuisine. My personal favourite for the food here will be
Zatar Bread with Cheese, Pita Bread, Chicken Shawarma, Lamb Cous
Cous and Umali. They are similar with Greek cuisine, but with its own
characteristic spices to distinguish itself. So if you are looking
for try Lebanese and Middle Eastern cuisine, give this place a try.
Cheers!!
Thank you very much to Hungry Go Where and Al-Hamra Team for the tasting invitation
Food
& Drink: 7/10
Value:
6/10
Service:
N/A (Tasting Invitation)
Ambiance:
8/10
Budget
per Person: $26 - $50
Al-Hamra Lebanese &
Middle Eastern Cuisine
23
Lorong Mambong
Singapore
277682
T:
+65 6464 8488
OH:
Sun
– Thu: 11.30 – 14.30; 18.00 – 22.30
Fri – Sat: 11.30 –
14.30; 18.00 – 22.30
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