One lovely evening in February 2024, my Slovakian buddy Charles and me went to the classique Intercontinental Vienna for a wonderful Lebanese dinner, filled with food and drinks, at their newly-commissioned Restaurant Parlor - Taste of Lebanese by Khaled, and the time of our lives, as it was THE BEST Lebanese food experience that I have had in Europe, Middle East and Asia... truly authentic, tasty and marvellous in all departments of the taste, structure, flavor and umami departments. We knew that we were in for a fantastic treat, when IHG opened this option for us at this Lebanese venue delight.
ROSETTE MEDIA TASTING PANEL RATING : 8.8/10
LEBANESE SPECIALTIES
We immersed ourselves in the diverse flavours of Lebanon and got to experience a a culinary excursion at all new level as we dived into the amazing arrays of flavours in their traditional cuisine. We tasted a whole selection of authentic dishes prepared with fresh ingredients and a lot of love from the kitchen; all forms of Lebanese delicacies, from hearty mezze platters to succulent grilled dishes which truly chanted our senses. For them it's not just about food, but also about the joy of sharing and enjoying together, so we could distinguish this philosophy when we dined with them - truly hospitality-driven.
For aperitif, we had a classique Lebanese Schnapps, called the Arak Ksarak which is made from Chateau Ksara; at 53%, it was immensely powerful but such a tasty liquer; and this went along very nicely with our glasses of Champagne from Mumm, Brut but nonetheless, so aromatic and fresh (although we should be having some Austrian Sekt instead - which is actually very good), but I wanted French today so,...
For starters, we had a combination of both hot and cold starters which a typical flow in the schematic of things in a Lebanese restaurant; for the hot starters, we tried the Gefüllter Blätterteig which is a filled puff pastry, cheese, mint and olives and then we also sampled the FALAFEL which comprise of chickpeas, onio, cilantro and sesame sauce; honestly so good!
For the cold starters we had a powerful variety comprising HUMMUS which is Chick pea puree with, sesame, then we had the MOUTABEL - a combination of eggplant puree and sesame with lemon, next was the MUHAMARRA which included Paprika, walnuts with sesame paste. Along came the LUBIEH BI ZEIT which is a combination of Green beans, freshly-grind tomatoes sauce and olive oil before serving us the WARAKINAB which are Filled vine leaves - such a smackeroo of taste buds with Lebanese umami with a clear taste structure, truly a comfort feeling of homely Lebanese home-cooked food style!
Charles wanted the lamb as a main dish, so we ordered the MAWZAT GANAM which was a Lamb dish with Oriental rice - truly mouth-watering in all ways, and then we had the MASHAWI MUSHAKAL which is basically a Sauced Mixed grilled meat skewers (chicken, beef, lamb) vegetable rice with two kinds of sauce, so tasty and well done, one of the best I have had in a long time.. accompanying our main dish was this lovely Lebanese red wine, and I was pleasantly surprised of the quality and finesse of this 2017 Family Reserve from Chateuu Heritage, full of cherries and blackberries, the mid palate was intensely deliciously with hints of leather and spice and with a smooth finish.
Dessert was the LIBANESISCHER TRAUM which is a Dessert variation consisting of a Mixed platter of desserts, and Charles truly loved this because he has a sweet tooth... and I thoroughly enjoyed the platter as well.. and then we enjoyed a cup of traditional Arabic coffee together with our dessert. The overall dining experience was totally comfortable, satisfying, exotic, special and memorable!
Their cozy atmosphere was a hit for us, as we lingered for a long time, a hearty and truly convivial evening which I had with Charles and I am sure all diners will experience this with their friends, colleagues and families. An unforgettable taste of Lebanon!
Thanks to Marko for taking so good care of me and Charles, we had a wonderful time at your restaurant, and it's the best Lebanese food I have eaten in my life, having lived around in many countries..
Restaurant Parlor - Taste of Lebanon by Khaled
The InterContinental Vienna
Lothringerstrasse 24 | 1030 Vienna