I could probably eat Lebanese food everyday. Then again, it’s probably not a bad thing. Lebanese cuisine is quite healthy as it usually involves a lot of fresh and raw vegetables, whole grains, lean animal proteins, and often simply seasoned with lemon, olive oil, garlic and some of my favourite spices. The cooking methods usually involves grilling, baking or just sauteed (with olive oil). Sure, there’s a lot of starches involved (mainly breads) but I can always choose not to eat them.

So it doesn’t come as a surprise that I’ve already made a return visit to Al-amar express within just a few weeks. I didn’t blog about our previous experience but I did shared the visit to their fine dining outlet in Pavilion KL.

Al-amar Express is situated right on Jalan Bukit Bintang outside of the Fahrenheit 88 mall. Walking on the street, you will not miss the bright interior heavily accented with their signature red and cream combination, not to mention the constant stream of patrons.

We arrived at the outlet on a Friday night, after I’ve made a minor dent on my wallet having shopped at Pavilion (dangerous place, that one). A bottle of Chateau Musar Jeune White was promply opened. Fridays are indeed for clinking of glasses, and sharing of good food with great company.

Before proceeding to the food pictures, I’ll show you one of my current favourite accessories.

The dishes we ordered arrived rather quickly, which was pleasing to our hungry tummies.

Having ordered the Tabbouleh last time, we’ve decided to go with the Fattoush salad instead. It’s basically a Lebanese bread salad (in this case, fried pita chips) with tomato, cucumber, radish, mint leaves, lettuce and rockets finished with Sumac dressing. The pita chips were quite addictive, and I like the unique tartness of purple Sumac. Very appetising.

Shawarma, also closely related to Doner Kebabs, and the Greek Gyros, simply refers to marinated meat on the spit, grilled. To serve, shavings of the meat are either wrapped in pita bread, or on the plate as a platter with condiments. We had a Beef Sharwarma platter which comes with pita bread, pickles, onions/herbs, tarator sauce, and french fries. To eat this, you take a piece of bread, spoon the beef shavings, followed by the vegetables and tarator sauce. Yum. They also have a Chicken version which comes with garlic sauce.

And this has got to be my favourite dish at Al-amar Express. The beautifully marinated Chicken was grilled to perfection, and served with bread, spicy garlic sauce, pickles and more french fries. Have to remember to order it sans the fries next time. Carb overload! Delicious smoky flavour, incredibly juicy and you can tell it has been marinated at least overnight. I suppose the word spicy doesn’t refer to ‘hot’ but rather the spices. Or I just have a numb tongue destroyed by the very fiery Dak Galbi couple of nights prior to my visit. I think I could eat this whole dish alone! As for the garlic sauce, let’s just say I want the recipe. Must find a way to get it from the chef.

While enjoying our meal, we also joined by the boss, Joseph and a footballer who frequents Al-amar as he’s of Lebanese origin himself, Mr Abbas Saad. Spotting a familiar Aussie accent, he’s down to earth and rather humourous. The Melbourne vs Sydney debate followed. Heh. Cheers!

I could have that Spicy Chicken again!

The bill came to just over RM230, the bottle of wine itself was RM135++ though. Didn’t have a problem with the service, in fact one of the waiters spotted something in my drink (could be a fly, I’m not sure) before I did and promptly changed to a new full glass of wine. Attentiveness, checked.

Al-Amar Express
Al Amar Lebanese Cuisine Sdn Bhd Lot G-44 (01), G-44(02), G-44(03), Ground Floor, Fahrenheit 88, 179 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
	+6 03-2141 3814
	Google Map