THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Phoenicia

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Phoenicia Restaurant Review:

This sector of Kensington has long drawn locals and others from further afield to its family-owned and managed restaurants. In this one, the Middle Eastern décor with comfortable tub chairs at well-spaced tables offers a warm ambience and friendly service and guidance through the menu for those new to the cuisine. The reasonably priced menu includes main course kebabs and other grills and some delectable stews. But many diners prefer to stay in the wonderful world of meze, cold and hot. Aubergines are a highlight. They appear as mutabal paste, also as monk’s aubergine, or cracked or pickled. Beans and other vegetables come in tasty oil and citrus dressings. Tajin, an unusual dish, seemingly unconnected with Moroccan tajine, is a sesame paste with onions, embedding fish. Another delicacy is rkakat---the cheese- and vegetable-filled ’spring roll’ which crackles as much in the eating as in the saying. Meat and offal includes superb kafta nayeh---lamb tartare; also sausages and beautifully dressed liver, kidneys, sweetbreads and chicken wings. Hidden in the menu as ’homemade sweets’ is osmaliye, a glorious Lebanese twist to cheesecake, flavoured with chopped nuts and sauced with aromatic rose syrup. Drink raki, Lebanese wine, Arabic coffee. Set lunch from £7.95-£14.95, set menus £16.80-£30.95; Buffet lunch Mon.-Sat. £10.95, Sun./Bank Hol. £16.80; set meals £25.49-£30.95.