Comptoir Libanais

First time I’ve tried this place with a few friends we went last night and had a couple of meat mezz to start which were very tasty indeed lots of different dips and meat to try would recommend to try. the wine list is very poor I sampled 4 different ones and all where not rich Orr pallet able for my taste so we stuck to cocktail’s which were much better don’t be put off by this as its a must try.
So make your own mind up guys and girls.

Had a lovely lunch here, the food is very good quality. Excellent baba ghanoush and falafel on the mezze platter (I’d recommend sharing the option for one person between two if you are having it with something else for lunch, as it’s quite big). I liked the mint lemonade too, although you end up quaffing half the leaves through your straw! The mixed grill was also very nice and served with chilli dip and the garlic whip that looks like mayonnaise but isn’t.
Service was generally very attentive and good until a shift switch over at which point our drinks were completely forgotten, we had to remind them after about 25 minutes. Had the same problem in Thaikhun next door, they need to have better systems.
We finished with the long-​awaited cocktail, the Simple Delight is not for those who don’t like rose but it’s a good and unusual drink simulating the flavour of Turkish delight. The pomegranate cosmo was very good.
Overall significantly better than Bakchich and this would be my clear winner out of the two. Slightly pricier but worth it.

Lebanese is a funny one. I really don’t want to paint this whole region with the same brush but I find Turkish, Cypriot, Lebanese, Greek etc all very similar — and this isn’t a bad thing!
Myself and Michael B popped here for a quick ‘man-​date’ the other night and on a Tuesday it was fairly quiet while plenty of attention from the staff.
They were out of pump beer (damn — it always has to be a pint for that first drink of the day!) so instead of the advertised Tickety Brew Pale we went for the local Lebanese beer which was ok but fairly generic lager. We then followed this with a bottle of Tickety Brew Rose Wheat which kicked ass (great to see them stocking quality Manchester beers)
The food wasn’t bad — a tasty meze to share to start and I had the lamb kofta to follow. Nice sides but not much of it.
Overall it was a nice experience — whether I’d choose it again over a nice family owned Lebanese restaurant I don’t know — £25 each for the 2 beers and food which I guess is about right.
Extra note: there’s a great shop in the front stocking all sorts of cool Middle Eastern fodder and ingredients. Plus some very expensive teapots -£450 each (I’m not too sure how many of these they sell a week!)

The second of two Lebanese eateries to open in Manchester in the last few weeks (the first being Bakchich
), Comptoir Libanais, meaning ‘Lebanese counter’, opened their 12^th UK restaurant right here in Spinningfields.
Talk about a wow factor as soon as you walk in — the large section at the front serves as their ‘souk shop’ where you can buy a large range of products from the region (anything from Turkish Delights right up to ornate tea ware for several hundred pounds).
The dining space is huge, airy and beautifully colourful in its design; tiles of multiple patterns adorn the floor and large deli counter, there are big art pieces (you’ll seen the large smiling face of Arabic actress Sirine on the wall and also on the cover of all the menus).
Speaking of which, the choice of options is probably slightly larger here than at Bakchich, where alongside the mezzes there are wraps, large salads, grilled meats, fish, Lebanese flat breads (Mana’esh), tagines and fattets (hummus).
Two of us shared a mezze platter for one as the portion sizes are large. For mains I had the Comptoir Lamb Burger which was served with batata harra (spiced potatoes) and my friend ordered Lamb Kofta. I really enjoyed what I had, the burger bun was light despite its size — it could probably have done with a sauce accompaniment but that’s the only quibble.
Washed down with a bottle of their local beer, Almaza, and then a Tickety Brew Rose Wheat Beer (really good) it was a thoroughly decent first visit and I’d love to eat here again.