Aline of Lebanon

The title says it all. The restaurant has few redeeming features and serves very average Middle Eastern food at a Mayfair mark-up. Service was among the most gauche I had witnessed recently. And, the lamp fittings are so badly designed that almost every customer in the place seemed to bang their head on them. I must have walked past Aline many times without ever realising it was there – understandable given that it looks more like a glorified café than a restaurant when viewed from the outside. Moreover, given the choice of so many other great places on the same street (Goodman, 28:50, Sakana-Tei etc.), it is not as if diners struggle for options in the vicinity. My comrade had booked Aline and so I ventured in dutifully, hoping to be surprised by their culinary offerings. I was disappointed given that the menu offered nothing that could not be found on the nearby Edgware Road – for half the price and twice the quality. The hoummus was bland and excessively creamy, with no spice flavouring whatsoever; the vine leaves could easily have come from a tin; the cauliflower was boiled such that it lost all flavour integrity whatsoever. The falafel at least had a decent texture and the grilled meat was executed competently enough. The same could not be said of the service: menus removed from the table before we had even ordered (a pity our server barely spoke any English), no attempt to up-sell drinks, dirty plates replaced without providing new cutlery, half-finished dishes removed and so on. For £80+ (with only mineral water drunk), I certainly was glad not to be the one footing the bill. If you want to eat Middle Eastern food – and come away satisfied with a still reasonably full wallet – this is not the place to come.