Hum: Homey, tasty Lebanese food at Allo Beirut departs from shawarma stereotype

1679 Carling Ave., 613-792-9095, allobeirut.ca

Open: Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday, Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed Monday

Prices: breakfast plates $11.49 to $18.99, appetizers and sandwiches $8.99 to $15.99, mains $22.99 to $26.99

On my fifth visit to Allo Beirut, I finally got around to ordering shawarma.

Until then, when I ate at that strip mall restaurant on Carling Avenue near Cole Avenue, I opted for breakfast items and dinner-time main courses that are infrequently found on other Lebanese restaurant menus in Ottawa.

From the get-go, I have to laud this bright little eatery that seats about 55 for straying from the stereotype that has held for decades for Ottawa’s myriad Lebanese restaurants. Allo Beirut shows there’s more to that country’s cuisine than the shawarma and kebabs that usually represent it in Ottawa.

Indeed, when it opened in early June, Allo Beirut replaced Shish Kabab House, which for many years was one of Ottawa’s typical shawarma joints. The new restaurant boasts a full renovation and an ambiance upgrade, complete with attractive lighting and seating and an Allo Beirut-branded wall for selfie-takers. The eatery is casual but classy, with a welcoming feel that attracts many women as customers.

In terms of its look, feel, and breakfast menu, Allo Beirut reminded me of Tirweka, a Middle Eastern breakfast and lunch spot in Kanata that opened in the summer of 2022. Poking around a bit, I learned exactly why. Allo Beirut’s owner and chef is Fadia Zakaria, who opened Tirweka with a partner but sold that Hazeldean Road business in March.

Tirweka, as well as the South Keys restaurant SemSem, made me a big fan of fatteh, a bowlful of simple but delicious contrasts. The dish can include warm chickpeas with tahini or yogurt, fried pita bread for crunch, pomegranate seeds, slivered almonds, and a drizzle of clarified butter. Meat can be added if desired. At Allo Beirut, the fatteh was excellent. I especially enjoyed the fatteh yogurt ($14.99, $18.99 with meat) for its extra tang compared to the tahini version.

Let me note too that the fatteh portions served at Allo Beirut were more sizable than we could finish, although leftovers made not that much sense given their soggy flatbread. A to-go portion of fatteh, which I had another time, was markedly smaller and consumable before the pita grew soggy.

At another breakfast, we enjoyed tender zaatar-topped flatbreads ($9.99) and msabbaha ($11.99), a robust mix of cooked chickpeas, tahini, garlic, and lemon juice. Refreshing house-blended mint lemonade leaned hard into pulverised mint, while cardamom-spiked Turkish coffee was commendably strong and thick.

At dinner, my favourite main at Allo Beirut was ouzi ($22.99), which stuffed a phyllo shell with flavourful rice studded with peas, meat, and slivered almonds, accompanied with cucumber-topped yogurt. I’ve also had pieces of well-spiced chicken topped with a cream sauce ($26.99), and dense kofte with tomatoes and potatoes ($26.99), both served with a less deluxe version of that rice concoction.

During one visit, the rice that came with the main courses should have been warmer, and the vegetables that came with some mains were drab. But those are the most substantial complaints I can muster about my meals at Allo Beirut.

A weekly special that won me over consisted of tender chunks of lamb served in a warm yogurt sauce ($25.99). One preparation wrapped chicken and vegetables in toothsome house-made saj bread ($23.99), while beef tajen lahmeh ($23.99) reminded us of light beef stew in a little cocotte.

Fattoush ($11.99), the chopped salad topped with crisply fried pita, was plain to look at but fabulous, thanks to an extra tangy vinaigrette that I think demonstrated Zakaria’s fondness for pomegranate molasses. Falafel (six for $11.99) were impeccable, and they came with loose hummus as a dip.

It was only during my last visit that I had Zakaria’s shawarma, which is listed simply as a “sandwich” on her menu.

She touted her chicken shawarma, or sandwich, if you will,  as “not the fast food.” It involved a mix of white meat and dark meat, seasoned and marinated in yogurt overnight and then baked before the chicken was cut to order. “The way I cook it, it’s the way it’s supposed to be done,” she said.

When I finally had that chicken shawarma, it was fresher, more seasoned and salty, and more tasty than your standard Ottawa shawarma. It also helped that Zakaria made it with homemade saj bread, as I had requested.

The restaurant has a selection of baklava and slices of cake for dessert. I have never had the inclination or room in my stomach to try them.

Allo Beirut does not serve liquor and its meats are halal.

Zakaria told me that her menu is to be updated soon, with grilled skewered meats and lamb chops joining her offerings. They could only be more reasons to return, I think.

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