There are two things I love, a good brunch menu and a brightly decorated restaurant, and the new Comptoir Libanais at the Ashford Designer Outlet excels in both areas, and better still it is surrounded by great designer shops, so makes for a great pitstop.
One of the things I was most excited for with the expansion of the Ashford Designer Outlet, well except of course the fact that Kate Spade is coming, was the prospect of having more places to eat within 15 minutes drive from my house, and I’m pleased to say that I’ve fallen hard for Lebanese restaurant, Comptoir Libanais as it has so many delicious dishes on its menu, especially for breakfast/brunch.
First off, I love that the restaurant is like stepping into a bazaar, with its brightly coloured tiles, Arabian lamps, vibrant flowers, and there isn’t a spot not covered on the walls – from plates, hats, bags and cookbooks, as well as funny pictures, did you spot Prince Harry amongst my snaps wearing a red fez? I love that humour.
There is something so cheerful and inviting about the decor of this deli-cafe-bazaar that makes you instantly feel at home, and trust me, you’ll be wanting everything on display, especially all the basket bags, and you’ll be in luck, as everything it seems has a price tag, so you can shop while you eat.
OK, back to the food!!! The breakfast menu is served until 11.30am, which I wish was later, especially at the weekends, come on brunch is the new lunch people, we need eggs at 2pm!
Haha, I keep going off on a tangent, back to the delicious food.
The breakfast menu is varied, for both meat and veggie lovers, and includes everything from pastries and granola and natural yoghurt topped with pomegranate and orange blossom water, to hot dishes like smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on brioche and full breakfasts with a touch of Middle Eastern spice about them.
For me, I get excited about any variation of avocado on toast, I know such a blogger, but at Comptoir Libanais this is avocado, feta and vine tomatoes on brioche with pomegranate and the most generous serving of houmous, heavenly is an understatement. The avocado was just perfect, as was the feta and the bread, but this dish is made even more incredible with the houmous served with a lavish drizzle of olive oil.
My husband went for the Lebanese full breakfast, with its spicy lamb sausages, which he said were so tasty, high praise indeed, mushrooms, fried egg, tomato, houmous, and spiced Lebanese potatoes, which I helped finished off, and I can attest that they were yummy. His breakfast was also served with flatbread, perfect addition to finish off every last bit of our houmous.
We’ve also been several other times, which I didn’t actually photograph, and we can also recommend the spicy lamb sausages with scrambled egg on brioche, as well as the halloumi flatbread, which is basically the best cheese on toast you will ever eat, and the yoghurt is so delicious.
No brunch date is complete without juices and hot drinks to accompany the food and I love the offering at Comptoir Libanais, from the fresh rose mint tea, which is beautifully served in a silver teapot to the refreshing homemade lemonades, my favourites being the Romana, pomegranate and orange blossom and the Roza, lemon and lime with rose syrup.
Then you have the freshly squeezed juices, I love the carrot and orange, as well as the apple, cucumber and orange, and for hot drinks, if you don’t fancy the mint tea try the Lebanese spiced hot chocolate, with steamed milk infused with cinnamon and tahina sprinkled with halva.
Have you fallen for this Lebanese restaurant yet?
