After visiting Abu Hassan, down in Burj Hammoud not too long ago, many suggested or even insisted that I try Abou Abdallah in Dora.
Located behind the Mercedes showroom in Dora, you'll find Abou Abdallah, a well-decorated, clean and professional set up. Abou Abdallah welcomes you from the early hours of the morning until 2pm.
I was honestly expecting something like a street food shop that simple and busy but instead I entered a symphony... Abou Abdallah is the cleanest most professional Lebanese breakfast place I've seen to date.
Prepare yourself to enter a classy place. Classical music plays in the background, brown color takes over the decor, tiles cover the floor, and wooden tables fill in the space while the open kitchen prepares a plate after the other.
The first impression is a perfect one. As you sit down, a menu is posed in front of you, a menu printed on a wooden board, two loads of bread follow while the olive oil, lemon juice and salt await.
But I wished the food was as good as good as the place...
The menu:
- 3 Choices of foul
- 2 Choices of meat
- 3 Choices of Hummos
- 4 Choices of Balila
- 2 Labneh
- 4 Choices of eggs
- 7 Choices of Fatteh
- 2 Desserts
Let the feast begin:
- I started with Hummos: It's good but not great. I wasn't impressed by the commercial feel of the taste. The pine nuts and cashew nuts covering the hummos neeed a bit more cooking, the top would have been tastier with some of the butter used to fry the nuts... It also lacked the smooth feel you expect from a professional hummos.
- The Fatteh: Laban mixed with nuts and toasted bread covered with olive oil; that's it! Correct taste but again, nothing extraordinary. I was expecting to feel the oil, the fat, crispy bread, fried nuts and some spices. It's simply laban and tender bread with cooked chickpeas.
- Abou Abdallah's Eggs: a very thin layer of eggs topped with laban and minced meat in the middle. I found the eggs to be a bit dry, lacking juiciness and the plate way too salty. Again, I was not impressed... at all.
- Labneh Abou Abdallah: I was expecting something like the one I love at Falamanki. Labneh, a hard one old style mixed with diced tomatoes and green pepper but instead, the Labneh was soggy and acidic, mixed with dried mint leaves and topped with large sized cubes of thick tomatoes. That's it? Nothing to write home about.
- Meat and tomatoes: I didn't even understand why a plate like that even exists. I felt like I was eating Bolognese pasta sauce without the pasta, and the worst part was the tomato skin unpleasantly sliding under the teeth. This plate is a big no for me.
- Foul with Laban: didn't feel anything. Very normal foul mixed with Laban!
I believe the food lacks the real feel of authenticity.
The pluses:
- I loved the spirit
- I enjoyed the professionalism of staff
- Clean and neat, more than a street food joint
- Portions are generous
- Thank you for the music, it's so soothing on an early morning
The minus:
- Food was very average. It was just another foul shop I've tried in 2014
- Lebanese bread only? Why not propose toasted bread, Markouk or even bake the bread in-house?
- Lack of butter, lack of flavor, lack of passion... Every plate lacked something... Unfortunately
After breakfast, we were offered a portion of halawa, which was delicious! I wish I could have said the same about the rest of my experience.
I'm sorry but I have to be honest. I would drive an extra kilometer down the road to the other foul shop where I honestly felt something, enjoyed the vibes, loved the food and devoured freshly baked bread for the same price.
