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Tonight is a special. It’s dinner at Harry's Bar. I rarely accept invitations but I insisted on coming here to try to reconcile with the food after the pre-opening experience I had. The event started at 8pm with a Bellini of course, Harry's Bar signature drink.
After tasting the world renowned Bellini made famous by Harry's Bar we were invited to the upper area for dinner. The Harry's Bar has a new chef and surely a new menu.
I was hoping for a menu with more freshness, more colors and more taste and YES, finally Harry's Bar brings Lebanon the reputation it is known for in London and around be world.
Harry's Bar New Chef: Orazio Ganci!
Ganci has stimulated the taste buds of fine cuisine lovers at The Four Seasons Milan, Harry's bar London and Carpacio known to be the finest Italian restaurant in Paris...Ready to delight the pallets of Lebanese fine cuisine lovers!
The Place:
- Large green reflective marble tiles cover the floor.
- A bar welcomes you at the entrance.
- A wooden, yet simple, bar with a touch of English style.
- A high ceiling of old arcades is painted in white, making the place look bigger.
- Old wooden chairs covered in green leather fill the space.
- Large glass facades let the restaurant blend with the surroundings.
- Round and square tables, choose what you’d prefer.
- Nice looking toilets, clean and luxurious with walls covered with wood.
- The warm lighting is relaxing and soothing.
- Guest by Frette tablecloths, I personally love those
On tonight's menu is a wide selection of propositions spread on two pages.
- Carpaccio di Filletto di Manzo alla veneziana (beef carpaccio Venetian style)
- Gamberi e ceci con salsa balsamica (tiger prawns with chic peas and balsamic dressing)
- Tricolore di burratina (burratina on a bed of cherry tomatoes in its juice dressed in a lift pesto sauce)
- Vitello Tonnato (sliced veal topped with a creamy tuna sauce)
- Penne con ossobuco (penne with a ragu of braised shank of veal)
- Risotto agli asparagi (risotto with asparagus topped with Parmesan shavings)
- Filetti di sogliola di dover con lenticchie (filets of Dover sole with lentils)
- Classica costoletta di vitello alla milanese con rucola e pomodorini (classic veal chop Milanese topped with wild rocket, tomato and sautéed potatoes)
Dessert:
- Panna cotta piemontese con frutti di bosco (piemontese baked cream with wild berries)
- Baba Al limoncello come a sorrento (traditional baba with limoncello from sorrento)
- Carpaccio di ananas marinato con frutti Rossi e sorbetto Al mango
- Tiramisu
- Trancio di tartufo Al cioccolato amaro (chocolate truffle cake)
- Granita Al caffe o Al pompelmo (coffee or pink grapefruit granita)
Et voila, dinner was served. We were offered as a bonus plate, a grilled vegetables dish with a tomato sliced in half, eggplant and topped with an intensely green herbs sauce. Well-cooked vegetables served warm, beautifully cooked and colored in grilling lines. Smooth and juicy vegetables explode under the teeth in style. Simple and tasty.
Now for the scheduled plates:
- The Vitelli Tonnato is served on a around plate, sliced of veal covered with a creamy tuna sauce. Tender veal topped by a rich full-bodied cream with a lot of salt and flavor. That's a good one.
- The burratina is good, really good. The sauce is the main difference; the sauce is the great thing. A lemony sour cream embracing those fresh crunchy tomatoes and the burratina standing in the heart of the bowl-like plate.
- Carpaccio, thinly cut and topped with small roquette leaves and their sauce. A lemony sauce spiced up by sliced of Parmesan and wait until you've sipped your wine afterwards for the anticipated amazement. What a combination!
- That's a connoisseur plate for sure. Crunching in style the tiger prawns prepare you for the plate filled with aldente-cooked chickpeas exploding under the teeth... A mix floating in tomato sauce. That's good and surely for the
- Aldente risotto with Amal diced asparagus, cooked to perfection but lacking a bit of flavor. They're good but could have been better. I liked the freshness and the creativity behind it, but some oomph is missing.
- Penne with ragu, that's a favorite where I go. The word ragu makes me mouth water and this one is really a good one. Aldente cooked penne mixed with some real juicy meat ragu and sauce. Those chunks of tender meat are awesome. Loved the taste and spices. Bravo!
Good food it is. Plates look nice, well presented and mouthwatering while the taste is well balanced to showcase Italian finest. Adequately cooked, rich in flavor and taste, those plates have nothing to do with the ones I had before.
Let's dessert!
- Baba au rhum is exquisite. Moist cake opened in the middle and topped with whipped cream. Juicy cake infused and limoncello and topped with this delicious cream. What a lovely dessert.
- Panda cotta is the best I've had in ears. Man that's awesome! The cream is so good and the crunching fresh berries are so so so good. I fell in love with a dessert. A layer of sweet gelatins, a rich baked cream, a smooth sauce, crunchy berries... I finished my martini cup!
- A bizarre way of doing the tiramisu that's not close to the conventional one but surely a good way I appreciated. Three layers of cake and crunchy coffee bits. Cake, cream, coffee... That's a Michelin star quality.
- Just so you know - the desserts were prepared by a Lebanese Chef called Ramzi AbouAli. Big respect chef! You have a bright future.
- Chocolate truffle cake like the name suggests, is a mousse cake that's intense in chocolate flavors, not sweet and offers an interesting texture covering on the gooeyness. Chef, you have a fan.
Wines:
- White Greco di tufo mastroberardino 2013
- Red radici mastroberardino 1997
Best for last, the espresso is served with an unmatched finesse, covered in a silver cap and served with a tower of mignardises. The details of Harry’s Bar are so special that you will leave amazed.
I believe the Harry’s Bar is back with a change, one big change introducing a new chef that speaks more Lebanese lifestyle language.
All the best...
