SUD: A New Menu, Pleasant Flavors

It's a love story which started last year, with a restaurant called SUD, a place with a soul that oozes strong positive vibes.

Under the beautiful autumn rain, enchanted by the musical notes of thunder, dimmed lights transport you out of Beirut's chaotic life you'll find an authentic old house with old stone, fresh terrace, beautifully decorated, some light music and a large, varied menu from the Mediterranean... That's SUD. 

After visiting SUD many times already, I come here with a strong feeling that I am now part of the family. I think I've tried all the items on the menu, enjoyed their Lebanese wines and met the chef who carefully prepares plate after plate back in his white haven. Rita, the owner's daughter, after long years of experience in Paris, is now back with ideas which have clearly landed on the menu.

Tonight was for the launch of the new menu which saw several new items make it on the starter and main course pages, along with a completely revisited dessert list. 

The new items:

• Haddock et pommes a l'huile
• Calamars marines
• L'apéro
• Foie gras et chutney de fruits secs
• Rillettes de volailles fermière et oignions pickles
• Carpaccio de mérou
• Fromage de chèvre au four et miel
• Soupe de potiron
• Légumes croquantes et herbes
• Cosuillette au vieux parmesan et jambon
• Penne à la tomate, riquette et Parmesan
• Gigot d'agneau de 7 heures
• Mérou et fondu de tomate
• Gambas et pamplemousse
• Filet de saumon grillé
• Pizza libanaise
• ... and all the desserts.

Let's eat:

• Marinated Calamari: A glass bowl with a mix of calamari, tender and marinated to perfection with potatoes and black olives in a balsamic vinegar sauce. On the side is a selection of toast. Grab a piece of toast, add a piece of calamari, a bit of sauce, a potato and enjoy. Well balanced flavors.
• Haddock: Delicious fish served in a porcelain plate with mini potatoes cut in half. Strong vinegar leaving a long lasting taste, tender fish and tender potatoes. I ordered it without garlic. What makes this plate special is the red pickled onions produced in-house.
• Crunchy Chicken Bites: Extremely crunchy, corn flake-covered chicken strips fried, but not oily, and sprinkled with salt that tickles your tongue in style. Not a new item, and surely one you should not skip.
• The Lebanese pizza: I liked it! Goat cheese Labneh topped with roquette leaves, some black olives, cherry tomatoes and red onions. I like it how local ingredients are used in an Italian pizza bread, the salt, olive oil, the acidity of the Labneh and the tender dough.
• The melted cheese (crottin de chavignol AOC): What an excellent mix, the cheese so tender the knife flows into it, a molten heart of white cheese and an envelope of honey. A blend of flavors of the Mediterranean, a sweetness that's light, an acidity that's smooth, a texture that's pleasant... Creating, simply, deliciousness. Spread on a side of toast and enjoy. Not only that, but this plate comes with a majestic salad of fresh greens, white balsamic and caramelized hazelnuts.
• Rillette: Chicken rillette with crunchy bread on the side and iceberg lettuce. Shredded chicken cooked with butter and rosemary, mixed with capers. It's like an artichoke puree and it works.
• Fresh grouper carpaccio simply laid on a plate with olive oil and lemon.

Main plates:

• A Merou fish, tender like butter, olive oil, light salt and next to that is a tomato puree, like the one they do in the village. Combining tomatoes and the fish is really a piece of art.
• Shell-like pasta served with just enough sauce, so you feel the texture of the pasta. Aged Parmesan cheese and ham cubes. A generously filled metal plate, large pasta shells and a creamy sauce. Light saltiness and intense smokiness.
• Lamb cooked for seven hours, served on a mountain of quinoa, onions, mint leaves, dry raisins and carrots. It is innovative, a tender meat, but I expected better from a plate cooked for seven hours. It needs more sauce and something that doesn't have the grainy texture of quinoa under a meat that's so tender.
• Tonight I was invited to the kitchen to meat Sarkis and Rita. Rita, the chef and owner's daughter and Sarkis, the new executive chef who put lots of effort into creating this new menu. I always liked SUD, but today things are different. I feel more passion in the food, more attention to detail, where flavors are balanced and leave a pleasant long lasting balanced after note.

SUD was always good, but never that good. Plates were tasty but always lacked something to make them perfect. SUD has evolved with touches of finesse and sparkles of fine dining all by preserving its bistro reputation and avoiding sophistication.

I'll skip desserts this time...