Middle Eastern cuisine at Levant restaurant, Greenwood Ave

(Note: We believe the outlet has closed)

Levant Restaurant is located along the stretch of shops at Greenwood Avenue, off Bukit Timah Road. It is an eclectic mix of shops, including a laundry, the smallest Cold Storage supermarket (that we have seen) but is most well-known for its interesting collection of restaurants here. Levant Restaurant serves Middle Eastern cuisine.  Most of the restaurants here serve “Western” cuisine, particularly Italian, so it is refreshing to find a restaurant like Levant when you are looking to try something a bit different.

According to the restaurant’s website, “Levant” means the sun rises in the East. The decor of the restaurant reflects the geographical location of the Middle East by mixing  elements of the usual Western dining establishments with some Eastern accents such as the use of the rich red walls, the lighting and the paintings. The resulting effect is a dark, cozy and slightly exotic atmosphere in the restaurant. We were there for lunch and were introduced to what seemed like very reasonable lunchtime offers.  There are two set lunch options everyday – chicken kebab ($15) or lamb kebab ($18) with soup, dessert and coffee.  In addition, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, there is a particular dish that is available at a more favourable price. Today being a Thursday, it was lamb shank biryani day and the dish is available at $25 instead of the regular price of $32. We ordered this and a chicken thigh kebab set lunch.

The lamb shank biryani was served in a heavy metal pot. The lamb shank was de-boned for us and the meat was broken up into small pieces. We could see how tender and well cooked the lamb was by the way the meat was easily separated from the bone and offered no resistance to the dissecting utensils. Both the aroma from the dish and the taste were way beyond our expectations. The meat had the melt-in-your-mouth feel. The flavour of the lamb was evenly dispersed into the rice. It was robust but not gamey. The biryani was a large serving, enough for two people who have an average appetite.

For the set lunch, there was a choice of soup. We opted for the ginger soup which turned out to be a vegetable soup but with strong ginger overtones.  We liked it as it was unusual. We drink ginger tea sometimes anyway, but those who are not keen on the taste of ginger might want to try something else. Fortunately for us the kebab was not large, as there was not much space after the biryani. The chicken kebab was well made but paled in comparison to the lamb shank biryani which really stole the show today. The meal was brought to a sweet ending with a scoop of ice-cream. I think they mentioned that it was coconut ice-cream, but the coconut taste, if any, was faint. It was more like a vanilla ice-cream which was fine as it provided a sweet counterbalance to the robust flavours of the preceding dishes.

Ratings:
Food: 5
Service: 3
Value: 3
Atmosphere: 3
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs    

 

Levant Restaurant
8 Greenwood Avenue
Singapore 289198

Tel: 9640 4866

Opening Hours
Tue – Thu : 11:30 am – 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Fri – Sat : 11:30 am – 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Sun : 11:30 am – 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm – 10:30 pm

 

The Ordinary Patrons
a Singapore food blog by ordinary people looking for places to eat