Bakchich, Bold St, Liverpool

When I lived in Dubai, I must have eaten Lebanese food at least 4 times a week. As common as our chippies, Dubai seems to have a Lebanese in every mall and on every street. Falafel, shish kebabs and zingy plates of tabbouleh are a staple ingredient in  the Dubai foodie's life, be it for breakfast, tea or chucking out time at the clubs. Back in Liverpool, I wondered how long it would be for the North West to finally cotton on to this delicious cuisine which often gets mistaken for Greek or Turkish up this end for some bizarre reason. Enter Bakchich, Liverpool's first Lebanese since that one what was briefly in Renshaw St in the early 1990s that is now waste land. (I never did go there actually, so would love to know if any of my more mature readers experienced it!)

Bakchich reminds me of Dubai's famous Zaroob, a trendy, faux street food setting Lebanese eaterie. Modern with an open plan kitchen and fabulous interior décor, it was instantly welcoming and in my mind, I was back in the 45 degree heat of Dubai (unless this had something to do with the heat emanating from the open kitchen). After fighting for a table- this place is extremely popular- I settled down with a glass of mint lemonade. Admittedly, this wasn't as good as the ones I had in Dubai- this tasted like a normal glass of lemonade with a few mint leaves in whereas its Dubai counterpart is made with fresh lime juice.

I ordered the spicy Lebanese potatoes (below). Garnished with parsley, they were a fresh and healthy alternative to the usual sides of chips etc, but lacked the padding and substance of its Dubai equivalent. The portion was padded out with a lot of chopped onion, giving the impression it was a bigger portion than it actually was.

I also had the falafel wrap plate, a favourite of us veggies who can't participate in the Doner Kebab cravings you carnivores have. Not just Dubai, in most European cities a falafel wrap or pitta is part of the fast food staple diet of late night snackers and foodies. The falafel plate came with a dollop of hummous and a crunchy lemon-heightened salad.  At £5.99 for this falafel plate (below), it is considerably more than the 3 euro I used to pay for a similar dish in Germany. I'm not complaining though, Bakchich is one of a kind in Liverpool and has no serious competition- they can charge what they like, I'll keep returning for that bit of Middle Eastern sunshine!

 

The good: One of a kind in Liverpool- friendly service and a diverse menu

The bad: Slightly cramped seating and portion size a bit small