Levant

Levant
8 Greenwood Avenue

http://www.levant.com.sg/

Middle Eastern Carnivore's Delight

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 9
Service: 9
Value for Money: 7
Spent about SGD $50 per person.

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Levant is a charming, initimate fine dining restaurant offering Middle Eastern and Turkish cuisine. Levant, which means 'The Sun Rises In The East', specialises in grilled meats, especially kebabs, and also have regular 'off-menu' items.

Ambience at Levant is style like a luxurious Middle Eastern home. The interior is framed by a red brick wall, and decor has Islamic and Middle Eastern flourishes. Scenes of Arabic life adorn the walls, with low lighting terrible for normal photography, and comfortable, modern furniture. The biggest draw at Levant is their Belly Dancer, who performs for 20 minutes, during which the surround sound in Levant is turned up to clubbing levels.

I find service at Levant to be attentive and friendly. As befits a fine dining establishment, staff attend to you quickly, are polite and welcoming, and knowledgable on the menu. I noticed that they'll try to make diners feel as welcome as possible, by conversing or be checking on your meal.

With a focus on Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine, Levant offers a good selection of tasty grills. Besides tasty kebabs, Levant also serves pretty good stews and rice. Portions are large and filling, and prices are fine dining standards, high. Great for special occasions, not so good for regular daily dining.

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A warm red brick wall frames paintings of Middle Eastern life, while lamps and mirror are designed in the Islamic style.

Levant Decor

Patterned Lamp

Zardetto Zefiro Prosecco has a pale straw colour with a touch of crystal, an effervescent froth and a fine perlage. The flavour is delicately soft and harmonic, with hints of apple, a clean and pronounced character, lingering on the palate.

Zardetto Zefiro Prosecco 01

Zardetto Zefiro Prosecco 02

Strong and dense Turkish Coffee, done in the traditional Turkish style. I love the elaborate coffee cup holder that it's served in. However, I didn't quite like that the coffee powder is left inside.

Turkish Coffee 01

Turkish Coffee 02

The Hummus With Meat, a mashed chickpea paste with tahini sauce, sliced cucumber and minced lamb, is rather decent. Taste is rather muted, and the flavour doesn't really coat the mouth. Average.

Hummus With Meat 01

Hummus With Meat 02

Decent Turkish Flat Bread, not too oily and not too tough. The Basmati Saffron White Rice is nice, the saffron infuses a fragrant aroma, and the rice grains are easy to separate and consume.

Turkish Flat Bread

Basmati Saffron White Rice

Grill meat orders are served together on a large platter, along with a small side salad of lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and potatoes. A spicy Turkish dipping sauce, Halloumi, accompanies the dish. Halloumi is slight sweet, with an upfront spicy burn, and a refreshing finish.

The Shish Tawooq (Joojeh) is boneless chicken chunks marinated in saffron and Arabic spices, and was juicy, tender, and very tasty. The Halabi Kebab, minced lamb with onion, parsley and Arabic spices, was flavourful but slightly dry, and overly salty.