Al Mayass is a very popular Lebanese and Armenian restaurant in Lebanon but for some reason I hadn’t heard about it until it opened up here in Kuwait. Since I’ve been hearing only good stuff about the place I decided to try it out and see what it was all about.
Al Mayass is located inside the Shiik Resort which I think is a pretty strange location because I can’t imagine girls in bikinis walking by conservative families on their way into lunch not end up being a problem. Anyway once you walk into the place you will notice it doesn’t look very Lebanese but thats not a big deal since the colors and design of the place is leaning more towards Armenian. What would be a Lebanese look anyway? I don’t think we have one for restaurants.
I only found three problems with the Al Mayass and one popped up right at the beginning. Its not actually a problem more like a nitpick. I found the napkin too small to properly place over the lap. If I am complaining about napkins then you already have an idea on which direction this review is heading. The second problem followed nearly instantly, they don’t have soup on the menu. I was eager to start off with their lentil soup since it was cold outside and wanted something to warm me up. I even asked the waiter about it hoping they had a soup de jour which wasn’t on the menu but he apologized telling me they sadly didn’t have soup on the menu. I think this is a permanent thing and not just temporary which is disappointing.
We then went ahead and ordered a bunch of cold and hot appetizers including hummus, hummus with meat, labne with garlic, tabboule, batata harra (hot potato?), cheese beurek and ras asfoor which translates to bird head although the dish is actually meat chunks. For our main course we ordered chicken taouk and kabab with cherry.
One by one the dishes started to arrive and everything was tasting great. The hummus with meat was probably the best I had ever had and the batata harra was also really great although pretty filling. The cheese beurek is basically a cheese puff and from all the appetizers is the only one I wouldn’t order again. We ordered two cheese beureks at KD1.500 a piece but they were really tiny pieces, each the size of two matchboxes placed side by side. Actually now that I think about it I wouldn’t order the ras asfoor again since that dish cost KD5 and really wasn’t that great.
Once we were done with our appetizers our main courses arrived. The chicken taouk (KD4) was good and very tender but really didn’t grab my attention as much as the cherry kebab (KD4.5). I hadn’t had cherry kebab before but a friend of mine told me I would love it and he was absolutely right. The cherries turned an ordinary dish found everywhere into something much more interesting. The combination of kebab with the sweetness of the cherries resulted in a very flavored kebab which I would definitely want to have again.
By the time we were done with all the food we were pretty full but we still went ahead and ordered the Mayass knefeh which needed 15-20 minutes of preparation time. I guess the waiting period raised my expectations because usually my knefeh gets served instantly but to wait 20 minutes for one meant it had to be really special. It wasn’t, the knefeh tasted like regular knefeh although it did come in a different shape from the usual. My feelings are its just not worth the wait, if you want it make sure you order it while your main course is being served.
Overall I liked Al Mayass even though I am not usually a fan of Lebanese grill. I usually find Lebanese kebab and taouk dishes pretty dry and bland but the cherry kebab has sparked an interest with me. The Lebanese waiters were very friendly without being the talkative type and their service was fast. The lack of soup is a disappointment and the prices of two of the dishes I ordered were expensive. As you can tell though if I am picking on the size of the napkin its because there isn’t much to pick on. The place is great and is probably the only Lebanese restaurant I would want to visit again. The final score is a 4 out of 5.
19 replies on “Review: Al Mayass Restaurant”
I still think Mayrig in Gemayze a better place. I’m not sure if this one here in Kuwait is serving real Armenian cuisine. Haven’t tried the one here, heard good stuff and also heard they did breakfast, but found out they didn’t after walking up to their seriously off and awkward location. I might go back if they have a nice seaside alfresco dining area.
I must say i was really surprised by your review Mark. You usually rate restaurants close to what i would rate them, but I completely disagree with you here.
I had heard many good things about Al-Mayas from friends who have been to their Lebanon Branch, so i was pretty excited to give it a try when it opened in Kuwait, and i must say i was deeply disappointed with the food.
Like you said the cheese beurek and ras asfoor weren’t that good, or worth the price. I tried the chicken liver and that was also disappointing. As for the Hummos, i thought it was one of the worst i’ve tasted, nowhere near as good as any one of the 5 or 6 kinds of hummos served by Villa Fairouz. The Batata Harra was excellent i must admit, great taste and texture to it.
For the main course i agree with you on the chicken taouq, good but nothing special. Now we come to what Al-Mayas is all about, Kabab bil Karaz, their signature dish everyone talks about, i tried it twice, once with family and once with friends, all of whom had very different tastes, and all said that it wasn’t that good, it was simply ok. Yes it was different, and was a new taste, but it wasn’t anything special.
Overall, i thought the location was bad, service was very good, food was average. Granted the first time i went there it had just opened a week before, and the second time was about 1 or 2 months after that, so maybe it has gotten much better, but based on the two times i did go, I would give it 1.5 stars out of 5 at most.
i had my lunch yesterday there, i loved the cherry thing
the wara’ 3enab has a wine taste!!!
they r super friendly,, i’d give it 4.5/5
That is one hilarious name for a restaurant.
The my-ass restaurant lool
the dessert you had was maamoul bi jibneh, not knefeh…. and next time you go you need to try hummus bi sojouk… they also have this clay pot that they put ground sojouk, eggplant, covered in cheese and cooked in an oven… forgot what it’s called but it’s really great… sojouk is an armenian staple, so you should try it when you go to an armenian restaurant… oh and the rose ice cream in the end… yum
S the dessert I had was Knefeh. Also I don’t eat Sojouk unless its from Bedo, the best Sojouk place in the world. I know its an Armenian staple, I am half Armenian 😉
where is the location.
Mark, where is this Bedo place?
you are half armenian??? i have been reading your blog for three years now i had no idea. i am armenian 🙂
Bedo
Bourj Hamoud, Municipality square,
Tel:+961-1-261439
Nahh, soups are that important to moi. I’ll definitely check it out when I return to “Kuwait Town” this summer.
Opps
are = aren’t
then you should try the maamoul bi jibneh next time you go too: p….. mmmm bedo, you reminded me to bring some back with me next time i’m in lebanon!
do they have shisha?
I agree that Hummous here was below-standard.
May be we needed to douse it with oil, but other than that it is great.
BTW, I downed a full 750ml Fre Premium Red. Those Kebabs, and Salads deserved it.
I prefer Lebanon’s branch !
i wanna go there today could any1 plz tell me wer is it exactly?… wats next to it?
Could someone please link me a map or any other directions to this restaurant? I haven’t had real Armenian food since I was a child. /drool