Eatalian

Eatalian is a popular restaurant which was founded by the owners of Casper & Gambini's. As opposed to the myriad of different Italian (and Japanese) restaurants dotted all throughout Beirut, Eatalian, like Il Mattarello previously reviewed, is a restaurant that gives as seriously authentic Italian cuisine as it gets in Lebanon. And mind you, given the visible Lebanese passion for all things Italian, particularly their food, this says a lot.

I will characterize the service as quick and efficient. From the valet who took our car (a necessity due to the lack of available parking), to the welcoming maitre d', till the waiter that served us, all were super polite and professional. A nice change from rude waiters one gets at "every day" eateries. Even though the restaurant was packed to the brim on this Saturday night with a huge table of mostly girls celebrating a birthday, and even a famous sports personality enjoying his pasta and chianti, we always got our food on time and got it nice and hot.

As good as the mood and service are at Eatalian, the food is where this place really shines. You can't go to an Italian restaurant without eating pizza and pasta right? So on with the good stuff. The delicious pizzas are made in a wood-fired oven to authentic Italian specs. They were noticeably way above average. By Italian pizza here I mean the original pizza that Americans would call "thin crust" and not the greasy practically-all-bread stuff that comes from the US. For pasta, I highly recommend the Tagliatelle with fresh mushrooms, truffles and cream sauce. The cream is light and has an mmm oh so delicious dollop of fresh garlic dumped in! Not to worry though, none of the neighbors will realize.

By far the most pleasant surprise came though from the Filetto. A piece of Angus beef with caramelized pepper slices and chopped fresh mushrooms, all over a light cheesy-creamy sauce. To put it simply, it was culinary heaven! So juicy and tender and flavorful all at the same time. It was the top scoring hit of the evening.

The evening gradually wound down with our bellies pleasantly full that didn't even mind the bumpy road.

Mandaloun Café

Situated on the main st. of Achrafieh, this restaurant/café is not to be confused with either of the other Mandaloun concepts, Mandaloun sur Mer, Mandaloun Grill or Mandaloun the nightclub. Yet, like its cousins, the Mandaloun pulls off its café version with class and poise.

Upon walking in, one notices the warm, woody decoration that isn't spoilt by anything but being slightly too bunched up with tables being too close to each other and the fact that there's a flatscreen tuned to a football match on the back wall bookshelf, a feature that has the potential to encourage antisocial behavior. After being greeted and politely lead to our table we forge on to ordering our food and drinks.

The service is attentive and friendly, with staff that give and take when casually spoken to. They aptly answered any questions we had and took our order.

The food arrived promptly tasting "good", leaning towards "safe", all while looking scrumptious. For an entrée, the lentil soup was served as mashed yellow lentils with mashed potatoes, a side portion of croutons and a lemon slice served alongside. The fish brochettes, came next and had a pleasing, tangy quality to them. The Funghi pizza also, was "not bad". After the meal came degestion time.

By the time we finished our meal, the café had filled, and the volume level rose a little. We enjoyed each other's company and the waiter managed to take an order for tea from us on his second offer.

We drank a nice digestive tea, which also turned out a little more standard tasting than what the menu makes it out to be, paid, got our cars from the valet, and returned home for the night.