Review: Yasmeen, St John's Wood — Her Favourite Food & Travel

Oct 8

Oct 8 Review: Yasmeen, St John's Wood

Style Points: 4/5
Price: ££
Overall: 4/5

The first thing to strike you about Yasmeen (meaning Jasmine) is the exterior. A large swanky terrace looks out onto the street and then a few tiled steps up takes you inside a bright and gorgeous restaurant.

The front section of the restaurant is a conservatory which gives the restaurant wonderful natural light and a sophisticated feel. The decor itself is very smart with light coloured furniture which contrasts from the darker patterned walls and ornaments.

Interior of restaurant

Would I Want Seconds?

My dining companion and I arrived after work on a Friday night and were very surprised to find the restaurant empty. Perhaps it picks up later on or maybe the location in the residential St John's Wood isn't the best place for this pretty eatery.

Once seated, the waiter suggested that we could have a selection of vegetarian hot and cold starters to share which was a great idea. We were presented with two large bowls of Hummus and Moutabel (an aubergine version of hummus), Vine Leaves filled with rice and vegetables, a salad and fresh Lebanese bread. Each element of the cold starters were delicious and flavoursome and we probably should have stopped eating the generous servings at some point, however the great tastes spurred us on to devour the lot.

Table setting

Hummous and Moutable

Vine leaves

Next up we were served hot starters which looked beautifully baked when brought to the table. Our assortment included Halloumi Cheese, Falafel, Fatayer (baked spinach with onion and pine kernels in pastry parcels), Sambousek Cheese (pastry stuffed with cheese and parsley) and a potato based pastry. Once again, the food was cooked perfectly and we ate enough pastries to last us a month but were pleasantly full by the end of it.

The waiter suggested that we try the Bamieh Without Meat (Okra cooked with tomato served with rice) and the Moussaka Batinjan Without Meat (Baked seasoned aubergine cooked with tomato and chickpeas, served with rice) for our main courses. The chef also made a special vegetarian dish for us which seemed to consist of a tomato based soup adorned with vegetables. Had we properly read the menu beforehand, we would not have been as taken aback by how the moussaka was presented.

As fans of Greek food, we were used to the traditional Greek moussaka so wondered where our potato and cheese topping was for the stew type dish that was given to us. (Later research on Google clarified that Lebanese moussaka is a completely different dish).

As the Lebanese mains were new to me, I feel that I might not be the best to judge how well they were made. Personally I felt that the moussaka served with rice reminded me of a curry but without the spice and the other two vegetable dishes were quite similar to this. Another point to make is that by this time we were so full that we could barely fit these dishes in and maybe if we had taken it easy on the starters then we would have enjoyed the main courses more.

Platter

Salad

Could I Afford Seconds?

The food at Yasmeen is not particularly cheap especially when you might order several dishes as we did. Each individual starter dish costs between £5.75 and £8.00 so it will depend how much you want to order as to how much you spend.

Main courses are £15 to £17.50 and desserts are around £6 each but with Yasmeen you are paying for the quality of food and surroundings.

Overall?

I enjoyed my meal at Yasmeen and feel I would definitely return for the huge range of vegetarian starters that they offer when I am not feeling like a cheapskate. It would be a great restaurant for a special occasion as there is definitely a swanky vibe about the place and the the staff were extremely helpful and polite.

I was not feeling very well on the day we ate there and the staff brought over a box of tissues matching the decor of the restaurant which was very sweet if a little embarrassing! Although, due to the lack of guests, I do think they might have been too many of them working that night.

To conclude, if you are looking for Lebanese cuisine in an enticing bright environment then Yasmeen would be my first and only recommendation.