Kamoon Restaurant Review and Giveaway.

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The Kamoon Arabic restaurant at the Khalidiya Palace Hotel is a cozy place and gem worthy of those who seek to absorb the ethos, hums and palates of Middle Eastern Arabic cuisine. Kamoon is the Arabic word for cumin and this old time spice, used by the ancient Egyptians is credited with bringing people back from their wanderings. This is the place to bring friends and family to savor traditional cuisine. In many cultures it was believed that this precious spice had the power to bring people back from their wanderings. At Kamoon restaurant, the talented chefs have infused a number of dishes with this healthy seed and this aromatic seasoning will also keep you going back to this place again and again!

The Restaurant is located easy near the pool side and beach area of Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan by Rotana. It is a round shaped structured earthy shade building mentioning the name in bold letters on it. You can’t just miss the venue as indistinct smell of the shisha surely guide your way to the location while are entering from the hotel lobby. You can hear background Arabic music as you reach near the restaurant.

Kamoon also offers an outdoor dining area with decked palm trees and once the weather gets better the area will be busy and crowded. It is adjacent to the water and overlooked by towering buildings which merges the contemporary with the old style food seating perfectly for the attentive and nested family dining.

With introduction to a lot of Arabic food we dig in to the menu and trying to find out that surprise quotient and wow factor while got introduced by a very cooperative Restaurant Manager. As complementary starters we were served with black and green olives, sliced beetroot and Arabic bread.

This was followed by mezza consisting of BABA GHANOUJ i-e puree of grilled eggplant with tomatoes, capsicum, pomegranate sauce, lemon, onion, garlic and parsley this is very famous locally, also we tasted KAMOON SALAD which is their take on infusion and is made up of avocado, onion, garlic, tomato, parsley, and raspberry. The while combination tasted sweet and sour yet very tangy. RAYHAAN TABBOULEH was presented with twist as well with usual parsley white onion, crushed wheat, basil it has pineapple, mint, strawberry and lemon

Our favorite in Cold section was FATTOUSH a traditional dish with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, mint, sumac, onion, zaatar, walnut, radish, pomegranate seeds and fried Arabic bread. Very crispy and succulent.

In Hot mezze we tried FATTET KAMOON a typical Arabic choice for a change it has fried bread, chickpeas, eggplant, cumin, pine nuts and was prepared in stock with vegetables / chicken CHEESE ROLLS were a bot soft. We tried the infamous lentil soup with fried Arabic bread called SHORBET ADASS and it is so creamy and full of taste.

REYASH – the spicy lamb chops were well done and tender. In seafood SHARHAAT SAMAK MESHWIYEH is best which is basically grilled hammour filet served with french fries, lemon, garlic and olive oil sauce. It was one of my favorite dish. In typical Charcoal Grill variety, we tried KAMOON TAWOOQ grilled chicken marinated with cumin and KEBAB HALABI which was tender, juicy and mouthwatering.

marinated minced lamb with onion and parsley. The quality of meat is indeed top quality also you will love the timings and the flow how the dishes will come to your table. The staff overall is so well aware about the availability and is well familiarized with the customers’ mix and will go all the way to elucidate and at the same time will inform you about all ingredients and their twists and fusion in dishes. We love the freshness, natural ingredients colors, the taste mix and the quality which came to the table overall.

The rarest and interesting dish in main course we tried was Lahm Bil Karaz. This consists of grilled lamb meatball kebab cooked with cherry sauce served with special Arabic bread and garnished with parsley and pine nuts. It must have been challenging for chef not to empower that cherry taste and kept a fair balance and he did justice to his cooking techniques.

Fruit cocktails and smoothies were prepared fresh and not typically heavy how we generally experience at other Arabic restaurant. They were attractive and lip-smacking.

Dessert items were mostly traditional –we ordered ASSORTED BAKLAWA it is filo pastry layered with pistachios, pine nuts, almonds and drizzled with sugar syrup- too sweet (which is how it is generally) but true to its origin. Another deserts made way to our table was BAKED YOGHURT with mixed berries. I was unable to finish however our kids liberally came forward to finish it.

The Kamoon has recently been rebranded and is still going under more renovation however is pretty functional. The service is pleasant and responsive, the food outstanding with pioneering bends to old-fashioned yet popular dishes, and the portion sizes are lavish and well-priced. Well worth a visit, especially for expats to try the Arabic and Beiruti food twist and innovation. As it’s quite popular in locals and Arabic nationalities already.