Have you ever had Lebanese food? I feel that much like many asian cuisines its inspired by dishes and herbs of neighbouring countries but with it’s own special twist. Let me tell you that the Philippines does this real well – and so does Nuba.

With socially conscious choices – organic fair trade coffee, organic wines and quite the healthy menu, nuba is a great alternative to the heavy, greasy diners nearby.

The Hastings location is the one my friends and I decided to haunt on a chilly September afternoon. There are two sections, both simple, clean and chic. I admired the shattered glass mural on the side we sat on (unfortunately didn’t get a picture!).

The menu is simple and straight forward. Our water was cucumber flavoured -if you haven’t tried this out, you should – it’s a great way to help drink more water every day.

Anyway, back to the menu – it’s best to share dishes and since there were four of us – we ordered several dishes.

Our first dish was the Chicken Tawook ($9). They were chicken skewers marinated with “middle eastern spices” and served atop slices of avocado and hummus. The chicken was tender and a hint of the seasoning.

Up next was the Garden Falafel ($7.50). I’m a big fan of falafel mostly because it’s one of the few ways I enjoy chickpeas and beans (other than hummus). I’m so accustomed to the not so fabulous fast-food fare – so this was very tasty – it was a decently portioned falafel too. It was also served alongside avocado slices, hummus and pickled cabbage.

We ordered Najib’s Special ($7) as everyone was telling me to try this dish. To be honest, I am not a big fan of cauliflower. BUT this was amazing. Some of it was slightly burnt, but the rest was crispy and bursting with delicious tartness from the lemon and saltiness from it’s sea salt. Much better tasting when dipped in the Tahini (ie, sesame) sauce. Probably my favourite dish of the evening.

We also ordered Le petit feast ($15) that includes hummus, taboulleh, baba ghanooj and homemade pickled cabbage. The presentation was very nice and the taste of the baba ghanooj was amazing. The taboulleh was very poignant, I found the taste to be very sharp compared to other places I’ve had taboulleh and I liked it. Since there was so much hummus going around – I did enjoy it too, but I felt it could be a little more tart.

Finally, we ordered Lamb kibosh spinach ($8). These were mini patties with vegetables, pine nuts, burghul and spices. I’m not a fan of lamb so I passed on this, but my best friend said it was great in taste, not too gamey and not too dry.

Overall our dining experience was a good one, we got to catch up with one another and we enjoyed our first encounter with Lebanese food!

Food:
I love places that make organic food good.

Service:
Our server was helpful and came to check on us periodically. Our food took a bit of time to make though.

Value:
The food is great for sharing but the portions are a bit small.

Ambiance:

OVERALL:

For restaurant information, hours and the menu, click here.
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