Lebanon revisited

[Photo provided to China Daily]

Eager to get to the meat of the matter, we ordered the mixed grill (110 yuan), which included chef-owner Ayman Kanbar's barbecued lamb, beef and chicken stripped from the skewers and served with a bit of salad and french fries. The lamb had a salty edge and was spiced to a nice intensity, but the hit of the plate may have been the chicken, grilled after a yogurt-based marinade had given the meat to an astonishing tenderness. This, too, has long been part of the cooking trade in the Levant, which in late medieval maritime commerce in the eastern Mediterranean included Greece, Anatolia (Turkey), Syria, Palestine and Egypt－generally the lands east of the great maritime Silk Road port of Venice. Much earlier, that strip of coastline was the heart of the Phoenician empire. Those fabled seafarers were known as "traders in purple" because of their monopoly on the precious purple dye of the murex snail－used for royal clothing as well as more prosaic goods.

On our table, goods from Lebanon include wines from the Ksara vineyards of the Bekaa Valley, an agricultural heartland that was once a breadbasket of the Roman empire. The Ksara Caves are a popular tourist stop today, where visitors can enjoy a wine tasting at Chateau Ksara－one of Lebanon's oldest and most famous wineries. Only recently available in China, at Alameen we enjoy a bottle of the smooth red Le Prieure, the 2012 vintage that snagged gold medals in Berlin and Hong Kong competitions. At 200 yuan, it may be the best deal in town for a restaurant wine, and there's a nice chardonnay that's equally good value. (Seven Ksara labels in all are currently imported to China and, naturally, available on Taobao.)

Steak and pizza are new additions to the menu. So is alcohol: In the restaurant's first years, there was no beer or wine in accordance with Muslim custom, though customers who brought their own were tolerated. Competition and the profit in booze won the day after the renovation, however. Some old customers grumble about the change, says Ling, but this is no rowdy drinking house－the ambience is quiet as customers enjoy good food and drink, which for many continues to be fruit juice or hot sweet tea.

A new rooftop deck will offer al fresco dining and even cocktails when warm weather returns in the spring. Before then, Ling hopes to offer expanded catering services. This will include that Alameen trademark, a whole roasted lamb, which can be kept hot for eight hours－perfect for home parties.

If you go

Alameen

2 Sanlitun Xiwujie, Chao-yang district, Beijing. 010-8451-7489.