Renshaw Street is rather polarised these days; there have been a raft of small independents opening on one side, to accompany The Dispensary and assorted curry houses (which are potentially going to be bordered by a large student development to their rear should some proposed plans be realised). The other side has rather more glitzy and polished establishments, such as letting agents, a karaoke bar and barbers. One of the relatively new establishments on the more earthy side of the road is Damas, a Lebanese style restaurant which has a budget friendly menu and a reasonable amount of charm. Whilst it has to some degree been overshadowed by other more visible establishments on Bold Street, it is only a stone’s throw away to this café. Liverpool is no stranger to the type of cuisine on offer, with the likes of Kimos being almost an institution and with Maray, Casbah and Bakchich amongst others lining the next road over. The restaurant itself is furnished as would be expected from a café; a kitchen visible from the main area of the café and an abundance of light wooden tables and chairs, menus on the table with small table top chalk boards for specials. That said, nothing feels too cluttered in the premises and the large windows facing out onto Renshaw Street are pretty much perfect for people-watching. So how’s the menu? With Damas being of middle-eastern persuasion, there is no alcohol on offer here, only canned soft drinks, juices and teas. The food menu has plenty to offer, from meze plates, salads, main dishes and wraps for those looking for a quicker lunchtime experience. We opt for some Arabic flatbread and Baba Ghanouj (sic) to start with, the prospect of order kibbeh and falafels on top of the other components seems just a little too daunting, although it really wouldn’t have left the wallet tapping for submission if we proceeded down the greedy route. Light scatterings of spice, a puddle of oil and a few pinches of fresh parsley adorn the silky Baba Ghanouj which is sweet, satisfying and gone within a matter of minutes. The main dishes of chicken shawarma and Kharouf Mehshi (lamb shanks with spiced rice and almonds) follow the moment the baba ghanouj has been swept away, and the portions are really something – unless you have hollow legs for feeling particularly greedy, you are unlikely to wish to go beyond to the temptation of baklava. The shawarma is presented on a dreadnought of a plate; salad, chicken, spiced rice with flecks of what appear to be a wholewheat noodle and more flatbread all neatly laid out for the diner. The chicken is succulent and has flavour (a great start), the salad fresh and the flatbread still warm but alas a flat note is the rather dull rice, which whilst claimed promisingly coloured is a little drying in the presence of the other components, aside from some yoghurt and tahini sauce at the side. The lamb shanks is a scary and initially not aesthetically inviting prospect; sitting atop a mountain of spiced rice scattered with powdered spices and blistered, sweet almonds. Again the dish suffered a little from being in danger on the dry side, but the cucumber and yoghurt sauce provided with the dish gave some much needed glue to bring the dish together. The main player of the dish was the lamb shank; whilst it was studded with nuggets of soft and quite unctuous meat and a couple of pieces of bone (with delicious marrow left in), the fatty matrix provided a rather distracting and unwelcome task to try and surgically remove the lamb. One more comment on the lamb is the finishing of the meat; whilst it was delicious, some additional colour would have been welcome, perhaps a flash on the grill to tease a bit more flavour out. As it was, there was too much work to do to in retrieving edible morsels.
There is some value for money with Damas, though the menu does cover a lot of bases and whilst not generating volumes of excitement, it’s a viable option for lunch or an evening meal on the hop. Just be wary that some of the menu is very hit and miss. Pedro. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Damas 79 Renshaw Street Liverpool L1 2SJ Telephone: 0151 345 3240 Web: http://damasliverpool.weebly.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/damasliverpool
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