Middle-Eastern delights via Bayroute: Restaurant review by Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi

Be sure to try the Harissa and Laban. Service isn’t great, and there are some misses on the menu, but what works, works wonderfully.

Bayroute

RATING: 3.5 / 5

WHERE: Minoo Manor Building, Prakash Pethe Marg, Cuffe Parade

WHEN: Noon to 1.30 am

COST: ₹3,000 for a meal for two, not including alcohol. Full bar available.

CALL: 90290-08335 / 36

A meal at Bayroute induces nostalgia for anyone who has visited the Levant, and is transportive for those who have yet to make a trip.

The Manakeesh Za’atar, a flatbread overlaid with the oregano-suffused spice mix, is as good as any found in the cafes of Beyoglu in Istanbul.

Smooth, mild, nutty Hummus Bayroute swirled with tart, creamy labneh, topped with pine nuts, sumac, and sesame, is comparable to versions found at Wafi Gourmet or Al Hallab in Dubai.

The smooth, mild and nutty Hummus Bayroute is comparable to versions found at Wafi Gourmet or Al Hallab in Dubai. (Aalok Soni / HT Photo)

Rich, lightly salted Laban – a fermented yogurt drink that is closer to kefir than to savoury lassi – evokes a tall glass of its close cousin ayran, served at cafes overlooking Naqshe Jahan Square in Ispahan, Iran.

These, among the 80-plus dishes on this month-old restaurant’s Arabic-style right-to-left menu, could easily (and soon) make Bayroute Mumbai’s best Eastern Mediterranean restaurant.

Rich, lightly salted Laban will remind you of the cafes overlooking Naqshe Jahan Square in Ispahan, Iran. (Aalok Soni / HT Photo)

Bayroute replaces the city’s first Moshe’s in Cuffe Parade. Mud-textured walls are cleverly peppered with decorative mirrors, ceramics, and ornaments.

There is a banyan tree in the courtyard, and filigreed arches, gossamer drapes, flickering lanterns, and mosaic flooring in the main dining room.

Koshari, the Egyptian national dish, is a dry khichdi of rice, macaroni, noodles, masoor, chickpeas, and birista. It sounds odd, but is in fact deeply delicious and aromatic. (Aalok Soni / HT Photo)

Suspend disbelief and ignore the generic grating lounge music, and it feels a bit like the Restaurant La Mosquee at The Blue Mosque in Paris. Even more so because Bayroute shares one significant quality with that stunning Moroccan tea house – indifferent, uninformed service.

Server after server couldn’t be bothered to describe dishes to us, and when they attempted to, their accounts were rudimentary.

The feta and pine nut-stuffed falafel balls are perfect, crunchy on the outside and fluffy and flavourful on the inside. (Aalok Soni / HT Photo)

The feta and pine nut-stuffed falafel needs no explanation. Five lemon-sized balls are lined up alongside small saucers of harissa, tahina, and marinated olives. They’re crunchy on the outside, fluffy and flavourful on the inside, and perfect all over.

Bayroute serves pide, the boat-shaped, galette-like flatbreads also known as Turkish pizza. After our first bite of pide dijaj with chicken, fava beans and coriander seeds, we decided to save our carbs for koshari.

Bayroute serves pide, the galette-like flatbreads also known as Turkish pizza. The mix of chicken, fava beans and coriander seeds didn’t really work for us. (Aalok Soni / HT Photo)

This Egyptian national dish is a dry khichdi of rice, macaroni, noodles, masoor, chickpeas, and birista. It sounds odd, but is in fact deeply delicious and aromatic, with satisfyingly springy carbs and plenty of bite.

Shorba manti’s liquid component, a soup of intensely flavoured but light-bodied lamb broth, was delicious. Its solid component, lamb dumplings, were edible rubber.

Do not leave without trying the full-bodied harissa and toum with fluffy pita. (Aalok Soni / HT Photo)

Don’t leave Bayroute without having the yin-yang platter of full-bodied harissa and toum with fluffy pita. The Tunisian chilli paste’s grainy, complex warmth delightfully counters the velvety cloud-like Lebanese sauce’s allium intensity. Just don’t breathe on anyone after.

(HT reviews anonymously and pays for all meals)