Lebanese Village in Caversham

An almost full eclipse so my wife and I jumped onto the 18 bus, caught a swift drink at The Moderation and then went onto Caversham Bridge with our special solar eclipse glasses, which had cost some exorbitant amount online, to view the spectacle.

There we met a friendly bunch of locals and visitors and shared our glasses amongst them. Some had come prepared with Blue Peter style pinhole contraptions and others were even less prepared and it turned out that this, not being a totally full eclipse, required the paraphernalia to appreciate the phenomenon fully.

Without the glasses you could see little. It is amazing how much light 8% of the sun throws out.

As the celestial bodies uncoupled and the crowd dispersed, we debated where to have dinner and I realised, to my horror, that I had never reviewed anywhere north of the river in this magazine. The neglect of Caversham is something that will be put right over coming months, but does show how unconnected this part of Reading seems to those of us living south of the river. Likewise, I remember the owner of one of the better restaurants on Caversham Bridge Road berating that she could not get the good people of Caversham to cross the bridge to her restaurant.

When I moved to London in the eighties I also lived 'south of the river', but once I moved north I rarely ventured to the other side of the Thames any more. Likewise, apart from Friday trips to Waitrosé to pick up their excellent sushi or to visit my lawyer, trips to Caversham are erroneously lacking in my life. Now that the summer is here, I think it is time to stretch my legs some more and, wonders of wonders, walk to the north bank of the Thames far more often. The Thames corridor between town and village is, after all, one of the most delightful parts of our conurbation.

So, we wandered north, up to Church St, passing the new Pathaan's Afghan and Pakistani Cuisine that has taken over from the Persian Palace and settled on Lebanese Village next door.

It is situated in a narrow room which goes on for some way. It was busy when we walked in and more and more groups came in all evening. Sitting beside us were some ex BBC Caversham employees, one of whom had worked for the Persian Service, which I took as a good indication that we had made the right choice.

The menu is, as you would expect, basically mezze and grilled meats with a few fish and specials. You can have set menus, but they are always too much, and, as it turned out, what we did order was good for the following day's lunch. The quantities are generous.

To start, we had the borek and felafel, followed by the mixed grill for two. The borek were what the Turks would call sigari - long and round, crispy and with mild goat's cheese and some dill inside. They came with an overly sharp and slightly thin yoghurty dip. This is amongst my wife's favourite dishes and she's not big on dips anyway, so declared them excellent.

However, the felafel were like none I have ever tasted before. Very crispy on the outside but stodgy in the middle and sprinkled with sesame seeds. My wife literally commented that they did not taste like any falafel she has ever had, and she is almost a pro at them - as regular readers will know, we are not long back from the spiritual home of these balls of goodness in Cairo. These were rightly made with broad beans not just chickpeas, with a lot of herbs and some spicing, but were a bit wet in the middle for my liking. They grew on my wife, but when we tried them again the following day we concluded that they were pretty horrible and not to be tasted again.

They were served with hummus which was good but a bit bland and I would have preferred a more tahini orientated dip by choice.

The main course came on a large sharing platter with a mixed salad with sumac dressing, some spicy rice and peas which was a little overcooked for my liking and some excellent grilled meats.

The lamb chops and kofta were particularly good, but I was increasingly thinking that there was something odd about this meal, and not necessarily in a bad way. It somehow tasted more like  a similar menu from Pakistan. I am used to vermicelli pilaf with Lebanese food, the served rice was more like something from the Punjab with turmeric and peas. The chilli sauce was good if a bit mild. The yoghurt sauce was gloopy like shop mayonnaise and I didn't like it. This was not a Lebanese restaurant like any I had been to before and I was beginning to wonder if there was a revolving door with the Afghan and Pakistani restaurant next door.

However, the buzzy crowd seemed to be enjoying their food tremendously and it was great to see a small indie restaurant in Reading so busy.

We shared a bottle of Domaine des Tourelles - a nice dry Lebanese rosé. The wine list is short and very good value for money. Indeed, the whole menu is very reasonably priced. Most starters are seven to eight quid. Main courses are largely under twenty pounds and a bottle of wine is around thirty pounds.

I'm not sure how this more rustic take on Lebanese food compares to Hala or Lebanese Flavours. Certainly the meat is a tad better here, but I prefer the mezze, rice and sauces from the other local Lebanese.

And none stand up to Yaprak in Woodley and its Turkish cuisine. The reality is that there is not much differentiation in the food from Bulgaria via Greece, Turkey and Lebanon to Afghanistan and Pakistan (with the exception of the rather more unique Persian cuisine). I suspect we would have seen a very similar menu two doors up at Pathaan's, even without any interconnecting doors. It is a shame that there are not more variations on the usual mezze, rice and grilled meats since there are more nuances to these cuisines and some strong regional traditions beyond the familiar, but they are clearly cooking for a regular local crowd who truly appreciate their food and hospitality. Just as Indian and Chinese restaurants and English pubs are expected to serve their 'greatest hits', so it is with Middle Eastern restaurants.

If Lebanese Village was a bit closer it may well be a regular haunt, and if you live in Caversham, or have cause (heaven forbid..) to cross Caversham Bridge, then it is well worth dropping in. For me, it will have to wait for the next eclipse because on future visits I have many more restaurants and cafes to explore now that I have finally ventured north of the river.