Arabic — By admin on February 6, 2009 at 1:00 am

Lebanese Restaurants in Madrid: Las Mil y Una Noches

If you’re looking for a Lebanese cultural experience that doesn’t involve the exertion of traveling, then this place will appeal to you. With brilliantly colored, byzantine murals and Arabic arches adorning every room, Las Mil y Una Noches (A Thousand and One Nights) is decisively arranged to make you think you’re on a mini vacation. You can smoke Shisha (a water pipe with tobacco and honey) or sip hot tea at any hour while sinking into one of the numerous plush sofas. Or – if it’s a weekend venture – you can nurse a bottle of Lebanese wine or beer (Almaza) as you marvel at the careful art of the belly dancers.

Beware of the seemingly “gratis” basket of pita bread, which they will plop down on your table at some point. They’ll end up charging you per person for this small gesture. To add injury to insult, the food is starkly over-priced and depending on your taste buds may not be worth it. We’re talking about hors d’oeuvres for 7 euro and 10 and 13 euros for main dishes like Tayin, a small earthenware bowl of meat with prunes; or Chap, two (that’s right, just two) tepid croquettes filled with rice, potatoes, meat and pine nuts, all accompanied by a meager iceberg lettuce salad. Dessert will add an additional 8 euros and if you order the Baklawa (the Lebanese version of Baklava) you might end up with a microscopic portion.

In short, everybody has different palettes, but you may leave this restaurant thinking you’d have been better off saving up your ducats and catching a flight to Beirut to experience Lebanon cuisine.

Las Mil y Una Noches
C/ Martín De Los Heros, 28
Telephone: 915 595 785
Metro: Ventura Rodríguez or Plaza de España

By Michelle Campagna

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