Restaurant review:
Ethnic restaurant ecstasy: Byblos
Byblos is a Lebanese restaurant that has tantalizing food, wonderful music and attentive service. Byblos is named after a city in Lebanon. The restaurant transports you out of your busy life and drops you in Lebanon. The atmosphere is colorful, fun and cozy. Lebanese music, including the latest pop songs, plays in the background.
The servers at Byblos are extraordinarily friendly and always make sure you are happy with your meal. They can describe the food and provide the correct pronunciations to guide you through the maze of Middle Eastern cuisine.
Some of my family's favorite meals include the falafel ($8.50), a fried ball or patty made from spiced chickpeas and fava beans; kibbie ($12.25), which is beef mixed with cracked wheat and spices and has onions and pine nuts in it; a grilled chicken or shrimp kabob ($14.75); and chicken shawarma ($8.50), specially marinated chicken.
The food at Byblos is magnificent. The Mezza Platter ($32), an appetizer that can serve as dinner for four hungry people, is a sampling of many of the foods on the menu. This gives you a chance to sample each dish before you make a decision on your meal. The Villager's Treat ($16.25) is a dinner option that is like a personal mezza platter, which includes hummus (a dip made with garbanzo beans, tahini, garlic and lemon juice), baba ghanouj (an eggplant dip), tabbouleh (a salad made from chopped parsley, tomatoes, onions and herbs), grape leaves, chicken shawarma, falafel, spinach pies and kibbie.
Byblos serves lunch and dinner. All dinners are served with pita bread and a soup or salad. The soups include French Onion for $4.25 au gratin, a delicious Chicken Soup with vegetables and rice in it, and a soup du jour. The Chicken Soup and the soup du jour are priced at $2.25 per cup and $2.75 per bowl.
The lunch menu is similar to the dinner menu, although it includes Middle Eastern and American sandwiches, which are priced from $3.25 to $5.25.
Many drinks are available at Byblos, such as coffee, iced tea, hot tea, various soft drinks and Turkish coffee, a very strong coffee, for $1.50. There also are banana and strawberry smoothies for $3.50.
For dessert, there are four types of homemade baklava ranging from $1.25 to $1.50, or you can get an assortment for $5. There also is homemade rice pudding flavored with orange blossoms and rose water, which can be garnished with crushed pistachios or cinnamon. If you lean toward American desserts, there is a fudge brownie sundae for $4.25, which I have heard is excellent. The food at Byblos is extraordinary and amazing.
Byblos is a somewhat quiet restaurant and ideal for conversations. It is kid friendly, and if you are with someone who does not like the authentic Lebanese food, there also are chicken fingers, grilled cheese on pita bread, or a cheeseburger.
This restaurant is a family favorite, and we go there often. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who is interested in trying new cuisine.
Emily DeRoo is a freshman at Williamsville North.
BYBLOS
270 Campbell Blvd., Getzville
Four stars (Out of four)
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