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• wild thyme

removing 1* for service. was the earliest of 5 to arrive and was served water after 30 minutes, only when i asked for it. for a start, we ordered 2 mains (sabanek + macaron el foron), and tabooleh + falafel. the mains arrived 1 hour later! staff apologised - it was crowded and they were understaffed. we were each offered a drink on the house and when my friend commented the sabanek wasn't hot enough, dessert was offered. i'd much rather have had prompt service than remedial actions (cost of drinks/dessert could have hired a temp staff that evening). the mac+cheese was well received, as was the baklawa (which wasn't made inhouse); the rest my non-veg friends weren't particularly impressed with. i'm prob imagining but i seem to recall more pita with the starters previously (or was it cut into pieces rather than 1 pita for sharing?). we were told the loud thumping music keeps conversations at each table private. coupled with the chatter around us, we couldn't even hear ourselves sometimes. *** 3 of us shared 3 starters - fettosh salad (hkd85), baba ghanooj (hkd85), falafel (hkd70) - and 2 mains: fried rice (hkd110) and sabanek spinach (hkd160). the total, inclusive of 10% service charge, came up to hkd561. i was initially afraid that we hadn't ordered enough, but the waitress assured us that it should be sufficient and to order more later if necessary. the food was delicious, filling without being too heavy. particularly memorable were the the baba ghanooj, which creaminess was balanced by the refreshing peppers and pomegranate, and the falafel, which were crispy yet moist. presentation was also impressive. however, for the price, portions could have been much more generous, especially with the starters (which came with pitas, but perhaps one more pita for each dish? or just one more falafel?) and the fried rice (particularly when compared with the sabanek spinach). (from the menu descriptions, it seems that only 2 out of 6 mains are vegan, with the rest containing cheese/yoghurt) the restaurant was quiet at 7.30 pm, with only two other diners, save for rather loud music. probably because of the enclosed space, it became increasingly noisy through our stay there. it was the diwali week and large families were out celebrating. it's not a place i will frequent because of the hefty price tag, but i'd be happy to be back with friends if they're ever in the mood for high-end, high quality lebanese food.