The Lebanese Butcher

The Lebanese Butcher is a real person and a real place and it's the place I'm going to talk about. The place is a restaurant which is attached to a little market, which as you might expect from the name of the place has a butcher in the back. The Lebanese Butcher (the person) also owns The Lebanese Slaughterhouse and butcher shop in Warrenton, VA where one can purchase whole goats, lamb, baby cows (veal), and adult cows (beef). (What's with food euphemisms anyway?) The slaughtering and butchering are all performed to halal standards. See also this Wikipedia entry about the slaughtering process.

But getting back to the restaurant... It's a neighborhood place. Don't get gussied up to eat there because it's a bit diner-like in terms of atmosphere but without the shine and gleam of chrome and waxed pleather booths. It's a small place, probably seats 28 people max, with old beat-up tables and chairs and an open grill kitchen. The food is served on plastic plates but you get real utensils, not plastic. The service is haphazard mostly. But the food is excellent - the food is THE reason to go - and it doesn't hurt that the price is right. We've been there enough to know there are a few "go-to" items:
- Lubieh - on the appetizer menu, these are green beans cooked with tomatoes and garlic and generally served cold. This is one of my personal favorites of Lebanese cuisine and The Lebanese Butcher's version is just perfection in a bowl. I personally don't eat the whole garlic cloves (although I probably should since I have to endure the goodnight kiss from my dinner partner and mate) in the dish but savor the sweetness it lends to the beans.
- Hommus - the smooth version with lots of tahini
- Lamb Ouzi - the tenderest parts of roasted leg of lamb served over a nutty yellow rice with yogurt sauce on the side. For roughly $10 you can be warmed and comforted and sated, and still have enough left to take home. The dish comes with a variety of pickled items on the side, such as magenta-purple radishes which are super crunchy and have a nice bite. (A chicken version of this dish is also on the menu.)
- Lamb Feteh - same lamb as above, moist and tender, and falls apart when you put your fork to it. The difference is that the lamb is served over a layer of chopped and fried pita (and how can that be a bad thing?!), then coated generously with fresh cool yogurt and sprinkled with sumac and pine nuts. Mmmm, heaven (but no pickles). Again, somewhere in the $10-11 range, and plenty to take a bit home.
- Soujouk - a kind of lamb-based, spicy, tangy Lebanese sausage that comes in both a platter and sandwich form.

OK, it's lunchtime as I write this and I am making myself hungry! So last couple things to say are:

1) Where this place is located:
If you look it up online, it's either 109 or 113 E Annandale Rd (between Hillwood Rd and S Maple Ave) in Falls Church, VA

2) I really want to go see the slaughterhouse in Warrenton, VA. If I get around to it, I will write about it here. Watch this space.