"La Vie Lebanese restaurant in Pompano Beach (281 S. Pompano Parkway, but the address is confusing because it is at the corner of a long strip plaza at the intersection of Powerline Rd. and N. Course Dr. . I have never been to Lebanon so I am not well versed in the middle-eastern culture except for Greek food. Therefore, I don’t know the authenticity of Lebanese food, but there were a couple of middle-eastern families with women wearing head scarves seated in the restaurant – when country-natives sponsor one of their restaurants, that is usually a sign that the establishment serves close to authentic down home cooking of that country. With my ignorance to Lebanese gastronomy, I’m sharing my humble experience based on what my party ate at La vie last Sunday night. In short, we loved most everything and were impressively delighted by the flavors that were elevated by a cumin spice dominance. The inside atmosphere did not project that of The Arabian Nights, but our server said that they do have an exotic veil dancer that performs on certain nights… Sunday night was not one of those nights. The vaulted ceiling of the restaurant looked more to me like an island hut, but the beautiful massive hanging lamps give it what I believe it to be a middle-eastern flair. Our party of 4 regulars do pick at each other’s meals all the time to experience as much as we could wherever we go. The service was outstanding. Upon being seated, our server introduced himself, took our drinks order, and a lady dropped a plate of complimentary seasoned chips and hummus. A few minutes later, we ordered the Mezza Veggie Supreme sample platter made of hummus, tabouleh, baba ghannouj, falafel, and grape leaves along with a basket full of hot air-puffed pita pockets (most delicious which was served about 10 min later with our drinks (perfect . Our entrees came about 10 minutes after we finished the Mezza plate (great timing . Entrees were: Lamb Meatball Tangine, Chicken Kabob, Lamb Tangine, and I ordered the Mixed Grill (a sampler of kabobs: filet minion, chicken, kefta, and mixed vegs. We all agreed that everything was excellent, flavorful, and plentiful except for the chicken which was dry (maybe it was just that night . Another annoying quirk (and a personal peeve of mine is that our Mezza platter had 3 grape leaves and 3 Baba Ghannouj and we were 4 people. This should be a policy of all restaurants for servers to explain that a sampler platter or other appetizers come with a minimum of 2 or countable items. The server should acknowledge the number of people in the party and suggests to add more to equal the party atvan additional cost. Lastly, one dinner plate was chipped (not that was the end of the world. We did not bring it to our server’s attention, but that should have been noticed by the chef or the server before sending the order out . C’est la Bonne Vie, but not quite La Vie En Rose. I give a 4 stars because it was surprisingly a great experience. Will I go back? Surely."
Chicken Tagine
