ABINGDON has taken me on quite the culinary world tour of late.

First an authentic Italian at Limoncello and now a Lebanese feast at Mezzeh House.

Food review: Breakfast means breakfast

After a day out getting rained on in Oxford my friend and I were in need of a pick-me-up and inspired by rave reviews on Trip Advisor I suggested the Abingdon restaurant, which is based in a bright red building in the Square.

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Despite passing plenty of busy restaurants on the way up High Street, things did not get off to a promising start when we entered and it was practically deserted.

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There was a distinct lack of atmosphere and apart from one other table, who soon left, the place was empty throughout our meal.

Luckily, the food and service far exceeded their surroundings and I remain baffled why the place wasn’t filled with customers.

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We were quickly met by a friendly waitress who, clearly recognising we didn’t know our tabouleh from our shawarma, recommended the set menu with three courses for £20 each.

This proved a wise choice as for the next hour, a bit like magic, dishes of delicious Lebanese food periodically appeared and we completely forgot we had the restaurant to ourselves.

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Being called Mezzeh House it was no surprise to find the starters were the star of the show and we were presented with a mix of hot and cold dishes, including a homemade houmous and moreish baba ganoush plus flat bread.

Falafel, rice-stuffed vine leaves and little lamb kebabs were all full of flavour but the stand out was, somewhat surprisingly, fried cauliflower.

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I have always viewed cauliflower as broccoli without the personality but the florets packed a punch thanks to a mouth-wateringly good marinade of lemon, mint and tahini sauce.

After the dizzy heights of the starters, the main was a much simpler offering of mixed grill with salad and rice.

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Again the marinade was delicious though and the lamb and chicken were perfectly cooked. It wasn't a big serving but this suited us fine as the starters were too tempting not to finish.

Things came to a sweet end with a dessert of four little pieces of baklawa.

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Already one of my favourite foods, the tiny squares of pastry layered with syrup and nuts were the ideal way to finish the meal.

The set menu was a great way to get an introduction to Lebanese cuisine but I am already looking forward to exploring more of the menu on my next visit.