Comptoir Libanais opens Kingston venue

This is the sixth new site opened by the company in the past eight months – evidence of the growing popularity of Lebanese food in the UK.

“Lebanese food is becoming a lot more popular in the UK and we believe the potential is huge for us, and needs to be explored further. If you think about it, 20 years ago Indian food wasn’t popular at all in the UK, and today it’s huge. Our concept is based on fresh ingredients, fast and authentic dishes. Our food is colourful, healthy and fresh with good value for money, so we will tick all the boxes that the consumer is looking for,” the firm’s managing director, Chaker Hanna, told BigHospitality.

The new restaurant presents the same menu as all the other locations, with a selection of hot and cold mezze (finger food), as well as tagines, homemade lemonade, marinated grilled meats and fish, wine, beer and a special recipe rose mint tea.

The interior aims to provide a warm, hospitable and casual ambiance to appeal to a broad range of ages, cultural backgrounds and nationalities.

Location, location, location​

Asked why the firm chose to open the new venue in Kingston, Hanna replied: “Since we opened we’ve had lots of very loyal customers requesting new venues within the UK, but we had a huge number from Kingston, Richmond and Wimbledon. When the opportunity arose we thought the location was perfect for us just on the bank of the river, with four other restaurants next to us. The competition is very healthy as we’re very different from everybody else there, and the location is fantastic. We’re very excited and so far the feedback we’ve had has been excellent.”

The group obtained a £375,000 loan from Natwest to open the new venue, and Hanna explained why banks are supporting the concept. “Nothing is ever easy but because the concept is proving to be very successful we have available funds from the bank today. We’ve been around for about five years and it’s proving to be very popular with huge demand, and a very sound business template, so based on that the banks believe in what we do and support it.”

And although nothing seems to stop the expansion of the group, the managing director said there is no fixed goal to open a certain amount of venue each year – it’s all about the location.

“We’re very choosy in terms of locations, and when the opportunity arises within an area that is of interest for us, we take it. The last eight months we opened six sites; we never really planned to open as many in such a short time but the opportunity arose. These opportunities don’t come every day, and possibly in the next six months we’ll only open two. But we’re a private company so we haven’t got the strain to open a certain amount every year,” Hanna said.