Overall rating:
Food:
Value:
Service:
Ambience:
★★★☆☆
★★★✬☆
★★★✬☆
★★★☆☆
★★✬☆☆
L'Instant Libanais - ★★★☆☆
L'Instant Libanais is a small, family-run Lebanese restaurant specialising in classic Lebanese sandwiches and mixed plates. Having visited this restaurant three times already, I can state that it's an highly enjoyable, very affordable, extremely welcoming place for a tasty lunch. That, however, is about the limit of this enjoyable if small-scale eatery.
Food:
L'Instant Libanais produces classic Lebanese cuisine, which means a range of great sandwiches, tasty fried bites like falafal and kibbeh, and classic mezzes like hummus and mtabbal. The main thing I have not tried are their assiettes, or 'plates', which are the typical grouping of hot and cold mezzes with meat and bread.
When it comes to the sandwiches, 'Le Makanek', made with nicely spiced lamb sausages, was thoroughly enjoyable and well balanced. Dripping with sauce and lovely lemon-y taste, it was simple but delicious. The classic chicken shawarma sandwich was also tasty and well balanced, but perhaps overloaded with sauce. Their standouts are probably the fried goodies, with seriously excellent kibbeh, falafel and sambousek. The kibbeh in particular, a mix of pounded bulgur wheat and mince, was fresh, firm and extremely well balanced.
Value:
At €9.50 for their 'Le Big Instant' menu, which includes a sandwich and drink, either fries or 2 fried goodies, and one side or a salad, L'Instant comes in at strongly affordable. For a very reasonable price you receive an extremely filling meal, with the sandwiches only costing €5 when bought separately. Generally speaking, this is standard for good quality lebanese places of this style in Paris, but considering the quality and amount of food one gets, and the fact that Paris is not a cheap city, this restaurant is good value for money.
Service:
Service at L'Instant Libanais is cheerful and warm, but mostly to be expected for what is essentially a kebab shop (with no disrespect meant). The owners take your order at the counter, are helpful if you want a recommendation and treat you kindly, regardless of your level of french! There is, obviously, no table service, but your meal is brought to your table if you eat in.
Ambience:
Similarly to what is suggested above, as a small operation focusing on affordable food with likely a strong line in take-away, the ambience at L'Instant is not its strongest feature. However, I have always eaten in and enjoy sitting outside where they have a few tables under an awning. Generally, the restaurant is too small and the seating to minimal for this restaurant to score higher, but there is certainly nothing wrong with its amenities if one wants to eat 'sur place'.
