Tonight we had a work do at the elegant Maroush Gardens on Edgeware Road. Their website promised “a taste of Lebanese Luxury in London” and that is what we got. When you enter the restaurant you are greeted with a fountain and I belive a fish pond and when you make it into the restaurant proper you can look up to admire the skylight roof. To be honest when we booked this restaurant we were looking for a more intimate dining experience to try and re-create our last experience as a group on Edgeware Road. But it just wasn’t the same. Sure the food was very good (I can recommend the hot mezza Soujok and for a main course the Shish Taouk was pretty tasty and generous) and the service impeccable (if a bit in your face) but it was hardly the type of restaurant where you’d spend the whole evening just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere. Unlike Mawal and our first choice Maroush I there didn’t appear to be any sort of entertainment (singing at Mawal and belly dancing at Maroush I) so as soon as we finished with dinner we headed off for a more suitable venue. I’m not sure where we actually ended up – downstairs at some bar behind Oxford Street. It wasn’t actually too bad a place because it wasn’t overly crowded, we had a nice area to sit (I know I wear my hiking shoes most of the time but I don’t know how others can stand to stand up (pardon the pun) the whole night drinking) and we didn’t have to shout to hear each other speak (pet peeve much?!).