About
With pavement tables under its stripy awnings, Nectar Bistro is one of several Middle Eastern café-restaurants in the thick of Chorlton. Family-run vibes and deft cooking help distinguish it from the rest of the field, though the spread of mezes, grilled meats and salads cleaves, comfortingly, to the Lebanese canon. Start with charcoal-grilled chicken wings marinated in lemon juice, garlic and spices and a warm, tomatoey green-bean salad; or muhammara, the pepper and walnut dip, with pitta. Main courses might be sabzi (lamb cooked with spinach, dill, tomatoes, beans and little dried limes), okra with tamarind and tomato, or makloubeh (rice with the traditional squashy topping of aubergine, lamb and pine nuts). Add a fresh chopped salad and a bottle of Lebanese wine (the list starts at under £15) and a relaxed, low-key dinner is complete. Halva and baklava allow for something sweet with coffee.