In Northern Turtle Island (Canada), Vancouver offers a unique food scene, offering a variety of cuisines from diverse cultures. A repeat restaurant for me is Nuba, a staple for delicious Lebanese cuisine since 2003.
This week I visited their Off Main location in Mount Pleasant and had a lovely meal with my family. The small tables lit by candles and pastel colours throughout the space made for a cozy, joyful atmosphere. The space also honours Lebanese culture. According to their website, it was inspired by cafés of the 1970s, and includes “lots of geometric patterns,” a significant component of Islamic art that is nonfigural and tied to mathematics and astronomy.
My favourite part of the Nuba dining experience is that they encourage sharing, which allows for one to try multiple traditional dishes and flavours.
Mezze is a way of dining common in West Asia, encouraging connection.
We ended up ordering their mjadra (green lentils and brown rice slowly simmered with jalapeño, and finished with caramelized onions), which was rich and hearty. I also tried their halloumi (a cheese that is chewy and has a mildly tangy flavour), which was incredibly flavourful and is decidedly one of my new go-tos. It is pan-seared and topped with a sweet pomegranate molasses. On top, there is a crunchy layer, whose identity I admittedly couldn’t figure out. Our server later shared that it’s a blend of nuts and seeds, known as dukkah.
We also ordered the Najib’s special (fried cauliflower drizzled with lemon juice), garden falafel, and chicken shish tawook, which is one of my favourites because of the rich, fragrant paprika sauce it’s coated in.
Garlic labneh (strained yogurt), hummus, baba ghanouj, and muhammara (a dip made by blending roasted red peppers, along with pomegranate molasses, walnuts, and chilis) make up their dips.
The accompaniments served alongside dishes allow them to come together and be balanced in flavour. They include pickled cabbage, which is sour, crunchy, and adds a bright pink colour to the plate, toum (garlic sauce), hot sauce, and tahini (sesame seed paste).
Each dish has a delicious combination of seasonings. Za’atar seasoning (thyme, sesame seeds, cumin, coriander, and sumac) is in many of their dishes. Za’atar has historical and contemporary cultural significance as it is intertwined with land sovereignty, but it also has practical applications, both in its health benefits and its wide accessibility in West Asia. It is central to the regional cuisine as a whole, but in contemporary times is linked to Palestinian resistance, due to its banning by Israel. Sumac is a bright red stone fruit that is sun-dried then ground, and is tart and slightly floral.
Nuba also offers a variety of cocktails — I love their pear and bay leaf spritz — as well as non-alcoholic drinks. My favourite of their selection is limonana, a combination of lemon, muddled mint leaves, and rose water, mixed with soda water and sweetened with agave. It’s citrusy, sweet, floral, and refreshing.
Whether you stop in for lunch or have a big dinner with loved ones, you’ll be guaranteed a wonderful atmosphere, great service, and incredible food. While prices of individual dishes range from $10–$25, most of which are in the higher price range. There are also shareable platters (ranging from $16–$32 per person) and mains (around $26, upwards to $46).
