2022 best Lebanese food in the San Fernando Valley

Editor’s note: Restaurant critic Merrill Shindler returns with his annual recap of the area’s best eats. He’s already highlighted the best local restaurant for Italian food, and French-American cuisine. Now, it’s Lebanese food. Yet to be served are the best brunch and seafood. Look for all of his reviews and stories here: www.dailynews.com/author/merrill-shindler

Best Lebanese food

Carnival

4356 Woodman Ave., Sherman Oaks; 818-784-3469, www.carnivalrest.com

At Carnival, as at most Middle Eastern eateries, ordering chow for the table is both easy – and really the way to go. The notion of sitting there, hunched over your kebabs, while the rest of the table passes around baba ganoush and grape leaves, is pretty much ludicrous.

You probably can’t go wrong with the menu here – an extensive collection of the greatest hits of Lebanese cooking, with many of the dishes collected into convenient combination plates. There’s an appetizer combo of hummus, baba ganoush, tabouli and falafel, served, of course, with lots of warm pita bread.

I love the grilled veggie platter (there’s a fried veggie platter as well) – the vegetables flavored with olive oil and herbs, beautifully grilled. It’s a reminder that this really is one of the healthiest cuisines in the world.

I adore the fattoush salad, simply because I’ve always liked fattoush – a kitchen sink salad built around the crunch of toasted pita chips. Nothing but love there. One can dig into the sandwiches, of which there are nine – including a fantastic beef and lamb pita burger, easily one of the best burgers in town, flavored richly with parsley and onions. Does that even properly count as a burger?

(The Carnival Burger is topped with coleslaw, and served on a sesame bun. It’s a classic burger, though a bit of an outlier on the menu.)

But really, what’s needed is the Carnival Combination of chicken, lamb and ground kafta, charbroiled and served with rice or fries, more pita bread and wonderful pickled veggies. Most can barely make a dent in the food, though the dent can be pretty deep, leaving just enough for them to take home for tomorrow.

Not taken home were the desserts – a sublime baklava, flavored with homemade rosewater syrup. And not just homemade, but “Mamma’s Homemade”!

There’s also a pudding called ashtalia, a cream of wheat dessert called namoura, and a baked cheese dessert called knafeh. The coffee – “Arabic coffee,” says the menu – is thick and strong and coats the tongue. Carnival stands tall. It sets an impressive standard for every other Middle Eastern in the Valley.

Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email [email protected].