Drowning in a sea of orange suedette

I know we're dealing with differing cultural sensibilities but Rotana Lounge is quite grippingly ugly: black and shiny like a beetle.

We were corralled into the upstairs bar where we drowned in a sea of orange suedette (the press info says suede but I'm inclined to disbelieve it since it also told us the restaurant opened last month, not last September). To counterpoint the orange attack, we got anthracite faux-leather and a nice collection of exposed plug sockets.

Food is Lebanese. And Knightsbridge needs another Middle Eastern restaurant like I need a Big Mac. The waiter took great pains to tell us: a) how the cooking here was better than the famous chain down the street, and b) how, since we were clearly unfamiliar with Lebanese food (!), we should stick to the grills.

We ignored him and went for mezze, finding it either timidly spiced or over-assertive: the nut mix, mouhammara, lacked kick; mini makanek - little sausages - tasted pungently like old liver and cinnamon; pastry on spinach and pine nut-stuffed fatayer was leathery; the normally seductive Lebanese 'pizza' lahm bi ajine was smeared with an off-puttingly processed lamb paste. Standards such as hummus and falafel, however, were good.

Rotana buzzes up with live music evenings. During lunch, the only fun to be had was from Middle Eastern pop videos, which made our surroundings look almost tasteful.

Rotana Lounge
3 Beauchamp Place, Knightsbridge, SW3 1NG