Balha's Pastry (Lebanese Sweets)

Address: 761-763 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
Tel: (03) 9383 3944
Website: www.balhaspastry.com.au

How do I describe Balha's? Find the bling-est marble stone building on Sydney Rd equipped with fancy columns and set on 2 levels, and you have arrived at your destination.

My favourite Baklava place - a long way drive to from NSW, but the serving sizes and balance of flavour is just perfect. The composition of sweet, nutty flavour encased in a sticky & flaky pastry is just superb. A must-do each time I drive through Melbourne and brilliant gift to share with those you love with a sweet tooth!

Ottoman Cuisine (Turkish)

Address: Cnr Broughton & Blackall St, Barton ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6273 6111

Opening Hours: Lunch - Tue-Fri Noon to 3pm; Dinner Tue-Sat 6pm-10pm

Website: http://www.ottomancuisine.com.au/Canberra/Canberra.html

This is one of my favourite top 3 restaurants in Canberra because it has a combination of: fantastic food, great pricing (I think), good service & the optimum ambience between a bustling vibe that is not loud enough so that you cannot hear what the person sitting opposite to you is saying.

Entrée:

Scallops with Lemon Mash & Mustard – scallops quickly seared with complimentary textures & flavours. I find that fluffy, potato-ey sides always work well with a well-cooked scallop dish. Lemon is always a safe option with seafood and this was no exception.

Pan-seared Ocean Trout & Almond Tarator with Mustard dressing. The fish looks quite rare, but it is in fact not slimy at all. The Almond tatator was similar to a denser version of hummus and the quantity was just right in this. A Culinary delight.

Mains:

Char-grilled deboned spitchcock marinated – texture is between duck & chicken thigh meat, tangy lemon hit with a dry-paste Mediterranean marinade.

Lamb cutlets – rubbed in a Mediterranean dry spice, flavoursome and juicy. Potato chips were more like mini toasts, drizzled in a tangy vinegar dressing. Served with Turkish rice – the oily sweetness was carefully fragmented by harshness of sea salt.

Dessert:

Green Apple sorbet with Midori Syrup, sprinkled with crushed pistachio – Smoothest & most refreshing sorbet I’ve ever consumed, apparently the midori raises the freezing temperature hence no iceflakes. The waiter suggested this was a good finisher to ‘cleanse’ the palette – and the man totally knew he was on about. I satisfied the sweet tooth without tipping over the edge (like most desserts will do).

Pictured here is the Semonlina & Orange Cake with orange syrup. It looked like a soggy friand to me but I was assured it was quite delightful. Wwe had a bit of a mishap with the desserts, they initially delivered the poached pear (pictured delightfully below) instead of the orange cake, but very quickly recfitied this (in effect bringing 2 orange cakes, one of which we had to send back to say we already had an orange cake). The service and problem management was swift & professional, with the waiters apologising profusely about the mix up (no skin off our back, we almost got a free dessert).


The only thing that could have made this evening better was a piece of Turkish Delight (there was a mountain at the paying counter as I entered the restaurant, but you've obviously got to get out early if you don't want to be stuck with the last stale looking piece - which I didn't pick up & eat mind you)...

Lomono Charcoal Chicken & Lebanese Restaurant

Address: 106 Burnett St, Merrylands NSW
Tel: (02) 9891 1177
Website: www.lamono.com.au

This restaurant offers your usual charcoal chicken served Lebanese style with garlic sauce, pickles and Lebanese bread as well as other cheap & easy dishes.

For entrée I decided to try the deep fried cauliflower. I wondered if they battered it or something beforehand, but nope, when it came out you recognise the slight shrivelled cauliflower which was probably blanched in oil. The ends come out a little charred but the flavour is strangely sweet & addictive. Served with tahini (sesame paste).

On this occasion I was craving kofta (a lamb mince with herbs & chilli cooked on a skewer) and ordered the kofta roll (kofta, garlic sauce, salad rolled in lebanese bread & lightly toasted). The kofta disappointed me because it lacked the chilli spice (and flakes)!

Nice, friendly staff and the trendiest corner you will find in the heart of Merrylands, Sydney’s west.

Arabic Coca Cola out of a glass bottle also tastes better…

Turkish Pide House (Canberra)

Address: 16 Moore St, Canberra City ACT
Tel: (02) 6249 8700

Website (which is currently suspended because they need to pay their bills): www.turkishpidehouse.com.au


For $30pp (mid-tier banquet) this was an awesome feed:

Entree: 5 dips with toasty turkish bread (tip is not to fill up on the dips):

1. Pancar : Ezmesi Beetroot mixed with garlic, mint and yoghurt (Beetroot dip) - one of the sweeter dips, refreshing, almost tangy - consumption in excess would aid bowel movement I would imagine.

2. Patlican Ezmesi: Eggplant mixed with garlic, mint, yoghurt and salt (Eggplant dip: savoury, probably one of my favourites, can keep eating it forever without feeling sick.

3. Havuc: Carrot mixed with garlic, mint and yoghurt (Carrot dip): My 2nd fave - another savoury one, shredded carrot gives it a nice hearty texture

4. Cacik: Cucumber mixed with garlic, mint and yoghurt (Cucumber dip) -minty cool, almost had a sesame taste in it - definitely one of the best cucumber dips I've had.

5. Humus: Crushed chick peas, tahini, lemon juice and olive oil seasoned with herbs

Below: Kabak Mucveri (Fried zucchini balls) - Grated zucchini, mixed with fresh herbs and deep fried, served with yoghurt sauce. Soft & fluffy inside, crispy outer shell - reminiscent of a doughy chiko roll.

Mains:

Pictured below - Left: Sebzeli (vegetarian pide) - crispy bread texture, fresh ingredients (tomato, onion, capsicum, parsley, cheese). Right: Tavuklu (chicken pide) - roasted chicken pieces with parsley and cheese. I really do apologize for this blurry photo - they really could have done better with the serving size of this pide. This was for 5 people - and the other guests were literally snatching at this pide plate hence my rushed photo. Didn't try to chicken one because it was gone about 3 seconds after this scratchy photo was taken.


Yesil Salatasi: Lettuce, tomato, onions, cucumber, fetta cheese and olives - this is essentially a simple garden salad with balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of finely shredded fetta cheese. Never used to be a fan of fetta especially in its cube form, but this was awesome!

Above: Sis Tavuk (chicken shish kebab sticks) - Chicken pieces seasoned with herbs, grilled on skewer. The "marinate" was this paprika-ish powder and very flavoursome.


Above: I can't find this on the menu, but I suspect it is beef/lamb shaved kebab meat in a bbq saucy/yoghurt dish. Sauce is very unique and tasty, reminds me of bbq sauce mixed with ketchup and tobasco. Meat is thinly sliced and very tender.

Tastes great with the most underrated rice (pictured below). Can't figure what the grains are but they give the rice more moisture, as well as a fragrant semi-sweet flavour.


Below: Kofte - Small (lamb) meat balls, marinated in herbs and grilled. I love this stuff, they chop up the meat and keep knifeing it so its nice and tender. Throughout the meat you can taste the herbs and most importantly chilli flakes (even though this dish is nowhere near hot).


I bet you're sick of scrolling down but as you can see for $30pp, its definitely a worthwhile feed and the food is quite a substantial standard (although I wish it was a bit more oily). Service was great and they cater for as little as 2 people and our table of about 20 people.

El Jannah (Lebanese) Restaurant

Address: 4-6 South St GRANVILLE NSW 2142
Phone: (02) 9637 0977

This Lebanese charcoal chicken shop is a Sydney instution. People travel far and wide to eat at El Jannah (and squeezed into a narrow corridor when they burnt down and ran an ad hoc shop next door) and their quality of garlic sauce is highly regarded. People who enjoy “Habib’s” chicken usually discover and then upgrade to El Jannah.

It is a really cheap feed – grab a whole chicken, chips maybe a tabouleh and it only works out to $10 per person. Lebanese bread is served to you warm and complimentary with garlic sauce and these multicoloured pickles which the daring will put in their kebab-concoctions for an extra salty hit.

Chicken is charred to a crispy perfection, meat juicy and tender underneath.

Dip your chips in the garlic sauce, spread the sauce on your bread or smother it on your chicken – everyone eats El Jannah differently and remember to bring 2 packets of gum and don’t see your significant other for at least 2 days afterwards.

The Sultan's Table (Turkish Restaurant)

Address: 179 Enmore Rd (Cnr Enmore Rd & London St) Enmore NSW
Tel: (02) 9557 0229
Trading hours: Open 7 days - 10am till late

Just looking at the menu for this place induces me to fantasize about the wordly flavours at The Sultan's Table. This restaurant is both eat-in and takeaway. Like most other reviews it has been given, I am going to add to the compliments everyone else has given it - and agree with the fact that it does live up to every expectation.

If you choose to eat-in, you will notice the interior and furnishings are thoughtfully decorated with what appears to be traditional Turkish or Persian-esque Art.



I ordered the Mixed Grill (to share between 2 people, pictured above) with the addition of a serving of hommous dip. The mixed grill consists of a combination of Adana (hand chopped lamb meat seasoned with red peppers, herbs & spices grilled over charcoal on a flat skewer), Shish lamb (marinated cubes of suckling lamb, skewered and grilled over charcoal) and shish chicken (marinated cubes of chicken fillet, grilled over charcoal) with turkish bread pieces (I am told they bake it fresh on premises), tomato, red onion and salad. I have never been a fan of lamb, but the herbs they use complement the meat perfectly to mask that sometimes overwhelming taste of lamb.

Below: Top to bottom - marinated chicken, beef cubes, marinated lamb skewered meat


I started regretting having ordered the hommous (they spell it humus) dip - as it is usually a very plain flavour - why couldn't I have ordered something more interesting on my trip here?!?!?! They had Babaganush, Parsley, Chilli, Carrot, Beetroot, Spinach, Jajik, Green Bean & Eggplant dips... but I chose humus!


BUT - this was no ordinary humus (pictured above)! There was what seemed to be a hint of lemon juice which gave it that extra tang, and possibly something else - but it had me hooked!!! This is arguably the best humus dip ever! Every spread was a new facet - sometimes it would be more tangy, sometimes more garlicy, sometimes just plain chickpea flavoured - but it was a taste of a thousand sensations! I was close to licking the plate clean!

There are also a wide range of pides available, all huge and very fresh. There are also a number of small entree dishes - I tried the zucchini fritter (zucchini, carrot, parsley, onion, cheese, herbs & spices) which were a tad on the floury side for my tastes, but nevertheless tasty (eat it before a meal, not after because it loses its appeal). Also tried the Stuffed Capsicum - a capsicum hollowed out and stuffed with spiced & herbed steam-cooked rice - really yummy, reminiscent of the Peri-Peri rice they sell at Nandos (but not as spicy) and really absorbs the flavour of the capsicum shell.

My co-eater liked this place so much, he went back the day after for round 2! I know I may be hyping this place up a bit too much, but the good thing about it is that they have such a large menu, it would take a long time for you to get bored - and furthermore, it is a great place to take someone (or yourself) for an introduction to mediterreanean cuisine (its clean, authentic but suited to Western tastes).

Emad's Restaurant (Lebanese Cuisine)

Address: 298 Cleveland St, Surry Hills

We escaped to Surry Hills for a work colleague farewell - and for about $30 per head, this wasn't such a bad feast.

The lighting in quite dim, and seating is mainly cushions and throwovers with traditional textiles. It is not flashy looking or buzzing with people - probably a regular eat-out for locals moreso than passer-byers.

To make life simple, we ordered the set menu - a sampler of all the Lebanese greats!

First up we were greeted with baskets of Lebanese bread, plates of hommous dip and bowls of tabouli. I spread the hommus on the bread and top with tabouli and the eat to get optimum flavour.

Pictured below: an assortment of pastries and falafel. There was a spinach pie, lady fingers (pastry containing minced meat), falafel (chick pea patty, fried to form crunchy dark brown coat), a minced lamb-falafel (the oval shaped looking falafel - forgot the official name). The chickpea falafel was particularly good!

Below: Vineleaves and cabbage rolls - a little on the exotic side. The vineleaves were definitely really sour - beware as the taste is a very strong hit! Cabbage rolls are the light coloured ones - and both rolls were filled with a rice.

Below: Chicken and lamb shish kebabs - aromatic char-grill flavour, but the meat was slightly on the dry side. It was quite unusual for them to use chicken breast meat - usually shish is made with more tender fillets such as thigh.

Jasmin (Lebanese Restaurant)

Address: 30b Haldon Street LAKEMBA NSW 2195
Tel: (02) 9740 3589

Situated on the main shopping strip of Lakemba, once you enter Jasmins you are greeted by a friendly face who guides you to a dingy table and ratty chair. This place is by no means flash, but you look around and it really is a different sort of cultural experience.

For those who are new to Lebanese food, getting the mixed plate is a good starter option. It contains falafels and some other meat varieties which I don't know the Arabic name of - bread and pickles are also provided on the side. The mixed plate usually feeds two people to share. Very cheap eat - $13!

Another personal fan favourite of mine is the chilli chicken (don't remember Arabic name). It is lightly marinated, but chilli flavour intense. I have a feeling that you can also order the same chilli sauce that it's marinated - on the side - so if you're experimenting with chilli, order the mixed plate and ask for chilli sauce on the side.

A unique drink to Jasmins is the Lemon Juice. They are freshly squeezed (I assume) and sold in containers with yellow lids for a couple of dollars. I've also been told the Tamarind (the other drink they sell there) drink is quite nice too.

Sahara (Turkish)

Habib's Charcoal Chicken

Address: 24 Restwell St BANKSTOWN NSW 2200

Phone: (02) 9708 2219
Fax: (02) 9708 3223


Opening hours: Mon-Sat: 10am -12am Sun: 10am - 10pm

OK - try to take the name of this restaurant seriously for a minute. It is a casual dining, semi-fast food charcoal chicken shop - with a twist. The twist is that the Lebanese like to eat their chicken with flat pieces of Lebanese bread, pickles and the famous HABIB's garlic sauce.

For reference purposes I have photographed my takeaway meal - clockwise from left: habibs charcoal chicken, pepsi, lebanese bread, tabouli, french fries and in the centre - 2 puny containers of garlic sauce. If you eat it instore you will get pickles - purple ones and gherkins which are on the salty side.

How to eat Lebanese Chicken (my bro's Leb friend taught him like this):

Step 1: Peel slice of Lebansese bread in half, and then half again. Use this piece of bread to pull the meat off chicken.

Step 2: Roll up your chicken-wrapped-in-bread and dip in garlic sauce.

You might/might not see people doing this already if you eat-in. Alternatively, you could be a snob and use knife and fork and eat all your bits separately - but try all combinations as you will find it saves effort using your hands. Try putting fries in your "roll", tabouli, hommus (separate order) and dipping your fries in garlic sauce.

Garlic sauce has quite a pungent smell, is milky in colour - but the flavour is quite complementary to the harshness of the charcoal chicken. The only warning I have for you is that should you wish to take a serving home, don't eat it the next day because the garlic sauce will taste completely different (it needs to be fresh).

The other heads up I'll also give you is, garlic sauce is great if you fight vampires for a living, but if you wanted to be in the presence of another human being, also better to carry with you at least 2 packets of gum to chew because you will have a lingering garlic sauce aftertaste in your mouth for the next 24 hours.