All right, most of you will have experienced the mysterious phenomenon where if you just so happen to think about something, such as a brand new pair of shoes or car parts, it will magically appear on your socials. I have learned to use this special Facebook power to my advantage. Instead of spending hours looking for new eateries to tell you about, Facebook does my homework for me, providing me with a constant array of food venue choices on a regular basis. As such, this particular venue popped up on my Facebook feed a couple of weeks ago and, as a result of that, we popped into Little Middle East Bakery – Restaurant – Café.
Meet our host Muhammad. Muhammad is the second generation owner to run this middle-eastern restaurant and he still does everything in the traditional way his parents’ taught him. (Don’t tell anyone but, he was even kind enough to share a couple of his kitchen secrets with yours truly). He helped us navigate the menu, suggested the best dishes for us and even let us know that we were over-ordering. In fact, Mohammad was bloody awesome. Here’s what we ended up with:
Sambousek $18.00 – 4 pastries filled with minced lamb, onion, and pine nuts and 4 pastries filled with halloumi cheese.
Kebbeh $18.00 – 6 Pieces of burgle & minced lamb shell, filled with onion lamb & pine nuts.
Mixed Grill $30.00 – 1 Cutlet, 1 Chicken shish, 1 lamb shish, 1 shish kafta, two dips, toum, salad & rice.
We have spoken about restaurants before that lend themselves to the social sharing of food and this place is another of those. Muhammad brought out an extra plate so that we could try a little bit of everything. By the way, I don’t suppose there are any volunteers for the next visit? We didn’t manage to try everything on the menu so …..!
How was the food? Just fabulous. Both of the entrée’s presented really subtle flavours but what really made them sing was the sauces on offer. We tried all four and they all matched really well.
With regards to the Mixed Grill, the combination of char and seasoning was exquisite. Add to that the zingy salad and mixed dipping sauces, and this meal was next level for me. So, when you consider the price for the evening (being $80.00 for the pair of us including drinks), this middle-eastern feast was not only a wonderful experience but also, in my book, very affordable.
I would like to explain a couple of the photographs for you. First of all let’s talk about the drink – you’ve got a frosted glass, dipped in salt with an iced pomegranate malt drink 0% alcohol. I enjoyed that so much, I actually took a bottle of that home with me. It would never have occurred to me to serve the drink that way but that’s the benefit of going to places like this, when your food experience also becomes educational.
Secondly, the pastry treat. Muhammad had explained to us that we had actually picked a quiet night at the restaurant due to the fact that it was the last day of Ramadan, which is a holy month of fasting, introspection and prayer. The end of Ramadan is marked with a major celebration known as Eid al-Fitr, the Feast of Fast-Breaking which starts the day after Ramadan ends and lasts for three days.
This feast includes special prayers and meals with friends and relatives and gifts are often exchanged and that is where the pastry treats come in. Members of Muhammad’s family had spent hours lovingly making and wrapping these pastries and we were very privileged to be gifted them to try.
These biscuits were so good that we bought a couple of those too, so that we could have them later with a cuppa – and we just happen to be having them now, whilst writing this article.
Speaking of coffee – at the end of the meal we were treated to a traditional middle-eastern style coffee. Seeing as how Sharon is not a coffee drinker, I was, once again, forced to take a hit for the team.
This coffee is served black and will definitely put hairs on your chest. There was sugar there so I tried it both with and without sugar and, to be honest, I could have had it either way.
This restaurant is largely supported by the middle-eastern community in that area, and, speaking of community, Sharon and I have never felt more welcome than we did on this occasion. I felt quite privileged that Muhammad had taken the time to share his culture with us and make sure that we had an awesome experience.
He has also invited us back to try the breakfast menu which he is very proud of and which is the biggest seller on his menu, so, stay tuned – we will be heading back out that way soon.
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