Wandering through Glebe Tuesday night, we were spoiled for choice, we had walked up and down the street three times without being able to agree where to eat.
We came to Almustafa based on friends recommendation, he's a regular here and highly recommends it.
Kebabs date back to bygone days in the Middle East. The story goes that Persian soldiers wanted to save firewood so they wood cook meat on their swords instead of using wooden skewers. Since then it has spread across the globe and universally recognised.
Not digressing from the point further, the restaurant is not a kebab stand by any means, the restaurant has a private dining room, cushion lounge and Argileh facilities on balconies and courtyards.
Argileh Pipes
Mosaic Lamps adorn the ceiling
By the time we walked in it was 9:30pm and we were famished from all the walking up and down the street. We had decided to go for a full course dinner.
Our initial selection of Kibbeh Nayeh (raw minced meat often lamb or beef mixed with traditional spices) for entree was unfortunately unavailable, we've had this dish at other Middle Eastern restaurants and highly recommend it to everyone. Its like having a creamy meat pattie, but coated with spices which brings out the true flavour of meat.
We spoke to the waiter and also the owner of the restaurant who were very helpful and we went along with their recommendations.
Basket of bread complimentary, half fried half normal
Hoummos, Chickpeas simmered then blended with tahini, lemon juice and garlic, served with light dressing of olive oil $15
The entrees arrived relatively quickly which was great for us. Using the fried bread as dippers, the Hoummos tasted amazing! Hoummos is a dip that can be used as a complement to other dishes, so it served a dual purpose for us, to stop the stomach rumblings and a dip for our other dishes.
The Fatouche salad is clean crisp salad with fresh ingredients. It awakens your palate to the spices and smells of the Arabian cuisines and a teaser to what is coming.
Our two mains were very contrasting, the Sishbarak is a combination of ravioli and rice with yogurt. The ravioli is very soft and succulent and the yogurt sauce with rice is a perfect compliment to it, it has a unique taste and goes well with our other main, the yoghurt sauce is quite tangy so we preferred to take small serves of the sauce as to not overpower the aromatic rice and ravioli.
The Sishtawook was marinated chicken breast skewers coated with spices, the dish is served with a side of garlic. The chicken was cooked to perfection and very tender. The garlic sauce tasted like garlic, I know this sound weird but most restaurants tend to tone down the garlic as many find this too strong, I'm strongly in favour of the strong presence of garlic it adds a new dimension to the food and recommend trying it.
Mamoul, baked semolina biscuit filled with Date, Walnut or Pistachio $3.20
The Mamoul is the perfect way to finish the meal here, its light crisp and not too sweet. We chose the Date Mamoul and its one of our favorites.
View Larger Map
Website: www.almustafa.com
Phone: 02 9660 9006
The Mamoul is the perfect way to finish the meal here, its light crisp and not too sweet. We chose the Date Mamoul and its one of our favorites.
Ian the owner of the establishment was a gracious host and was at hand to provide recommendations on what to try, unfortunately the photo caught him mid blink, but I'm sure he won't mind.
Almustafa is one of many many restaurants in Glebe, but it does
stand out amongst its peers in the street, the food is well
cooked, the service is great, the interior makes you feel like your under an Arabian tent, this place is true to its roots.
When visiting try to go on a Friday or Saturday to catch the belly dancing shows and a lively atmosphere.
Happy Eating
S & S
View Larger Map
Website: www.almustafa.com
Phone: 02 9660 9006
Nice snaps! Shishtawook looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks mate, planning to get a better lens soon though, hopefully night shots will come out even better then !
ReplyDelete