Crown St, Surry Hills has a plethora of choice when it comes to restaurants. However, there is a newcomer you need to check out. Salt Vine Tapas Bar serves up  top Lebanese Tapas, and there is nothing else like it in the area.

Salt Vine Tapas is a lively restaurant with a modern feel, great for date night or a catch up with friends. A few tables outside, a booth and smaller tables indoors.

On the night we visited, it was completely full, so we recommend that you do book. It is a licensed venue, with a range of Australian and International menu items. We both enjoyed a glass of wine with our meal. They did also have a range of other options including Beirut Sangria made with red wine apricot liquor, arak, lemonade and fresh fruit. Salt Vine also serves up a Lebanese specialty called the Mexican Almaza – a Lebanese pilsner served in a salt rimmed glass with a nip of lemon juice. Both of these drinks are perfect for summer.

The menu offers traditional Lebanese food, organised into cold, salad, fried and comfort mezza. There are traditional options like hummus, fattoush, tabouli and kibbeh, but with a more modern take on these, presented like a work of art on your plate.

We began with the beetroot tahini, which came served beautifully with dill and pickled turnip, as well as a side of bread.

From the fried mezza, we had the cheese cigars and also the falafel, which you cannot go past ordering at a Lebanese restaurant.

One of the favourites off the menu has to be the zaatar fries, a big bowl topped with zaatar and a side of garlic yoghurt.

For mains, we tried the amazing lamb shoulder which was some extremely tender meat, again presented beautifully with a roast onion labneh. We thoroughly recommend ordering this. There’s plenty of other large dishes like scotch fillet, chicken, or an amazing looking spiced pilaf.

We were too full for dessert, but they do have a baklava ice cream or summer pudding too.

We enjoyed all the food here, service was lovely and the ambience was fitting. We certainly plan to revisit.

Salt Vine

535 Crown St, Surry Hills NSW 2010