We venture a short distance from the city, to the harbourside village of Balmain. We are here to visit a local favourite – Kazbah, for a modern Middle Eastern / Lebanese dining experience. This cafe restaurant is ever popular, particularly for group dining for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Kazbah is easily spotted from the street by a glimpse of colour, which is provided by the beautiful mosaic tiled feature wall, which is also decorated a number of table tops within the restaurant. The space is large and welcoming, with a long communal table running length ways through the centre of the venue.

As you enter we find the place abuzz with diners and you are sure to be welcomed by the friendly and personable staff who will show you to the table. We spot the Middle Eastern coffee implements, which also make for good decor as do some colourful ceramics. Ahead, we also spot the bar, an array of wines on display and a busy open kitchen.

Having spotted the coffee equipment, we were inspired to order an ‘Arabic’ or Turkish coffee. The brew is thick with a nice sweetness and is poured from a cool copper seving vessel, known as a dallah into a coffee mug with a Middle Eastern kaleidoscope design.

Visiting in a group, the entree / mezze menu is ideal to start. The fried cauliflower with eggplant jam, tahini and pinenuts at $18.50 is a tasty way to enjoy some vegetables.

The Skakshuka or Lamb meatballs and Kasseri cheese at $18, is another top pick crom this menu. There are also prawn saganaki, falafel, sambousek, pita and dips to name a few.

From the mains, the popular hummus plates are a must. We chose the Spicy lamb Hummus – a large bowl served full of deliciousness; with whole chickpeas, spicy morrocan lamb mice parsley, pickled chillies, grated haloumi cheese, boiled egg, pomegranate sauce and pinenuts for $21.50. This comes highly recommended.

The roast pumpkin salad was a good option to accompany this feast. A good mix of ingredients: roasted pumpkin, a quality smashed falafel, freekah and eggplant with rocket, quinoa, walnuts, coriander, grilled haloumi, roast tomato, avocado, boiled egg with tahini and dukkah for $22.5. It was fresh and zesty and we like that we got to try falafel with this.

Kazbah’s specialties include a range of tagines. The Chicken Chermoula Tagine with chicken, potatoes, green olives, apricots, carrot and citrus couscous for $34 was our pick of the meal. The chicken was extremely tender and well infused with pleasant flavours from time spent in the tagine.

If you’re interested in coming for breakfast, there’s also an amazing breakfast choices on the menu including tagines, egg based dishes and rice pudding and even a banquet feast at $49 pp.

Kazbah is a good option for any time of the day with great service, an enjoyable venue and some great food and drinks on offer.

We’d like to thank the staff for their hospitality and @foodshot for the invitation to dine.

Address

379 Darling St Balmain

Website

https://kazbah.com.au/balmain/

Hours

Wed – Sun & Public Holidays

8am – 3pm

Wednesday – Saturday

5:30pm – Late