Bekya, Gateway Sydney, Circular Quay (20 Sept 2016)

Ground Floor, Alfred Street, Gateway Sydney
Circular Quay NSW 2000
http://bekya.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/bekyagateway/
https://www.instagram.com/bekya_gateway/

Build your own Middle Eastern

“BEKYA Middle Eastern kitchen uses family recipes that reflects the endless hours of preparation that comes from the heart. Using only local fresh ingredients to make flavoursome food, Our food techniques include pickling, slow cooking meats, home-made Egyptian flat breads and a variety of spice mixes.”

I was curious to see what Bekya was serving up. At first I thought it might have been something Greek but soon learnt it was middle eastern cuisine. Interesting to see a middle eastern menu being served by an all Asian crew. Makes me question the validity of the 'family recipes' used in their bio a bit but happy to be educated on who the owners are and they're experience with middle eastern food. The menu options are fairly simple, wraps or boxes. I chose the 'box' option i.e. protein, salad, rice and dip. Egyptian Falafel, Arnabeet and haloumi ($12.90) with fattoush salad, rice with lentils and babaghanouj. Two falafel that I believe were cooked to order although I don't think were made to order so I found it a little denser than preferred but still had a good crunch on the outside. Flavour was OK but have had better falafel in Sydney. Haloumi was quite nice and soft. Arnabeet I learnt is the cauliflower which was nicely flavoured and roasted. Fattoush salad was missing the signature bread component that distinguishes a fattoush salad from basically a garden salad. The babaghanouj pretty good with a smoky flavour. The rice with lentils OK but found it a bit dense and dry. Service was friendly and fairly efficient. Wasn't keen on the cutlery which is that light wooden stuff that feels funny in your mouth — much prefer the smoother biodegradable plastic cutlery.

Kazbah On Darling, Balmain (8 May 2009)

379 Darling Street, Balmain NSW 2041
http://www.kazbah.com.au

Time to rock the Kazbah

A friday catchup with friends brings us to this Middle Eastern and North African Restaurant. This is my first visit and I've previously heard it's a popular spot for an alternative weekend breakfast but have yet to try it. The reviews on Eatability are very mixed with most of the negatives being about pricing, service and sometimes the food while others rave about the food and service so it seems it might be a bit of a hit and miss place.

I think the decor and lighting is very nice and our 8 pm booking time tonight isn't too busy although the waiter encouraged us to order our mains as soon as possible because he predicted it would get very busy crowd later — which never happened — and so our table was one of the last to leave.

My main order was the Kazbah Tagine with Goat. The sauce was quite nice, although perhaps a little too salty, but the meat was tender. I tried a little bit of the stuffed chicken which was quite nice too. I thought the Mixed Mezze Plate was perhaps a little dry and very expensive for what you got and the Char-Grilled Quail was very black indeed. The affogato dessert on the other hand I thought was very good to finish off the meal.

My food experiences in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Morocco are quite different to what I tried tonight. For one, in Morocco they cook the dishes in the tagine but here it looks like they just use them for serving the dishes in as part of the North African theme — I could be mistaken but the tagines did look a bit too clean. The main dishes had a mixture of interesting ingredients and spices but I think it's presentation and recipes have been possibly modernised and somewhat Westernized, including the price.

Other visits to Kazbah:
• 1 April 2012 – Breakfast Tagine Lamb Mince, Chackchouka Scrambled Eggs, Bloody Mary Cocktail
• 8 May 2009 – Mixed Mezze Plate, Tagine of Goat, Stuffed Chicken, Beef Eye Fillet, Fish of the Day, Affogato

Dukkah, olive oil and bread

Kazbah's Mixed Mezze Plate for 2, $42. Later noticed on the bill they charged $126 for 2 plates and discounted $20 but this means it still ended up being $53/plate which is incorrectly overpriced — so make sure you check your bills carefully).

Kazbah Tagine of Goat with Carrot Steamed Couscous $35

Chicken Stuffed with Halloumi, Sucuk and Green Olives, Chickpea Fritter, Asparagus, Capsicum Sauce $36

Grain Fed Beef Eye Fillet with Crushed Herb Potatoes, Za'atar and Lima Beans Pork Belly, Cardamon Jus $36

Fish of the Day with Paella Pilaf, Preserved Lemon and Coriander Gremolata $37

Lamb and couscous dish (this was a main from the specials menu)

Rocket, Grilled Halloumi $10.50 (I think it only came with 1 piece of halloumi which was a bit sad)

Affogato, Halawa Ice Cream, Frangelico $14

Moroccan Mint Tea served with Turkish Delight on the side $4.50

Crayons for drawing on the paper table clothes

Napkin and tableware

Kitchen window

Dining area

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