It would have to be a meal fit for a queen. Queen Viv to be exact. She was celebrating a big birthday and I wanted to find somewhere suitable for her majesty. Across the oceans, the Queen was having her jubilee but my focus was Queen Viv’s celebrations. Many years ago we had all dined in the sandstone building where Embers sits and we all had good memories of our time there. Now, almost 15 years later, we are back.

You may have walked past it countless times as the signage is very subtle-I know I have. The logo for Embers glows as a subtle, small discreet sign. Inside, it is dark, very dark indeed with small tea lights glowing on the tables. Murals of men and women smoking hookahs adorn the walls and there is also a bar to the right. The food is said to be modern Lebanese cuisine with a twist on traditional offerings. Former Rockpool chef Simon Zalloua is in the kitchen and he is of Lebanese descent. We take some recommendations on what to order and warm up.

Shanklish and tomato sambusek w preserved lemon salsa (4) $13

Not long after, our food starts arriving. Shanklish is a Lebanese cheese that fills these half moon pastries. The pastry is lovely and short and the inside filled with melted cheese and tomato. There is also a lamb version of these on the menu.

Crispy brussel sprouts, baba ganoush and chickpeas $12

Miss America intones that “if brussel sprouts tasted like this when I was young, I would have eaten more.” Indeed the humble and much hated sprout is experiencing a bit of a revival at the moment and here, it is enormously appealing indeed. The sprouts are lightly crispy, almost caramelised on some edges and served with baba ganoush eggplant dip and whole chickpeas.

Cauliflower chickpea and pomegranate salad $16

This dish was strongly recommended to us and it didn’t disappoint. The cauliflower was just the right texture, soft but not soggy and wet and the chickpeas and pomegranate seeds and tangy pomegranate molasses lifted the cauliflower and gave it a nice acidity.

Scorched ocean trout w spiced tahini and fennel $19

The sashimi style ocean trout was given a light torching to burnish it on one side and was served with a spiced tahini and paper thin fennel slices. Quite different from the Lebanese dishes we had tried in the past, we all adored mopping up the last of the spiced tahini sauce. One thing from traditional Lebanese meals would have been great would have been the abundance of bread for these sauces (although you can order some bread and it is complimentary).

Lamb dumplings w warm yoghurt and beurre noisette $18′

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It was Mr NQN’s weekend. It was something that I thought we ought to do as every other weekend seems to revolve around my activities. Being Mr NQN’s weekend we went shopping for pants for him-he’s a fusspot with those and as he is rather disorganised, the dinner plans never did eventuate. When he expressed a preference to eating near home, we called Lebanon and Beyond in nearby Randwick only to find that it was of course fully booked this Saturday evening. Not a huge shock so it was Spanish Omelette at home in front of the tv on a Saturday night. A nice change but a touch dull. Although we got to watch lots of episodes of Modern Family and The InBetweeners which we both love.

Like all good spouses, I think he sensed my boredom so we decided to try for Lebanon and Beyond the next evening. I booked earlier that day and lucky we did for as we turn up, a woman with a party of friends is eager for a table but as it’s fully booked she is politely let down. Undeterred she promises to be back in an hour for a table (and she is).

Housed in an art deco building it has a certain retro feel to it. Service is friendly and we are allowed to have one vegetarian banquet and one regular chef’s banquet, each with four courses including dessert. Most banquets these days are over $30 so we’re pleasantly surprised to see a banquet for $28 and a vegetarian one for $25. They give us a plate with spiced peanuts, salty green olives and pickles and I particularly like the peanuts and the pickles together. Mr NQN gets his homemade lemonade which is a flat lemonade with the distinct flavour of fragrant orange blossom-it’s a bit more orange blossom than lemon though.

Orange blossom lemonade

Peeking through we see that the kitchen is small and I pass through to use the ladies room where it seems I’ve entered a different world. The bathroom is seems is shared with a private hotel and inside the bathroom looks to be like a hospital bathroom with a shower. One wonders whether there is any overlap with the hotel residents and restaurant patrons.

Hommous

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I always have an eye or ear out for blogging opportunities. With an ear to the ground and a loyal readership that generously share their recommendations with me, I love seeking out new places that I haven’t tried before. So this evening when we drive past Wilsons we see a cafe on the opposite side of the road which has a large crowd gathered around it. I get excited and say “Oooh let’s check that place out!” to Queen Viv and Miss America, my intrepid dining pals and we head towards Cafe Cana. Getting closer, we encounter some curious looks and it suddenly dawns on us that we’ve almost gatecrashed a dinner session feeding dinner to the homeless. Yes, embarrassing but true.

Sheepishly, we head off to Wilson’s, a Lebanese restaurant which opened over 30 years ago and is said to be Sydney’s oldest Lebanese restaurant. And why the rather un-Lebanese sounding name of Wilson’s? Apparently “Wilson” was the anglicised version of the original Lebanese chef’s name.

The sign is cracked and repaired but when we step in, it’s all retro but charmingly so. With a parachute ceiling and what we can assume to be the original fixtures and decor, it’s like a step back in time. Queen Viv recalls seeing older Lebanese men sitting outside on crates on a hot Summer’s night although this cold, wet rainy Winter’s night there are none.

Cinnamon tea $3

There are two other tables but things are quiet here. We order a range of dishes from the menu and they come out in quick succession. Meanwhile I warm myself with the cinnamon tea which is sweet and heady in cinnamon.

Mixed dips $16

We start with the Mixed dips which is not a huge serve but has babaganoush, hommous, tabouli, two crispy felafel and a pile of soft bread. It’s delicious and we learn the standout dish of the night, particularly when you mix the dips and tabouli and a bit of felafel and pile it on top of the bread.

Kibbeh $10

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