Mr Gatsby is a man who has a knack for choosing great up and coming places and when he suggested Almond Bar, I knew a) it would be good and b)  it would be new. It’s a Middle Eastern restaurant focusing on an area that your tongue or stomach doesn’t often travel: Syrian cuisine and I’m curious to see how it compares to other Middle Eastern Cuisine. Mezze is like Tapas for the middle eastern region and whilst it’s seen as an accompaniment, here they serve it as a shared main. Started by two sisters, it’s in the former location of Ristorante Riva and features rich brown woods, pistachio greens and warm lighting.

We take cues from Helen Greenwood’s review of Almond Bar and choose some of the dips as well as a tasting plate that allows us to try a few different things at once.I wouldn’t recommend this for the share phobic although they can certainly be accommodated. It’s missing the point of the mezze on offer. It’s meant to be shared.

Mint Tea

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I’d often heard of the Breakfast Banquet at Kazbah-legend has it that for the small sum of $20 per person, you will be plied with an unbelievable amount of good food. Actually it’s not legend, the menu is clear on the website but let’s not mention that I never saw that. The catch is, that you need at least 8 people for this (and if someone cancels, you’re stuck paying for their place). A service charge of 10% is also mandatory. We decided that Mother’s Day breakfast would be the ideal day to do this. A time to indulge the mums for all of the breakfasts that they made us and to stuff ourselves silly. Since it’s Mother’s Day, there’s a 2 hour time limit for the Breakfast Banquet.

It’s 9.30am, a ludicrously early time I admit. I actually got up at 7am to get ready in an effort to look semi reasonable. Isn’t it against the law to wake up before 9am on a Sunday? It’s the only time they can take us and considering how busy it is when we get there we feel lucky that we got a table. A group before us has arrived late for their booking (about 40 minutes late which admittedly is really quite late) and as they’ve got a 1 hour limit, the waitress clucks that she doesn’t feel that they’ll have enough time in 20 minutes to order and eat. Phew, we’re not that late. We’re seated at our huge but very squishy table. One of our party is ill so we remove one chair so we have a little more room although elbows are touching at all times and eating can get awkward.

There are crayons to draw with and I know my in laws, a family of artists will go crazy over these.

The crockery is pretty – laid out as alternating blue and red sets.

We are supplied with mint water (there’s no mint taste however, it’s decorative) and all other drinks are charged on consumption. We listen to some of the drink specials and they sound delicious. Some settle for coffee (there is also Turkish Coffee) and some for a juice special: Pineapple, mint and lime juice.

Pineapple, mint and lime juice $6.50

The Pineapple, mint and lime juice is lovely and full of real, fresh crushed pineapple with the pulp still there. I don’t mind pulp at all, it at least assures me that a real fruit was involved in the process. The mint is very mild and the lime gives it a little tartness.

Turkish coffee $4

The Turkish Coffee I am told is good, sweetened and thick, like it should be.

Latte $3.50

Date & Banana Porridge

Before we know it, the first three of the courses arrives: Date & Banana Porridge. It comes unsweetened but is thick and creamy and the dates give it a little sweetness. Sprinkling it with the brown sugar provided renders it delicious.

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