The cooking, eating and travel blog of a hungry blogger from Sydney, Australia featuring original recipes, interviews and articles on all things food @Not Quite Nigella

Category Archives: Middle Eastern

A Taste of Egypt, Bankstown

I am woefully tired nowadays. I envy those that only need 5-6 hours sleep. My tiredness is a result of a combination of drinking a Red Bull several days ago and subsequently not being able to sleep for 3 days as well as having little sleep due to the roadworks outside. As I live on a main road they start the roadworks at 11pm and finish them at 3am. Yes sometimes this feels like the outer ring in the Seventh Circle of Hell. So much so that when we saw them park the huge contraption that creates the noise on our street, I seriously considered taking a picture of it and selling it on ebay. My auction would read like this:

Road ripper up for sale. Pick up before 10pm at night. No key for this so you will need hot wiring skills. In very good and hellishly loud working order. 99c buy it now.

So what was my point? I’m tired and rambling now. Oh yes my point was that because of this we are meeting my friend M and her sons S and In at a rather early time of 5.30pm so that I can get back in bed by a normal hour. So at 5.30pm we are seated at the Taste of Egypt on Greenfield parade in Bankstown, staring at their huge chalkboard menu of Egyptian goodies. I spy some intriguing sounding dishes and we immediately order them with our friendly waitress who we guess is the owner of the business. She tells us a little about the dishes. Tonight unfortunately they are out of Koushery the rice dish with fried pasta and lentils and topped with onion rings. A 1000 year old dish that is usually served after breakfast or for lunch. She reads back our order and tells us that what we have is a lot but a good range of Egyptian food.

Mango nectar (left) and Guava Nectar (right) $2 each

We help ourselves to drinks from the fridge and try the Mango, Fruit Cocktail and Guava nectars, all deliciously sweet with the mango being particularly thick and almost gelatinous in the bottom of the bottle.

Fruit Cocktail Nectar $2

There is a strong takeaway trade with people buying takeaway chicken, kebabs and dips but when we smell the scent of our meals being cooked we get ravenous. Our meals come out and the boys are itching to eat but are patient while the obligatory photos are being taken.

Mozah (lamb Shank with rice) $13

This is absolutely gorgeous, the Lamb shank falling of the bone after a gentle nudge while the sauce, a strong and flavoursome mix of tomato, chili and garlic is the perfect accompaniment.
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10 comments | October 22, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella

Kazbah on Darling’s Breakfast Banquet, Balmain

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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18 comments | May 13, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella