Zanobia Barangaroo - Fine Dining Levantine Cuisine & a water view

Zanobia brings fine dining Levantine cuisine to Barangaroo. The restaurant is slightly hidden away on the first floor of One International Towers Sydney in Barangaroo with views of the water. The menu features opulent spins like caviar hummus, wagyu and black truffle hummus and lobster. Come and take a look inside.

First a little history about Zanobia, especially if the name sounds familiar. The owners Jorge and Jo-Anne Ballas also owned Zenobia in Leichhardt and North Strathfield and more recently Beirut Street food in Marrickville. They sold Zenobia off and opened the upmarket Zanobia in Barangaroo in August 2026.

Iraq born Jorge is the culinary director and Chef Patron who spent his childhood in Lebanon, Dubai, Syria and Palestine and the menu is full of dishes that are celebrated across the Levant. The name Zanobia references Queen Zenobia, a third century queen of Palmyra in modern day Syria.

Jorge also designed the restaurant that seats 80 and is split up into several sections like the Shaerazad private dining room behind intricate Mashrabiya screens. I particularly love the Alf Leila Wa Lela room with its pink and burgundy colours and its gentle curves - the name means "One Thousand and One Nights" and refers to the classic Arabic fairytale, "The Arabian Nights". Jo-Anne takes care of front of house welcoming guests, some that have followed them from their time in Leichhardt while restaurant manager Ahmed makes every guest feel special.

We are seated at the window in the main restaurant with the view of Sydney Harbour. It's 5pm so sunset is imminent casting the whole restaurant in a golden glow. We settle into the comfy velvet chairs and watch the suns rays sparkle on the water while sipping cocktails. It's a Zanobia Fusion for me made with vodka, passion fruit liqueur, pomegranate, lemon and rosemary syrup. Mr NQN's cocktail is a Za'atar Martini chosen from a list of 10 signature cocktails all featuring Arabic ingredients.

Arak enthusiasts will appreciate their extensive collection of anise flavoured arak with one aged up to 10 years from Batroun in Lebanon. There's also fruit flavoured arak in honeydew and lychee flavours. Zanobia also has an Arak program where guests can purchase a bottle of arak which has their name on it and can drink it when they visit the restaurant.

A range of mezze arrives and the first item is the caviar hummus. The hummus is made with boiled chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and olive oil and is topped with a generous amount of salmon roe. And it's not just decorative it adds a beautiful pop and strong flavour to contrast with the creamy, delectably smooth hummus.

There are two types of baba ghanoush, a regular kind as well as a Raman baba ghanoush. This is smoked eggplant with red and green capsicum, onion, raman or pomegranate molasses, olive oil and lemon juice and topped with perfectly placed pomegranate seeds to make it look like a flower. It's perfectly smoky so that it isn't overly strong but you get the flavours of all of the other supporting characters as well as the eggplant.

We also try the vine leaves that are stuffed with rice, parsley, tomato and onion and a lovely sweet and tangy pomegranate molasses glaze to finish it off just to give it an extra sweet and tangy richness. These are a standout.

The Batata Harra is a dish of crispy cubed baby potatoes with a coriander, garlic, lemon and paprika chilli spice to it that makes them incredibly moreish and moderately spicy. I think these would also make a great side dish to the mains.

You can get regular kibbeh nayeh with raw minced lamb but they also have a tuna kibbeh nayeh made with freshly diced raw tuna, crushed bulghur wheat, onions, dill, Ras el Hanout, olive oil and lemon juice with spring onion flowers. You squeeze some of the lime juice on top and then toss them together and it's a wonderfully fresh seafood version of kibbeh nayeh.

The tabouli is beautifully presented with leaves of cos lettuce. It is neatly chopped parsley, tomato, onion, bulgar wheat, lemon juice and olive oil. It is fresh and lemony and goes perfectly with the dips and the other mezze.

One of the most popular hot entrees is the cheese cigar, which is paper thin Fillo pastry filled with a blend of three cheeses, nigella seeds and thyme with each end topped with black caviar. It's hot, crisp and delicious with a good balance of flavours.

The Arabic hot bread is puffy and soft and is made in house. It's just what you need to scoop up those creamy, tangy dips.

For mains, the mixed grill is a Middle Eastern classic dish with three skewers: lamb, minced kebab and shish tawouk or chicken. The skewers are wrapped up in paper thin housemade saj bread. On the side are grilled onions and tomatoes with perfectly seasoned french fries and a pot of fluffy garlic toum. Grab some of that bread and make a delicious garlicky sandwich. We also used some of the Arabic bread for wrapping this up as well.

The shawarma here is made with Wagyu rump cap MB6-7. It is grilled on the charcoal and marinated with a range of spices. It comes out also served on the saj bread that absorbs all the juices. It is served with tahini sauce, pickles and sumac onions and you can either dip the meat into the tahini sauce or pour it over. This is best with a bit of everything and the onions and pickles provide freshness for the rich wagyu beef.

And for dessert, it's Zanobia's take on a tres leches cake but made with rosewater. It's an absolute beauty, sweet but not overly so and at first you think you'll just try a little and then you end up going for spoonful after spoonful. And then the entire cake is gone. We enjoy it with a pot of cardamom tea with a square of Turkish delight.