Balmain - Kazbah on Darling

For our weekly dinners, we decided to splurge to celebrate Lish's engagement so we mosey on down to Kazbah at Balmain, handily a stone throws away from pretty much all of us. This was the first time I'd been there, so I was quite keen to try it out and see what all the fuss is about. I hear it's fantastic for breakfast as well, the owner told me that for groups, its best to book. 

Anyways, here we go. A few of us car pooled and got to the restaurant a bit late, (sorry m.t) where we were greeted by the owner and told of the thursday special which was 2 courses for $40 or 3 courses for $45. $5 for dessert sounded like a bargain, why wouldn't you do the 3 courses?

Whilst chatting, I took a few happy snaps of our surroundings before our entree came out:. Firstly, i loved their decor, their plates were so colourful. It was fate that Lish matched her plate, or a happy coincidence.The bread came out and we munched away, well everyone else did but me, as I'm trying to reduce my carb intake.

The place was decked out for Valentines Day, so I took advantage and played around with some depth of field shots with the v. photogenic Nelisa :) and btw, that is a compliment.

Soon, the entree came out - as part of the deal you must get the mezze plate which was delightful anyways. On the mixed mezze plate was i think: 

Dips Plate -Hummus, Babaganouj, Taramasalata and Breads, Fried Cauliflower with Eggplant  Jam, Chickpea Battered Zucchini Flower Stuffed with Walnut and Feta, Muhamara Sauce, Calamari Rings, something like Tabouli and something like cous-cous. I don't remember - please feel free to correct me.

Mains were pretty nice and tasty. Two ladies chose the Pan-Fried Duck Breast with Falafel, Honey Baked Quince and Sweet Potato Chips, another lady had the Kingfish with Paella Pilaf, Preserved Lemon and Coriander Gremolata and i chose the Grain Fed Sirloin with Crushed Herb Potatoes, Za'atar and Lima Beans Pork Belly, Cardamon Jus

Next stop was dessert, we decided to share 2 desserts amongst ourselves. we chose the Arabian Dessert Plate for 2 and  Kazbah Bomb for Two - Turkish Delight Ice Cream, Blueberries flamed with Kurrant Vodka. Pretty interesting dessert plate, from memory it was: watermelon & nougart salad, chocolate filled cigar, milk pudding and the last dessert looked like a macaroon but the top layer was rhubarb then goats cheese? and then it seemed like it was brown sugar. that last one was my favourite. The Kazbah Bomb wsas quite a spectacle, v. interesting the blue ring that engulfed the dessert, the girls were surprised everytime they found some turkish delight in the ice cream. 

We had a lovely night chatting and eating, so much so that we were the last guests at the restaurant, so I roamed around and took more photos - i think the owner was getting worried where I would be posting the photos.... :) I did like the decor of this place, you can tell there is a big middle eastern/north african influence.

Until next week girls...