Roula & Georges 25th

What: Roula & George's 25th
Where: Zenobia's Leichhardt
When: Saturday 14 April 2007, 7:30pm - 12:00am

It’s so easy to stick to old habits and dine at the same places rather than try something new, the girls and I are at Leichhardt quite often but you’ll always find us at the same two places. When Roula told us that her birthday dinner was at Zenobia’s I was really looking forward to trying somewhere new.

The restaurant is separated into 2 distinct areas, the inside section is cosy and decorated with bright cushions, swords and lanterns. As we had over 40 people our group sat in the outside area at the back. By pure chance the table behind us was a big group who went to KMH (our brother school) so it was a chance for a few people to catch up with old friends and old formal dates.

Due to the size of our group we went with the $40 banquet, there are times when banquet menus are not really worth the money, but this clearly isn't the case here. It wasn't so much that the servings were big, there was just a lot of it.

hummus and babaghanoush, vine leaves, fried eggplant

(the eggplant was fabulous I'm craving for it as I type)

Tabouli, mixed salad, spicy sausage with chilli and garlic

there's a name for the second salad (I highly recommend it) but I didn't catch what Anderee called it

During the meal music suddenly burst from the speakers and out came a belly dancer, I've seen many belly dancers but never a male! It was really interesting to watch. A few people from our table got pulled up to dance, I didn't want to go up so I would avoid all eye contact every time he came past.

Pastry with a mince meat filling, potatoes, falafel

We were soon entertained by another female belly dancer

Chicken & Lamb skewers, dessert was a plate of Turkish delight and baklava

Overall I really enjoyed my night here, I thought the food was excellent and there was plenty to go around. Andree and Roula knew people who worked there so our table was well looked after.

There was also another reason we were all asked to dinner, Roula & Andree wanted to announce that they are expecting a baby. Roula told us she wore a belt to hide her bulge...oh pleaseeee! there isn't an ounce of 'bulge' on you!

Everyone is super excited (there were a few bets on when this was going to happen) . Big congratulations to you both!

Zenobia
102 Norton Street
Leichhardt
Ph: 02 9560 4131

Emma's On Liberty

It's been a while since we last caught up, 8 months in fact. Since April, Caroline has moved over to London and Rodna has just come back from yet another world trip, Jill has been getting all her visas ready (England & Ireland) and looks set to move over there next year. I've been friends with these girls since high school and we've grown closer as the years have progressed. It's great to see them all doing so well and it's interesting to see the different paths that we taken in our lives.

After our wedding Jacky and I have decided that our next goal is to save for another world trip to see the parts of Europe we haven't already seen followed by a big trip to China. So hopefully if all goes to plan, in 2 years I will be blogging about catching up with Caroline, Jill and Rodna whilst sitting at a cafe somewhere in Europe.

Tuesday 28, November 2006

I'm not familiar with the Enmore area and was delighted when Jill suggested somewhere new to try. Emma's on Liberty is located right in the middle of a street of residential townhouses - the last place that I expected to find a busy Lebanese restaurant. The place is very small and cosy and is filled with diners ranging from couples, groups of friends to young families.

The place is very modern and is decorated with unique pieces (mirrors, ornaments and paintings) to add a bit of the Middle Eastern flavour.

Complimentary Lebanese bread for starters with olive oil and pepper dip
Mixed Dip Plate – selection of hommous, baba ganouge and labne served with fried Lebanese bread $15

Haloumi – grilled with sumac, chilli and fresh mint $9
Lady Fingers – Four Filo pastry rolls filled with lamb, pine nuts and pomegranate molasses $10

Felafel – four serves of spicy beans, herbs and spices deep fried until golden $10

I couldn’t tell you what these two desserts were because they were on the specials board on the side of the wall. They were about $6.95 each and the first one was like pistachio nougat mixed with a sweet vanilla ice cream, the second was a moist hazel nut slice with a sweet sugar syrup and ice cream.

I wasn’t a big fan of the desserts it was a little too sweet for my liking but the food was really nice and not overly salty like some of the Lebanese restaurants I have tried. I would recommend not getting the banquet menu and ordering a range of different dishes off the menu to share. Don’t be deceived by the portions because it’s all very filling, the best part? It’s BYO.

Emma's On Liberty
Lebanese, Vegeterian
59 Liberty Street
Enmore, Sydney
PH: (02) 9550 3458

Varekai

Tonight along with Jacky, Sophia and Mum we headed to The Entertainment Quarter to watch Varekai - Cirque Du Soleil. We got there a little early so that we could grab a bite to eat before the show started. To my absolute delight there was a little food fair that had been set up right next to the tent, so we gave The Fox & Lion a miss and went to see what the fair had to offer.

There was the usual chocolate coated strawberries and sugar coated nuts

But I got really excited when I saw this unusual little stand that had a radio pumping out jungle beats - "A Taste of Ethiopia" the sign read.

The smell coming from the store was awesome, you have the option of vegetarian (mixed vegetables or lentils) or meat (i.e chicken) but after having a chat with the store operator he suggested that a little bit of everything was best. So I decided to give it a try.

The bread is folded in a special way with a different item in each layer, this is then topped off with a yellow sauce and finished with a dash of 'home made spicy sauce' and fresh chilli with ginger on the side.
Verdict: The texture of the bread is a little soggy as the sauce seeps right through. However when you reach the filling, the bread combined with the chicken/vegetables and lentils is really nice. If I had to compare it to something, it would be similar to some Indian curries but with less fire. The bread and fresh ginger really makes this dish unique.

I wasn't finished....I hadn't had gozleme since what felt like forever! so I had to buy one to settle my craving. At $8.50 I found the beef, spinach and fetta gozleme to be a little pricy, it also lacked the flavour that usually draws me to this dish.

At 8:00pm we filed into the big tent and took our seats, I was bursting with excitement! The set looked amazing and my seat was smack bang in the middle 7-8 rows from the front. This was my first Cirque Du Soleil experience, in other years I spent money on travel or had to pay for tickets to watch the The Lion King. After such a long wait my expectations were extremely high.

All I can say is wow, wow, wow WOW!! It was a show that managed to evoke every emotion possible. The dance by Varekai at the beginning was absolutely stunning! and was my favourite for the night. He was graceful and skilful and the beautiful music would echo in my head for the rest of the night.

There were these 3 little Chinese boys who were tiny in size and looked no more than 5 years old who could flip, jump and leap high into the air. They were absolutely adorable and totally won my heart! I couldn’t have clapped any harder during their performance.

I can’t even begin to describe this show and I feel a bit duped that I didn’t go to see the other ones. If you have ever thought about going, this show is an experience and worth every cent!

Almustafa

I found myself back at Almustafa's last night and had an even better night than the first time. It turned out that we knew the son of the owner of the Restaurant and didn't have to pay for any of the drinks - bonus!

I'm still waiting for my 3 purchases off ebay to arrive - the waiting makes me nervous, I hope it arrives this week.