Baalbek has been opened at Kingston Road Slacks Creek for just on a year and hasn’t had the easiest of rides.
Aside from Covid, they’re next door to the fruit and vegetable shop that burnt down about four months ago.
There was no damage to the restaurant, but they did lose a fridge full of food. That’s a restaurant-size fridge.
And when you make all your dishes and ingredients on-site, that’s a big blow.
The inside of the restaurant is quite open, almost with an old-fashioned cafeteria feel about it. It’s not licensed, but there’s a steady flow of regulars who know about the BYO policy, uncorking their favourite read and ordering a feast as any good Lebanese family would do.
Baalbek is a city in Lebanon with ancient history, and that’s where the flavours come from too – thousands of years of tradition built into a one-page menu.
Because the restaurant is open from breakfast, the menu has a number of wrap and salad options.
They’ll do a quarter charcoal chicken for $5 if you’re that way inclined.
But the real flavours are in the mezza, the starters. Cheese sambousek isn’t any old cheese ball. It’s a Lebanese pastry, made in the restaurant’s kitchen, filled with mozzarella for stringiness, fetta for saltiness, and onion and parsley for a sublime finish.
These things are almost enough to give cheese sticks a bad name.
There are a few salads, all rich in flavour and freshness. A Mediterranean salad is a mixture of fresh garden salad, generously topped with a tangy dressing.
The fattoush is similar but raises the bar with a pomegranate molasses and topped with crispy fried Lebanese bread.
As with most Lebanese food, the hero is the grill, whether your meat of choice is lamb or chicken, there’s an art to choosing the right option for you.
If you like a more traditional shish, chicken or lamb fillets come marinated in mixed spices adn are served with hommus, yellow rice and a salad.
It’s a fresh, uplifting meal that doesn’t leave you looking for a side dish to cut through the grease.
If spice is your thing, you might prefer the shawarma which is more finely cut meat, allowing for more of the marinade to take effect. It’s not as fine as mince, but cut almost as would the meat in a kebab.
Meals here range from just $12 through to $20 for a full platter. Mezzas are $8-$10, making for a reasonable and very filling meal.
The owners previously had a restaurant at Morningside and are grateful that a few regular customers are finding their way to the new spot at Slacks Creek.
