27 May Abla’s, Carlton

Mixed Dips – Labnee (home-made naturally thickened yoghurt), Hummous (chickpeas blended with tahini, garlic and lemon juice), Baba Ghannouj (smoked eggplant blended with tahini, garlic and lemon juice)

Started by Abla Amad back in 1979, her family recipes help ensure an experience of authenticity and warmth. Still strong after over 35 years, Abla’s has become a Melbourne institution for homely and traditional Lebanese food. We visit in a group and have to take the banquet menu. It kicks off with plates of mixed dips. All the favourites grace the table, and the labnee, hummous and baba ghannouj is greedily scooped up with torn pieces of pita.

Chicken Wings – Tender chicken wings baked with garlic and lemon juice

Ladies’ Fingers – Filo pastry cigars filled with minced lamb, pine nuts and spices

Falafel – Patties of chickpeas, broad beans, parsley, coriander and spices

The next dishes arrive all at once. The makaneek are a bit dry, but the chicken wings make up for the spiced lamb sausages with their ridiculously tender meat and delicious garlic and lemon juice flavours. The ladies’ fingers are full of minced lamb, pine nuts and spices, the filo pastry perfectly crispy. Also delivered are the smooth, egg-shaped falafel, tabbouleh and also loubyeh, a tasty dish of green beans cooked with tomatoes, onion and spices.

Chicken and Rice – Exquisitely flavoured rice pilaff with minced lamb, chicken, almonds and pine nuts

Kafta Mishwee – Skewers of minced lamb, seasoned with parsley, onion and spices

The dish I looked forward to most was Abla’s famous Chicken and Rice, a rice pilaff with minced lamb mixed through, and topped with slices of chicken, slivered almonds and pine nuts. Flavoursome and textural, it does not disappoint. Lamb skewers are a bit of a surprise, the soft, blushing meat not possessing any gameyness at all, with some at the table initially wondering if it was beef.

In House Baklawa – Filo pastry with cashews and syrup topped with crushed pistachio nuts, Turkish Delight – Squares of almond flavoured gelatine coated in powdered sugar – rosewater, pistachio

Mahlabiyeh – Rose water flavoured corn flour custard, served chilled

Lebanese Coffee

Lebanese Coffee

The banquet ends with baklawa and turkish delight, their innate sweetness countered by very strong Lebanese coffee. The gluten-free alternative is mahlabiyeh, a chilled and smooth corn flour custard flavoured with rose water.

Both the setting and the way food is presented at Abla’s imparts a feeling of welcoming warmth and modesty, and Abla herself came around to visit each table and personally thank each one for coming. For a taste of Lebanese served with love, Abla’s is just the ticket.

Abla’s
109 Elgin St
Carlton, VIC, 3053
(03) 9347 0006
ablas.com.au