Bayte, Collingwood

Recently I’ve had to take the bus to church, so I thought I’d use the opportunity to visit Bayte for brunch following my lunch fail the other week.

I wanted to have the baked eggs, which came in a whole okra and tomato stew, topped with shanklish and served with flatbread ($15), but they changed to their new Spring menu on Monday and it wasn’t on the menu anymore. I don’t know why this always happens to me – should’ve come last Sunday but didn’t think of it. From now on if I see something I particularly want to try, I’ll have to visit ASAP to avoid disappointment.

I was tossing up between a few things including the poached eggs w. pumpkin and pinenut kibbeh and the herbed omelette with raw tuna kibbeh. In the end I settled on the Awarma (preserved confit lamb with soft-boiled egg, fresh and pickled cucumber, jibeen and charred flatbread, $18). When it arrived, it wasn’t really what I expected. The confit came in a jar and slightly warmed. The lamb was salty and heavily spiced, though the only spice I could pick was aniseed. It reminded me of something I’ve had before but I couldn’t pinpoint it. It was actually quite nice but I had to get over the initial shock of seeing so much visible, solidified fat. The jibeen (a type of Lebanese cheese) was very mild and helped to mellow out the strong flavour of the lamb.

Pumpkin and pinenut kibbeh ($4) was savoury and had a lovely interplay of textures from the toasted surface, chewy pinenuts and soft pumpkin and onions. I still want to come back to try the raw tuna kibbeh and maybe the baba ganoush.

Bayte
56 Johnston St
Collingwood, VIC, 3066
(03) 9415 8818
http://www.bayte.com.au/

Bayte on Urbanspoon

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