Please excuse my garlic breath which permeates through this revue....I can't help it... its the lasting effects of a visit to Almond Bar and let me tell you- ITS WORTH IT!!! This tiny little middle eastern restaurant in Darlighurst requires a booking and if you can get a table - take it.... It's a narrow little strip restaurant which packs everyone in super cosy.... When you arrive they bring you almonds to snack on - and they're amazing and a great start to whats going to be a great night of eating... As to what to order? EVERYTHING- seriously EVERYTHING is so freaking delicious i'm hungry just writing this review. Every bite is packed full of flavour that your lips, tongue and palette are going to need to get their own room.... Its a little pricey - but the idea is to go to the restaurant and share all the meals. To start with order the 3 dips for $19.50 and share away..... YUMMMMMM - they have so many choices....whatever you decide on, make sure you include the homous....All the mezze dishes are amazing and range in price from $10 - $28..... the only dish I'd avoid was the whitebait... it wasn't too great....but not bad enough to stop me from loving this place.... Go go - yala!!! read more

Almond Bar - Middle Eastern Near Me - Darlinghurst, NSW

A friend of mine LOVES this place, for me it was just "not bad". If I could give it an extra half star or even an extra three quarters, I would, but I can't give it four. The food was good, we ordered a bunch of starters and mains and shared. We had felafels and stuffed eggplants and a variety of dips, a chicken and rice dish and a few others. All of it was good, but nothing wowed me. LOVED the fried flat bread. More fried flat bread, please. The desserts? The pancakes were "noice", the winner was the lime cheesecake and my baklava was the big loser. It was like.. a nibble. Such a sad, pathetic little portion. Don't order that. You get like, literally a bite and that's it. Service was good, but we arrived on time for our reservation and they lost it, so we had to wait for a good 30 minutes. Hmmrrgggghhh. read more

Almond Bar - dips! - Middle Eastern Near Me - Darlinghurst, NSW

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Swung in here to grab a to go dinner for a friend stuck in the hospital. Wow what a find. Super friendly people. Adapted one of the dinner packages with creative suggestions to meet dietary needs. Everything was fresh and full of vibrant flavor, as good middle eastern food should be. Highly recommended! read more

This restaurant came with some mixed warning labels from friends. Some friends said that it was GREAT a must eat place. Some friends said well no the food is very rich and not worth the visit. I thought the food was great. At times I was very surprised at how delicious some of the dishes were. I think the head Chef is very talented - her cook book notably splashed around the dining room. The BIG let down here was the attitude of the manager. On arrival our party had unexpectedly dropped by 2 people. You should of seen the look we got! The comment that followed "But you confirmed for 12....(stare)" was when the rudeness really begun. It ran through the entire night with attitude filled looks, eyes rolled and major arrogance on payment due to split bills. Menu is great, food is delicious but seriously service is everything! read more

It's small, it's cosy and when you walk in, you are blown away by the smell of spice and flavour. Despite the slightly squished seating, you really don't think about anything but the Syrian inspired cuisine you devour at this restaurant! I would go through all the dishes I tried here, but then I would probably run out of character space to be honest, so I will keep to the main dishes that were absolutely brilliant. For one, as simple as they sound, the Dips. We had a mix of muhamarra, za'atar and chilli hummus and each one was better than the last, regardless of the order. The chilli hummus was smooth and creamy with a nice kick, no mild here, and the muhamarra left a delicious sweetness in your mouth which went well with the walnuts in it. Also sincerely enjoyed the falafel plate, they were crunchy on the outside, but as soon as the fork hit the inside, it crumbled apart. It wasn't spicy but had a delicious flavour that went well with the tahini. We also had the roasted cauliflower and potatoes, and despite being a potato girl usually, the cauliflower won that night, with its spiciness and crispy texture. Being a vegetarian, I can't attest to the meat personally, but according to the rest of my family, it was one word. Yum. That description right? :P read more

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This is a locals place in Sydney, and for good reason. The food is so unique and wonderful, the ambiance is very nice and quant, and staff is very nice and helpful. You know how most middle eastern places are all the same? And usually not great? Well, this place is far far from typical, and clearly focuses on the Syrian cuisine and not on trying to appease tourists looking for Kabobs! Overall a find, and this has won its place as a must go for sure. read more

Enjoyed another evening at this wonderful place, the food was great, the atmosphere was warm and cosy and the service was exceptional. Catering for the challenges of gluten free food while delivering exceptional Syrian food. Love a great sharing experience it certainly ranks as a must visit dining experience. read more

The ambience was great. It was a group of 6 that attended. The food was average to be honest. The dips were great but I didn't feel the meat was anything above ordinary. read more

Had breakfast here. Liked it - the Bircher - the scrambled eggs were nice as well as the coffee. Good value for the price - nice and friendly staff read more

Take a moment to savour the atmosphere ... and then dive in to the delicious menu. For those feeling a little more adventurous, go for the Chef's Banquet and then sit back and wait, and be surprised and delighted at what arrives on your table. Every dish arrives with a story, delivered by the staff who know these dishes inside out. Brilliant. read more

Delicious! Great service. Phenomenal flavors. We had the tasting menu - the meat menu. The beef was fantastic. The chicken was wonderful with the heavenly garlic sauce. The fattoush was perfect. The potatoes were remarkable. The dips were wonderful. One thing to watch for: my back did hurt by the end due to the seating arrangement. That said, we loved our experience here, 10/10 would recommend to friends. read more

This restaurant is the reason I created an account with Yelp. This place is wonderful. I went to Almond Bar for a friend's birthday and we had the meat banquet. I'm a vegetarian so they gave me substitutions for all the meat courses. The food was just delicious and we were all full and satisfied by the end of the banquet. I also ordered a cocktail which I didn't really like that much - it had a very strong aniseed taste. I didn't complain but a waitress noticed I wasn't really enjoying it and offered to make a new cocktail for me. I appreciated that. The service was excellent. They were very attentive and our water glass were never empty. They also played a happy birthday song and gave my friend some baklava with a sparkler in it. Great food and great service made it a great night out. Thanks Almond Bar! read more

Food 5 stars. The almonds as starters are delicious, The salad with some kind of crunch is amazing and there's lots of tasty meat. Only one downer, it is too packed, with uncomfortable seats because of the tight space (not much they can do about that) Service no complaints. Have been back a few times and it is consistently good. Want to try their breakfast, but scared it might be too busy! read more

I was a little disappointed with the food here. I can't fault the service, but the food was lacking. Perhaps it was the overpowering allspice they added to the beef brisket (good presentation though), or the poor version of dolmades with scallop and prawn which were also overpowered by spices. I get that middle eastern foods use a lot of spice, but moderation is the name of the game in every aspect, including spice. I want to be able to taste the flavour of the meat. It's not expensive, and they do have a nice pinot from alsace, but still it's not somewhere I'd go again. read more

Been here a couple of times, staff very friendly, great Mediterranean from there dips to mains all full of flavour and I would not hesitate to recommend. read more

Authentic homemade mezzo, so fresh so tasty. Comfortable relaxed atmosphere with service and hospitality that makes you feel like you are special guests in their home. Perfect place to catch up with friends. Recommend! read more

Ok, so this just happened. My friend and I went out for dinner here, and were really looking forward to the Syrian cuisine, the ambiance, seeing each other again and having a great night out. We were booked in for the 7 - 8.30 PM slot. So we arrived, sat down, ordered food, just chatted the night away and were friendly to the waiter. Nothing special there. The food was disappointing, I'm sad to say; extremely bland, no special Syrian flavours at all, clearly overpriced for both the quality and quantity. For much, much, much better food at a better price, do yourself a great favour and go to Cubby's Kitchen or to Zaida, both in Surry Hills. But alright, that happens sometimes, maybe we ordered just the wrong things. We weren't going to complain about it, were just enjoying our catch up, and were minding our own business. When the waiter asked us if we cared for a dessert we decided to give it a shot, seeing as the dessert menu looked promising. We just needed one more minute after being asked about our dessert choice and in fact asked the waiter to come over within 20 seconds after he had turned away to take our order. We then waited about 20 minutes for the desserts and coffee/tea to arrive, but that was no problem for us as we were having a lovely evening between the two of us. Then the desserts were brought out by who I assume is the manager. He threw the bill at the table, stating that it was 8.45 PM and he needed the table 15 minutes ago. That abruptly bursted our pleasant bubble, after which I told him friendly and patiently that we had no idea what time it was and that we would of course happily had vacated the table at 8.30 if our waiter would have told us that there was not enough time for desserts. In fact, we had waited for about 20 minutes for the desserts to arrive (and earlier for the food, when our waiter came back to tell us that he had forgotten what we ordered). The man then went on and told us twice that when we got the dessert menu there was still enough time (meaning: "it took you too long to order something", while in fact it took us 1 minute and 20 seconds), and that we should be grateful to him because he had now swopped around the tables so we could stay 15 minutes longer. We then turned to our desserts, both being very surprised about what had just happened, which were, again, just as the rest of the food and the Middle Eastern coffee, tasteless. We left the desserts and coffee/tea for what they were, paid the bill, and left the restaurant silently. I'm very positive that we'll never go back to Almond Bar, and it makes me sad that someone working in hospitality can be so heartless and unnecessarily rude to his clients who have been nothing but well behaved and friendly all evening. Makes me wonder what stress the people working there are under, really. read more