Zurouna is a stylish Lebanese restaurant located on the equally stylish South Yarra stretch of…read moreToorak Road. It has a balcony out front with seating for a dozen or so people, and as it was pleasantly warm I ate out there. In a cocktail sort of mood so started with a Tides of Beirut - Arak, Cointreau, Ginger ale and lemon juice. Very refreshing and the Arak gave it a real licorice kick. Good value at $14. I'm definitely a grazer when it comes to food so rather than ordering a main I opted for two entrees. First up was kibbeh which is one of my favourite Lebanese dishes - delicious little footballs made from minced lamb, cracked wheat and pine nuts served on a bed of rocket with a side of yoghurt. Wrapped up in a piece of pita bread, this makes for great finger food and with three pieces for $12 good value to boot. Next was Zaa'ter calamari, grilled and served on more rocket with fresh pomegranate. This was quite good but nothing out of the ordinary. I was hoping for something a little spicier. Generous serve for an entree and I wasn't able to finish it all. Overall, good value for money, good location and the lady who served me was attentive and friendly. Worth a five minute detour from Chapel Street if you're in the mood for Middle Eastern cuisine.

For several years now, I've been hoping a proper Arabic restaurant would open up in my area - one…read morewhere I can get not just snacks like kubbeh and falafel, but actual lunches and dinners like the ones I'd prepare with my family. As of this month, my prayers were answered in the form of Zurouna, the newest Middle Eastern addition to South Yarra. In a word, Zurouna is sensational. It is authentic, diverse (representing Levantine but also North African cuisine as well), elegantly but accessibly fitted out with Middle Eastern lamps and mosaic patterns, and accented with really lovely staff. A rundown of what we ate: Moutabbal - smooth, smoky eggplant dip perfect for scooping up with the fresh and fried Arabic bread that is constantly replenished. Za'atar calamari - coils of tender, za'atar-sprinkled grilled squid, with rocket, simple lemon and olive oil dressing, and fresh pomegranate seeds. Perfectly cooked, not a hint of chewiness. Ma'anek - lean Lebanese-style lamb sausages with olive oil and parsley. Not greasy, gristly or gamey at all, just how they should be. Lamb shank with freekeh and yogurt - there was no shank that day, so we had shoulder instead which was sensational. Exceptionally tender lamb with nutty toasted freekeh (green wheat) and garlic yogurt. Middle Eastern home cooking at its best. Chermoula prawns - four chargrilled king prawns, marinated in North African chermoula (a beautiful garlic, coriander, parsley and cumin sauce) topping an equally aromatic cous cous salad. Chicken tagine - tender chicken breast simmered in a spicy harissa tomato sauce with plump olives, chick peas and peppers. Served with almond rice on the side, this was my husband's and sister-in-law's favorite of the night. Baklava, turkish delight and fairy floss, plus mint teas for dessert. They have very authentically added a cinnamon stick to each glass of mint tea, a classic flavor combination of North Africa. Let the mint steep in the pot, then swirl your cinnamon stick around gently for a minute to infuse. Remove and drink. I was NOT expecting this when I saw the "coming soon" sign a few weeks ago. Traditionally this particular property has been filled and abandoned by lackluster restaurants. Zurouna is beautiful and here to stay, the kind of place that makes me so proud of my culinary heritage.

Very small serving size as delivery. Lahmacun I ordered 2 that would usually provide me with 4…read moremeals (I usually freeze and oven reheat as it is usually a generous size from other providers.) The meal was so small that I needed to consume both (2 Meals) to feel that I had a meal. At almost $20.00 each this represents appalling value for money, in a word, "ripoff" I have not eaten there in person and going on the experience of the delivery I am unlikely to. Seriously disappointed and pissed off. PS: I am 70+ and weigh 75ish kg my appetite is small. this order was a massive disappointment.

Dips, dolma, meat skewers, lamb, kofte!! What more in terms of Turkish delights could you want?…read more Well, the Turkish Delight martini is what. Sweet, subtle hints of rose water and adorned with a beautiful portion of Turkish Delight!! A perfect Turkish feast.

This place serves amazing and authentic Lebanese food. The owners are always so welcoming and…read moreattentive. Portion sizes are great and the malfouf is to die for!!

From the owner: We serve authentic home style Lebanese food at our restaurant. The best way to experience the food…read moreis to try our sumptuous banquet menu. Everything is prepared fresh on the premises so you can taste the difference.

Very enjoyable lunch! Food was delicious - only disappointment was the triple cooked potatoes! We…read morewere told due to a supplier issue there was an hour wait which having arrived at 12pm, we waited. At 1'ish, potatoes arrived which you would expect to be crisp and crunchy not soft and just like McCains oven baked chips! The chicken, octopus, beef and felafel kebabs all fabulous as were the bbq carrots and hommus dips.

Had a wonderful dinner last night at Shukah. The food was delicious the service friendly and…read moreefficient. Nice to be able to see the chefs calmly working hard preparing the next generous serving of yummy food to eat. Great selection of wines we hadn't tried before. I'm definitely going back particularly for the dumplings ( to die for ) the dips, peas... I could go on. Would recommend you try this restaurant.

Tahini is like the Ketchup of the Middle East and I found a bounty of my spirit confinement at the…read moredelicious Tahini Lebanese Diner! First the seducing aroma of freshly made felafel and zesty hummus hits your senses. The menu covers wraps, salads, taste boards, Lebanese breakfasts and grilled meats - most things come accented with fresh herbs, lemon, garlic, spices and pomegranate. If you've never tried tahini, you must! It's a zesty savoury sesame seed sauce that tastes like a muted down peanut butter with a lemon kick (I use it on everything from avocado and eggs on toast to ice cream) The service was sensational - our waitress enthusiastically talked us through the menu and excitedly dropped off dishes as they were ready. The chefs were chatting to people at the food pass, and I appreciated the thoughtful touches like coconut sugar, salt and olive oil on tables. Standout dishes were the fig and walnut hummus, smoky baba ganoush, felafel with homemade tahini and crispy potato bravas with garlic oil and chilli. Basically - over order to avoid food regrets! I was impressed that gluten free bread offered as an alternative to the pita wrap, and most of the menu is allergy friendly. The drinks menu is extensive and I'll save you a sonnet about the refreshing Lebanese iced tea with pomegranate, mint and ...pine nuts! Try it to believe it. Then tell your friends. And the best part? I left (okay, I may have squealed) grinning with a jar of impossible-to-find authentic Lebanese tahini from the providore pantry shop to recreate tahini dreams at home.

Sometimes I get stupidly excited about food. It would be an understatement if I said that I was…read moreexcited about Tahini. My friend and I basically ran into the restaurant. We found a table, almost clapping with joy when the menu arrived, although that was nothing compared to when the food arrived. We ordered hummus with fig and walnuts, baba ganoush, flat bread, gluten free bread, falafel, a salad plate, potatoes and chilli, seared prawns and house made sodas. A and I were, no joke, squealing (We're pathetic, I know). I didn't know where to begin. Dips. Dips is where you begin. Hot damn. Figs and walnuts are the best things to put in hummus. Apart from bread, anyway. Baba ganoush is one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth. The bread was warm and light. YUM. (also, kudos for having a GF bread option, guys) The potatoes were the perfect mix of crunchy and fluffy and the added chilli was balanced like a dream. The prawns blew my mind. They came with this chilli mayo that was to die for. The salad was fresh and crisp and I was basically in food heaven. The falafel was covered in the most amazing tahini. I was getting the biggest food envy watching the food come out of the kitchen. I wanted to order everything. And the staff were so lovely. I'm sure they were laughing at how excited A and I were, but I did not care. I was happy. I was full. Everythig was perfect. I'm pretty sure that I'm not explaining how actually incredible this meal was. In fact, I know I'm not. My advice? Go to this restaurant. Don't live in Melbourne? Go to Melbourne and go to this restaurant.

Great food especially the mega schnitzels. Best way to…read moredescribe them? Think map of Tasmania!

Limor's has been sitting in my Bookmarked Businesses for a little while now, so when I was in the…read morearea looking for dinner, it was an easy choice. I was surprised walking into Limor's, it was larger on the inside than I had anticipated and had a mezzanine level which was for events- and happened to have an event in full swing that evening. Due to the size of the site, everything echoed, making it rather uncomfortable for the diners below, who were exposed to the sometimes inappropriate music and comments of the patrons above. The service at Limor's is standard. You'll be taken to your seat and given water. You'll be attended to the average amount of times and food will be cleared when you are done. They will also try up sell coffee and dry looking cake to you to invite you to leave. The service is absolutely nothing to write home about, neither is the decor. I don't even think I could describe it to you because it all fades in to the background. In general, the overall feel of Limor's is 'High School Cafeteria.' So we ordered, some sort of main that consisted of meat and chicken shish, two sides being chips, salad or vegetables. We opted for Vegetables and substituted chips for rice. This was lost when explaining to the waiter (third different for the evening) as he just took off the chips, and charged for additional rice. I was on a date, so there was no sense complaining at the counter. But honestly- standard stuff here. The meat and chicken shish were perfectly seasoned, excellently cooked and generously portioned. The skewered veggies were cooked well but under seasoned. The "salad" was not dressed. Oh and the side plate of rice was over cooked. Take from that what you will. We also ordered Cabbage Rolls which came with Israeli Salad. No. Just, no. The layers of cabbage were too thick and the bottoms were burnt, literally black. The filling was okay, too much rice not enough meat and vegetables. The salad was good. They dressed this one. Two mains cost us just under $50 and to be honest I was a little embarrassed I suggested the place. The atmosphere took away from our dining experience and the cuisine itself really did not have enough redeeming qualities to make me ever want to return unfortunately. All in all, I think you could do better and so could they.

Shisha + tea+ kababs = Middle Eastern Deliciousness! Now I…read moreknow lamb Kababs are most popular, but Im quite partial to chcken myself. This is gonna sound weird, but I love a good chicken kebab with lettuce, tomato, cheese , tzatziki, AND bbq sauce. trust me, its delicious! As with any kebab place, you can get one to go, but this is also a sit down restaurant and bar. Several other dishes are available, but I must confess Im a creature of habit and comfort, and stick to the aforementioned kebab of my heart. The restaurant offers tables, both indoor and outdoor, but my favourite place to sit is in the cushioned area by the very front of the place, which looks out onto Acland st in all its glory. I cant wait to sit here in Summer with a nice breeze blowing!The shisha pipes are located here as well, so u can sit, enjoy a drink and a pipe at the same time.

Casablanca has recently opened as a shisha restaurant on Fitzroy Street. You can smell the sweet…read morefruity fragrances of the shisha's well before you have set foot in the door, that mixed with the smell of garlic coming from their signature kebabs. The decor of Casablanca is very bright, the walls are all painted orange and the various shisha pipes are positioned both outside and along the window ledge of the restaurant ready to be enjoyed by patrons. You may choose from flavours like banana, grape, apple, strawberry and watermelon even just the smell of this fragrant smoke is enough to make your mouth water. If your not in the mood for a shisha you may like to enjoy a Middle Eastern style meal, the most popular being their kebabs. The most interesting thing about the kebabs is that they always seem to be on sale for a different price! Depending on the time of day, time of the week etc, you can expect to pay anywhere between $6 and $9.

Good shisha. Comfy seating. Chill atmosphere.read more

From the owner: Serving great Shisha coffee and tea Ia relaxed and…read morechilled atmosphere Sunday till Thursday 3pm till 12am Friday and Saturday 3pm till 1am

Falafel House (as you might expect from their name) specialise in falafels, which they do…read moreexceedingly well. And at 2 in the morning, on your way home from a big night out, there's nothing that a vegetarian could be more thrilled to see than a big Mediterranean falafel wrap. As well as being open late and serving good quality and relatively healthy fast food, Falafel House is also awesome because they sell all kinds of old-school milk bar staples like milk shakes and thick shakes (they even have Blue Heaven flavour)! To walk home with a falafel wrap in one hand an a chocolate milkshake in the other makes me all kinds of happy.

When shops come and go at an alarming rate along Toorak Road, it's comforting to know Falafel House…read morehas been a constant. They stay open until 4 am and open again at 9am seven nights a week. So, fantastic for the Big nights out, or when you're burning midnight oil. They've got more than souvlakis and kebabs, schwarmas, burgers and fish chips too oh and dimmies as well. Coffee is served and try the Turkish delight or baklava. Now I want to stress that the meats hanging off the rotisserie are ACTUAL meat cuts be it lamb or chicken or beef and NOT the kind of meat glue that's just yuck. So you know you are getting tasty proper slices of lamb, chicken or beef. Or a combination just ask. And choose your toppings from Garlic sauce to tabbouleh and pickled turnips and chilli. My mouth is watering already. I would recommend the lamb kebab or souvlaki burger. Tasty and satisfying. It's a beeeet more expensive than others but again, you aren't eating meat glue. The gentlemen serving you are always happy to be there. It's a pretty basic setup but importantly it's kept clean and you can sit inside our outside. I heart Falafel House.

This is my first time here. Amazing food. We had the…read morevegetarian iskander and falafels. Good service as well.

A surprising little restaurant with a lot to offer. The dips are amazing, meat is tender and…read moredelicious with the right amount of far away smoky spices. The most amazing thing on the menu a haloumi salad! I have been back a few times for just that!