Lunch. There are so many places to eat in Ballina that it can be hard to choose. Luckily, Lyn had a…read moreplan.
Beanz is basically a healthy sandwich bar. It's a small, hole-in-the-wall, eclectic looking place with seating for maybe 20 people.
Do not expect a smorgasbord of choices - the owners take (justifiable) pride in their menu and believe it better to do a small number of things perfectly rather than many things fairly well. So they had a small range of wraps, burgers, and sandwiches all involving a number of core (salad-based) ingredients and sauces combined with a choice of protein.
Lyn grabbed a felafel burger and I chose a chicken Lebanese bread wrap. You order at the counter - make sure you check out the salads. This is no row of sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, grated carrot, and so on. Oh no. This is containers of tabbouli, and coleslaw, and lentils, and other very tasty mixes. Unless you have a rabid dislike of something (parsley makes me gag so a parsley based dish is a bit too much) don't try and change up the order. They've spent time perfecting a blend and ratio of ingredients and it's worth your while to just go with it.
Presentation was gorgeous. Filled with bright colours on fresh breads, the food was simple and well constructed. No sides or extras. And, to be honest, no need. These things were huge!
Service was hilarious. The owners (who've been doing this for something like 30 years) are true characters. Friendly, a little odd, and proud of their place, they really do provide service with a smile.
But, without taste, presentation and service mean nothing. I expected Beanz to be good simply because Lyn recommended it. But, even so, I was blown away by the food.
My wrap arrived wrapped with just a small amount peeking out. First impression was that it was stuffed but still biteable.
It's important to balance the amount of bread texture and taste, and the dry ingredients with just the right amount of wet - sauce and salad have to be wet enough so your food doesn't ball up in your mouth yet dry enough not to drop down your hands and slop out of the sandwich. With the sheer amount of chopped up salad I was a little concerned - especially when you remember I had a wrap made with Lebanese bread and there were a number of sauces involved!
No worries there, mate. Seriously, I ended up with maybe a tablespoon of sauce/salad on the plate and finger tips. Maybe. The Lebanese bread did not dissolve into a gooey mess either!
With wraps you have to be careful that the ingredients don't end up unbalanced as you roll it. It's easy for the sauce and protein to end up on one side only so that you alternate between mouthfuls of salad and mouthfuls of sauce and meat. Not the case with my wrap at all - and there was a decent amount of chicken throughout the wrap from first bite to last.
Finally, sauce. My wrap had a sweet chilli along with the usual hummus. The chilli sauce was a very nice blend of sweet to chilli and paired well with the hummus to create a creamy, tangy, accompaniment to the ingredients.
I have no idea what Lyn's felafel burger tasted like aside from yummy! It looked good - the burger wasn't too huge and the ingredients, while generous, were not piled so high she couldn't eat it.
We walked out full but not so stuffed as to be uncomfortable. And having enjoyed it so much, I'm heading back with my twins!
