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Rumi

4.0 (25 reviews)
Open 5:00 pm - 10:00 PM

Rumi Photos

RUMI ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Classy
Casual
Moderate noise
Good for groups

Recommended Reviews - Rumi

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Two S.

First visit back to Rumi for four years. Somehow this fantastic restaurant has got even better which I would hardly have thought possible. I brought along two good friends with me for our traditional end of year get together. They are from the inner south and east. Both get edgy in the inner north beyond Northcote. Brunswick for them is unfamiliar, Coburg somewhere utterly foreign and potentially dangerous, Fawkner a war zone. So, going here was a brave and possibly reckless choice. But, both friends went crazy over Rumi. Gobsmacked at the succession of amazing dishes being rolled out at our $60 banquet, one declared in between mouthfuls with typical steely authority, "...amazing, it's a 4.8...". We sagely agreed. It's hard to know where to start on the magnificence of the meal and overall experience here. Maybe I'll start with the thing that was most extraordinary to me. It's an unusual observation too. The salads here are exceptional. I've never had anything like them. Incredibly simple and fresh with the most thoughtful composition and such lovely flavour. My taste highlight of the night was a slice of Lebanese cucumber with mint, both seeming like they'd just been picked from the garden, quickly chilled and then served. I could not do justice to the elegant simplicity of the dish and the delicate and cleansing taste. It's one of my culinary highlights of the year That early dish set the tone of the meal for me. Dish after dish of extraordinary food continued to come to the table. Beautifully creamy labna, gorgeous soft pita bread, delicate cheese cigars, superb meatballs, huge beautifully cooked king prawns, the best quail I've had for years, superb roast potatos and so on and so on. Just this succession of incredible dishes. The whole trout we had was cause for much discussion. We'd rarely seen the likes of it. Beautifully flavoured we marvelled over this dish for some time as the level of skill that had gone into cooking it was a matter of deep awe. It's one of the best cooked fish meals I've ever had. The fish was still incredibly moist and tasted beautiful. A second salad sent me into heaven again. I could go on and on about more of the dishes but won't. They were all exceptional. The wines we had were lovely too. One a Turkish wine, the other from Lebanon I think. We enjoyed the first one the best. I like the restaurant space and decor here. It's open, modern and it works. Service was excellent. Our prime waiter was a lovely young man who reminded me a little of a better looking Harry Potter. Very good at his job and with an impish sense of humor. He really helped make our night. To conclude, Rumi is one of the true jewels of the inner north. It is a true culinary experience. It is not to be missed under any circumstances.

Freekah salad
Jack D.

OH MAN IS RUMI GOOD. We're lucky to have Rumi down the road from us. It's a cool venue where one can dress up and have an incredibly fancy anniversary dinner, or just pop by after work and have an indulgent meal. Either way you will feel comfortable and welcome. On our first occasion, we kicked off with a cocktail (because why not?) I had a watermelon based cocktail using West Winds Gin. It was utterly refreshing and a wonderful apertif. The Middle-Eastern menu is split into three sections - small, medium and large - with all dishes designed to share. Of the smaller plates we had: + pita bread + Crispy fried cuttlefish (SO SO moorish. I couldn't stop.) + Charcoal chicken wings + Persian Meatballs (delicious, and with lots of sauce to mop up with the pita bread) Of the larger plates we shared: + Freekah salad with almonds, ewe's milk feta and pomegranate dressing. (This was so amazing and I am hoping to recreate it at home. SO SO GOOD.) + Advieh marinated Lamb shoulder (So soft, it literally fell off the bone.) The service was spot-on. Very attentive without being annoying. We were never without a drink (which is extremely important to me, ha!) and they were kind in recommending dishes to us. Rumi is a winner all-round.

Freekeh salad and Persian meatballs
Trang H.

This is my first Middle Eastern restaurant in Melbourne and I love it. Literally there is nothing that I don't like about it. *food: We ordered Freekah salad ($13.5), Persian meatballs (13.5), and apricots with labne (7.5) for dessert. The salad is exceptional! I don't know every ingredient but all the flavors are so well blended and satisfying and the texture is interesting. The meatballs is good, but not very outstanding. Apricots and labne is a weird combination I thought, but turned out to be an excellent choice. *service: staff are polite and friendly. We at first order the 4-course banquet and thought we could share a one person portion into 2. Then when we figured out it is actually $48 eah person we had to cancel it and the waiter was totally cool with it. *ambience: cozy and classy at the same time:) it's a small restaurant with nice interior design and furniture. *price: a little expensive but as I said, it worths every buck I paid :)

sam m.

My girl has her finger on Melbourne's restaurant pulse, so to speak, and as soon as Rumi opened in East Brunswick she was very excited. And with good reason! It's simple... Rumi does fine Middle Eastern cuisine. It is better than any I've had anywhere else. The best thing to do here is engage in the banquet. For around $40 per person you get a taste of everything and the food just keeps coming and coming. It starts with olives and breads and pickles (do not overdo this course, you will want to as it is delicious as all hell but there is better to come). You then move into this shrimp dish and some delicious meatballs with the best cauliflower I've EVER eaten. Then it gets hazy -- the stomach fills beyond capacity before... Bang! They hit you with this lamb shoulder that is so large, and so exquisitely cooked that you are forced to devour it despite the screaming in your gut. We ate with some vegos and their food looked awesome too!! Treat yourself.

Gabriel P.

I had heard some very good things about this Middle Eastern restaurant - so decided to book in a group of six of us for their famous 4 course banquet. At a cost of $40 per head we figured it was a pretty good deal - but then again no small change to fork out for a meal. We had done our homework and knew that corkage was $10 per bottle (a rule they have since changed - there is no BYO at Rumi anymore), which we thought was pricey - but I had been given a few bottles of Organic wine by a winemaker and was keen to give my friends a taste so we enquired about getting some glasses. The waitress gave us a look like we were naughty school children and said that they did allow BYO if you have a very special bottle to drink otherwise to buy off their menu. We informed her that they very clearly stated they were BYO so to go ahead and get us some glasses. You are probably thinking at this point why I am making a deal of BYO rules that have since changed. Well this is my way of pointing out the general feeling that this place had i.e. one of innate stinginess. For our the four course meal they would bring out two small plates of each course which was about enough food for four people. In fact one of the courses consisted of lamb skewered kebabs of which (you guessed it) they gave us four. Now I am not a mathematician but I am pretty sure it is hard to divvy up four small kebabs amongst six people. Anyway the food was of a high standard. Which is a pity because with a little bit of a hospitable vibe this place could be great.

Vanessa R.

I preferred Rumi's previous address just up the road from where they are now, but I understand that they probably had to move to slightly larger premises in order to cater to their every increasing fan base. The new restaurant lacks a certain intimacy and warmth but it's still a lovely spot for dinner, and the middle eastern hospitality is as abundant as ever. The Levantine and Persian inspired dishes are reason alone to come here. The sigara boregi, cigar-shaped cheese-filled pastry, is a must-have, as are the spiced school prawns with tahini sauce. The lamb shoulder is falling-off-the-bone tender and the order isn't complete without their winning freekah salad. Choose from a refined wine list (including Lebanese wine) to wash this down with or sample the anise-flavoured arak if you dare. Make sure you book ahead because Rumi's reputation is known far and wide, and there are enough people in this neighbourhood who come here regularly, let alone people who travel from further afield simply to see what the fuss is about.

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9 years ago

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7 years ago

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14 years ago

This is my favourite Banquet in Melbourne. Just order it and enjoy .....little birds and lamb what more does a man need.

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12 years ago

Without a doubt one of the best restaurants I have ever been too. The food is unreal. All of it. Not one bad dish here.

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Review Highlights - Rumi

SO SO GOOD.) + Advieh marinated Lamb shoulder (So soft, it literally fell off the bone.) The service was spot-on.

Mentioned in 6 reviews

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Babajan

Babajan

4.7(7 reviews)
1.0 kmCarlton North
$

Babajan has an interesting menu with lots of options but their exorbitant prices and elitism is a…read morebit much So my friends and arrive to a very busy crowded cafe. We are seated outside on little stools. It's a hit day. We feel like salads. Their counter salads look great but come with a catch. You can't order a salad as a main only as a side and you can't mix two. And it's a small side place of 13.50. Or you can get takeaway for two salads for 13.50 is a small sumo sized salad cup. Why because they're promoting something called responsible cafes so apparently cardboard takeaway containers and plastic spoons are responsible. Yes the waiter thought it was a bit much too but what can he do. 13.50 for a small salad takeaway is already overpriced. Yes I had the fish bulgur salad which was sensational and their eggplant tahini salad was to die for but I had takeaway walked 10 minutes to Edinburgh gardens with better seating less noisy and a nice atmosphere. Also their small sized coffee is 4 dollars and weak. Recommend getting takeaway only. You won't be saving the environment but you will definitely make less of a hole in your pocket. Menu is definitely to die for and staff are lovely despite the insanity that prevails.

Best breakfast I've had in a while! I kinda don't want to tell you all how amazing it was so I can…read morekeep this place to myself! We got greeted with smiley and friendly staff - always a good start to the day. Place is small but the turnaround was pretty fast! We got a table straight away. The cuisine is turkish-greek and the dishes are absolutely delicious and full of flavour. We tried a bit of the spanakopita to start, which was no less than my greek grandmother's homemade pita! We had the baked eggs and avocado ezme with a side of sesame koulouri and no joke we licked the plates clean! So much flavour and very generous portions. There are so many options for those who want a takeaway - a cabinet full of delicious pitas, salads, boreks and little bites! Oh coffee is from code black and perfect! Can't wait to try some more dishes!

Photos
Babajan
Babajan - Good takeaway salads and sweet treats

Good takeaway salads and sweet treats

Babajan - Nice interior.

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Nice interior.

Abla's Lebanese Restaurant

Abla's Lebanese Restaurant

4.5(15 reviews)
2.5 kmCarlton
$$

One of the best Lebanese restaurants in the world . I haven't been to Lebanon, however this tastes…read moreas authentic as my grandmother's Lebanese recipes. If you love Lebanese food then make sure you don't miss out . I would fly here just to eat here especially if I'm in Australia in another state . I love this place one of my favorite restaurants on the planet

I love this restaurant so much!! My parents came here…read moretogether when they were younger and last month when we came back to Melbourne my parents brought the family here. And even though we originally had a reservation for 4, when we called ahead they had no problem changing our reservation to 6 which we really appreciated. The food was incredible. Looking at the menu, I had no idea what to choose because everything looked so delicious! I ended up deciding on the kibbee (which was honestly one of the best things I have ever tasted) however I also tasted the chicken and rice, lentils and rice, and the dips with pita. I would absolutely recommend ALL of those dishes as they were all incredible!!! The dessert was equally amazing and the portion sizes were perfect! Despite being fairly busy, the waitstaff was very helpful and quick. I really appreciated everything that they did to make our dinner perfect. The atmosphere of the place was very comforting and the candles really added to the vibe. Everything about the decor made it seem like I was in a whole other place for the night. I have never been to Lebanon and I hadn't eaten very much Lebanese food before but after eating there, I really want to fly directly there. My family has their recipe book and when I tasted their rice and lentils I was immediately transported back to my childhood. Their food felt so nostalgic. I have a peanut allergy and the staff was very informative and clear about the nuts used in the kitchen. If you have a treenut allergy I would advise you not to come as Lebanese food does have a lot of treenuts, however Abla's was very safe for me and I think anyone else with another allergy would feel very assured with the way that the staff handled it. Overall our experience was incredible and Abla's is an amazing place! If I lived in Melbourne, I don't think very much could stop me from going every day!! I definitely recommend this restaurant to everyone!!!!!!!!!

Photos
Abla's Lebanese Restaurant - Chicken and rice

Chicken and rice

Abla's Lebanese Restaurant - Exterior

Exterior

Abla's Lebanese Restaurant

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Agraba - Kibbeh Meklieh

Agraba

3.8(12 reviews)
3.7 kmNorth Melbourne
$$

Eggplant dip. Get it. Get it now…read more I'm kind of tempted to leave the review at that to be honest...but I won't. This unsuspecting place turned out to be quite delightful. It was packed on a Saturday night so book ahead. The starter of bread and eggplant dip was amazing. I probably could have just had that and been happy. The main of Kibbeh Meklieh was quite filling with amazing flavours throughout.Our other main of Coussa was a total let down however. It was the most expensive item we ordered and at $17.50, I would have expected more than three small pieces. The flavour was nice enough, but it was completely overpriced and underwhelming compared to the other items on the menu. My dining partner has been there several times for lunch so it's interesting to note that many of the dishes are offered as wraps during the day for nearly half the price - and larger serves. I would certainly go back because the flavours are bang on - might just stick to daylight hours to make it better value.

I have walked past Agraba many times and not even noticed it, so when my workmates told me they…read morewere going to this place for lunch, I was surprised when they said it was in Errol St. Since my visit here though, I will no longer will I be in the land of the unobservant, because this place is worth a visit. The menu consists of an array of Lebanese delights. On my visit here I decided to try the lamb wrap and I was wrapped I did; it was delicious and humongous. I followed this up with a Lebanese coffee which was just the ticket to combat my imminent food coma. My work mates also chose an assortment from the menu including other wraps and share plates and they were all in agreement that this place is definitely worth a second visit. If you are in the area and fancy something a bit different give this place a go, you won't be disappointed.

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Agraba - Lamb Skewers

Lamb Skewers

Agraba - Time for a Lebanese Coffee

Time for a Lebanese Coffee

Agraba - Tabouli

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Tabouli

Rumi - mideastern - Updated May 2026

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