GOOD FOOD MONTH SPECIAL: Caravanserai at Lox, Stock & Barrel

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Every October, I try to do one hats off dinner event as the highlight of Good Food Month. This month, I'm at Lox, Stock & Barrel in Bondi enjoying a trip down the silk road.

Cocktail
The cocktail of the evening is made of Tanqueray gin, green apple juice and basil. It's fruity and refreshing; but if you're not much of a cocktail-fan, you also have the choice of a Singleton Single Malt Whisky.

The food menu is designed to be shared, so grab a few friends and enjoy a culinary adventure that takes you from the Mediterranean to the Middle East then to the Far East!

Mezze 

The Awesome Foursome
Starting from the top left and going clockwise, we have ful medames (fava bean salad), hazelnut tarator, hummos and tzatziki. The hummos is particularly delicious, as is the ful medames. 

These came accompanied by soft, fresh nigella bread. 

Nigella Bread

Fried Baby Fish & Wild Green Salad
The crispy fried baby fish is cooked with turmeric and chermoula, and accompanied by pickled pumpkin, turnips and cauliflower. The tart flavour of the pickles balances the fried goodness of the fish. The wild green salad is interesting - served in a cheek-puckering lemon garlic dressing and with roasted almonds, the leaf of this odd plant is quite bitter, and thus an acquired taste. 

Main

Iman Bayaldi

Iman Bayaldi is a Turkish dish involving baked eggplant. The eggplant has a rich, smoky flavour and is drizzled in a delicious, rich savoury dressing. 
Crispy Kingfish
The crispy kingfish is served with okra and tamarind sauce; with the flesh deliciously tender and the skin, as the name suggests, crispy. The sauce is a great choice for this dish because it enhances the delicate taste of the fish without overwhelming it. 

Lamb Shoulder & Mejaderra
The lamb is, according to my dining companions, the standout dish. It is slow roasted and sprinkled with za'atar and pomegranate, and so beautifully melt-in-your-mouth. I must admit by this stage I was getting incredibly full. Had I been on an empty stomach, I would have polished this dish off in no time. 

The lamb sits on a bed of mejaderra, which is so flavoursome that again, I wish I were on an empty-ish stomach to do this dish justice. The mejaderra is a delightful combination of basmati rice, lentils, caramelised onion, almonds, pomegranates and fresh herbs. Such a complex yet still-delicate and well-balanced dish is definitely one of the highlights of the evening for me. 

Dessert

Dessert Trio
 Dessert is my favourite part of the evening. I must have a second stomach, because no matter how full I am from the other food I've managed to stuff myself with, I always have room for dessert; and this dessert trio certainly did not disappoint. 

Starting from the top, we have a sticky rice and banana wrapped in banana leaf. It is lovely and rich, but like most Asian desserts, not overwhelmingly so. In the middle we have a frozen saffron and pistachio lassi. It's very interesting that the lassi is served not as a drink, but in a semi-freddo form. The tart flavour gives a welcome break to the taste-buds; though I felt that I could only taste the yogurt, and not the delicate, easily overwhelmed flavours of pistachio and saffron. Last but not least, the duck egg custard tart is a winner among the trio. The dense, almost-crispy base held a liquid custard which is sweet, smooth and everything you would want a custard to be. 

Score: 5 / 5 
I am so glad I picked this dinner for my key-note Good Food Month event. It combines everything I love about eating out: the opportunity to try new flavours, the intimate atmosphere, the sharing of interesting dishes which is conducive to good conversation, and excellent value. 
Note: Apologies for the dim photos which are of lower quality than I would have liked! The atmosphere was very intimate, the restaurant seating no more than 30 diners, plus I had wonderful company so I didn't want to spoil the mood by using flash photography.
Cost: $70pp including an alcoholic beverage (cocktail or whisky) 
Address: 140 Glenayr Avenue, Bondi Beach
Website: again, being a good food month event, get in before it runs out! 

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