Kazbah Darling Harbour
I have been to Kazbah a couple of times - once in Potts Point for breakfast, once in Darling Harbour. I much, much, much prefer the Potts Point location, though I think it had since closed down. There is still another location, however - the Balmain location, to which I have not been.
The tourist-friendly Darling Harbour precinct simply does not gel with my aesthetics, and eating, for me, is partially about aesthetics. Often, when we eat out (and particularly when we're eating at anything other than the cheap-eats price-point), we're not simply eating food, we're eating a lifestyle, an aspiration.
One somewhat charming aspect of the Darling Harbour location is that there are a row of tables on the deck where shisha is smoked - the fragrant smoke giving an impression of a particularly buzy Middle Eastern local hang. There is also belly dancing performance on a weekly basis - fun fact, I have once studied under one of their regular performers, Rachel - and she is the real deal.
If you go on a Saturday evening, you will very likely be able to catch the fireworks. Dinner and potentially 2 shows? That's admittedly pretty cool, particularly if you're a visitor to Sydney or that part of Sydney. So despite my whining about the touristy location, there are some points of attraction to Kazbah's Darling Harbour location.
I think the best way to enjoy Kazbah is through a degustation, or if there are only two-three people, the Kazbah board. Though the Kazbah Board is advertised as for 2 people (and there are 2 of everything, making sharing between more people a little bit awkward), I think there is such a huge amount of food that it really can be shared between 3.
Behold.
And at $109, this board is not bad value. You get to taste a bit of everything.
Let's look at each of the components individually.
Let's start with the tzatiki dip with a drizzle of olive oil in the middle - it is fresh and cannot be faulted. Then, we have haloumi grilled in honey and paired with watermelon. Though they are not really the same thing, this kind of treatment of this kind of cheese brings to mind the incomparable Saganaki Cheese from The Apollo. It is perhaps not fair, but after tasting the Apollo version, similar dishes from everywhere else tends to fall just a bit short.
The lamb ribs, in pomegranate BBQ sauce is inspired. It is fall-off-the-bone tender, and the slightly tart and sweet pomegranate sauce really balances the smokiness of the BBQ sauce. I only wish there were more of this delightful morsel.
Right next to the lamb ribs is a chicken sambousek. It is nicely flavoured, though I would prefer it if it came out piping hot.
The chicken taouk kabab and the lamb kafta kabab came served on swords. Very dramatic indeed - but they had to be removed, rightly, for health and safety reasons. These were delightful - if there is one thing you should eat at Kazbah, it's the kabab. Char-grilled to perfection, the meat is so wonderfully balanced in flavour and retained its juices.
The hommus is delightfully smokey. Though I am not a fan of hommus (sacrilege, I know), I can still recognise a good one when I taste it. If you are a hommus-fan, you will really like this one. The pickled vegetables are not as tart as I would like but nonetheless offer a lovely respite from all the rich food.
The chips are also done pretty well - nothing special, but certainly satisfactory. It's not really the main game at Kazbah anyway, so it would be unfair to judge the chips too harshly as though we were comparing it to somewhere that triple-fried their chips.
The tabbouleh is filled with grains and seeds, giving it a lovely texture which I prefer to the usual leafy version. It is refreshing yet at the same time substantial.
The felafel is as felafel should be: crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Again, it would be wonderful if it could be piping hot - but considering Kazbah had assembled an entire tasting plate, it is still pretty good.
The toum (garlic sauce) is delightful. Pungent yet smooth, it is a perfect accompaniment to the aforementioned chips or the flatbreads served underneath the kababs.
The kibbeh with minced lamb is also pretty good - very hearty, the meat well-flavoured.
The babaganoush is smokey and lovely, and I appreciate the drizzle of oil on top which helps it go down particularly well.
Score: 3/5
Cost: Generally around $50-$70pp - considering this is at Darling Harbour, I would say this is good value.
Address: 10 Darling Dr, Sydney NSW
Website: https://kazbah.com.au/
The tourist-friendly Darling Harbour precinct simply does not gel with my aesthetics, and eating, for me, is partially about aesthetics. Often, when we eat out (and particularly when we're eating at anything other than the cheap-eats price-point), we're not simply eating food, we're eating a lifestyle, an aspiration.
One somewhat charming aspect of the Darling Harbour location is that there are a row of tables on the deck where shisha is smoked - the fragrant smoke giving an impression of a particularly buzy Middle Eastern local hang. There is also belly dancing performance on a weekly basis - fun fact, I have once studied under one of their regular performers, Rachel - and she is the real deal.
If you go on a Saturday evening, you will very likely be able to catch the fireworks. Dinner and potentially 2 shows? That's admittedly pretty cool, particularly if you're a visitor to Sydney or that part of Sydney. So despite my whining about the touristy location, there are some points of attraction to Kazbah's Darling Harbour location.
I think the best way to enjoy Kazbah is through a degustation, or if there are only two-three people, the Kazbah board. Though the Kazbah Board is advertised as for 2 people (and there are 2 of everything, making sharing between more people a little bit awkward), I think there is such a huge amount of food that it really can be shared between 3.
Behold.
And at $109, this board is not bad value. You get to taste a bit of everything.
Let's look at each of the components individually.
Let's start with the tzatiki dip with a drizzle of olive oil in the middle - it is fresh and cannot be faulted. Then, we have haloumi grilled in honey and paired with watermelon. Though they are not really the same thing, this kind of treatment of this kind of cheese brings to mind the incomparable Saganaki Cheese from The Apollo. It is perhaps not fair, but after tasting the Apollo version, similar dishes from everywhere else tends to fall just a bit short.
The lamb ribs, in pomegranate BBQ sauce is inspired. It is fall-off-the-bone tender, and the slightly tart and sweet pomegranate sauce really balances the smokiness of the BBQ sauce. I only wish there were more of this delightful morsel.
Right next to the lamb ribs is a chicken sambousek. It is nicely flavoured, though I would prefer it if it came out piping hot.
The chicken taouk kabab and the lamb kafta kabab came served on swords. Very dramatic indeed - but they had to be removed, rightly, for health and safety reasons. These were delightful - if there is one thing you should eat at Kazbah, it's the kabab. Char-grilled to perfection, the meat is so wonderfully balanced in flavour and retained its juices.
The hommus is delightfully smokey. Though I am not a fan of hommus (sacrilege, I know), I can still recognise a good one when I taste it. If you are a hommus-fan, you will really like this one. The pickled vegetables are not as tart as I would like but nonetheless offer a lovely respite from all the rich food.
The chips are also done pretty well - nothing special, but certainly satisfactory. It's not really the main game at Kazbah anyway, so it would be unfair to judge the chips too harshly as though we were comparing it to somewhere that triple-fried their chips.
The tabbouleh is filled with grains and seeds, giving it a lovely texture which I prefer to the usual leafy version. It is refreshing yet at the same time substantial.
The felafel is as felafel should be: crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Again, it would be wonderful if it could be piping hot - but considering Kazbah had assembled an entire tasting plate, it is still pretty good.
The toum (garlic sauce) is delightful. Pungent yet smooth, it is a perfect accompaniment to the aforementioned chips or the flatbreads served underneath the kababs.
The kibbeh with minced lamb is also pretty good - very hearty, the meat well-flavoured.
The babaganoush is smokey and lovely, and I appreciate the drizzle of oil on top which helps it go down particularly well.
Score: 3/5
Cost: Generally around $50-$70pp - considering this is at Darling Harbour, I would say this is good value.
Address: 10 Darling Dr, Sydney NSW
Website: https://kazbah.com.au/
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