Byblos

Byblos
38 Siddeley St

WTC Wharf 3005

The WTC (World Trade Centre) Wharf precinct is still largely unknown though it has some great places to eat and drink.  Located on the north bank of the Yarra River opposite the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (known to many as "Jeff's Shed") the WTC Wharf is easily accessible from Spencer Street or Siddeley Street.

Byblos is a bar/restaurant specialising in Lebanese and Mediterranean cuisine.  The interior is beautiful, very lush and extravagant.  It is somewhere you can drop into for a cocktail, a quick coffee or a meal.  On this occasion I was dining with my sisters and we decided to share a selection of plates from the Mezat section of the menu, plus a salad and dip.

Fattoush Salad - Mixed green salad with radish, tomato, cucumber, toasted Lebanese bread and a lemon and olive oil dressing

Falafel - Ground chickpeas, broad beans, onion, parsley, garlic and traditional Lebanese spices.  Served with homemade tahini sauce

Pumpkin Kebbi  - Pumpkin, spinach and feta cheese, onion, garlic and spices

Hommos and pita bread - Chickpeas, lemon and tahini.  The picture was taken after we had all had a dip!  It looks a bit oily in the photo but was very tasty

Fatayer - Homemade pastry with spinach, walnuts and Lebanese spices

Calamari and homemade tartar sauce

Whilst everything was fine the calamari and falafel were definitely the picks of the night.  The calamari was tender and beautifully cooked.  The falafel was full of crispy chickpea goodness. The pumpkin kibbi was a bit bland - no discernible pumpkin flavour which was disappointing.  By contrast the Fatayer was quite tasty.  The salad was fresh and crisp, the dip and bread very moreish. 

Dessert 

After all the deep fried goodness we were quite full so decided to share a dessert just to have a little sweet something with our coffee.  It was very good BUT I'm embarrassed to confess that I can't remember what it was!!  Maybe I had too many of these ...

... and not enough of this ;)