My son Bennie always showed more interest in the F&C shop at one end of The Circle’s shopping strip than I did.
But that wasn’t hard as my level of interest was pretty much zero. My lack of curiosity continued when the premises became a cafe that – and here I am judging a restaurant by its cover – seemed to offer little more than basic coffee.
So it was only happy circumstance – the Lebanese pizza shop up the road being closed – that forced me through the door to see what’s on offer.
My prior judgments based on appearances proved to be utterly false. In fact, House Of Beans serves a longish range of good Lebanese food – think falafel, ful madammas, hummus and the like – that puts it on the same footing as the fabulous Abbout Falafel House in Coburg.
And about that I am ecstatic. Just think, no more driving to Sydney Road!
For my first visit, I go for the “kafta in bread” ($6.50) and a small serve of fattoush ($7).
At first blush, the kafta, found between layers of lovely, toasted house-made flat bread, appears to be very similar to the pinkish meaty smear found on your basic meat pizza up the road and elsewhere.
It’s nothing of the sort. This is much more juicy, well seasoned and delicious – in short, it really is lamb kafta in a sandwich. Marvellous!
The generously proportioned fattoush is wonderfully fresh but, if anything, the dressing is a little too lemony.
Nahida helpfully explains the ins and outs of the five different varieties of ful on offer – basically they’re all variations on red beans, depending on the addition or not of tomato, tahini or chick peas – but we perversely go in the opposite direction. I let my young man have his way with an order of the most expensive menu item: mixed grill ($15). It’s a ripper!
There’s a skewer apiece of kafta, lamb and chicken. They’re all fabulous – heavy with amazing chargrilled flavour, juicy and tender.
Throw in a good gob of hummus, some rice and the same good salad mix, and you’ve got a splendid meal.
My falafel plate ($10) looks a little on the bare-bones side until the arrival of
… a fabulously tangy bowl of green olives, pickled cucumber and chillis, mint and onion.
The falafels are fresh and yummy, though a tad on the dry side for my taste.
Nahida brings us some ful to try. This one is an oily mix of red beans and chick peas that is slightly surplus to the rest of our meal.
We love what Banjo, Nahida and their family have going on here.
Kenny Weir is the founder of Consider the Sauce, the definitive guide to Melbourne western suburbs cheap eats – www.considerthesauce.net
