Review: El-Phoenician, Walsh Bay

One of the perks of my job is that I get to meet some very interesting people, with fascinating stories and backgrounds. It seems that no one two people have taken the same route to get here, which always makes for fun round-table conversation. 

That's exactly how we end up at El Phoenician in Walsh Bay, owned by the partner of fashion and lifestyle editor I met recently. In between talking fashion and furs, I mentioned that I'm always on the lookout for exciting new places in Sydney and she insisted that I come eat my fill of Lebanese food over the weekend. Given that I hadn't been doing anything very interesting in a while, I figured there could be no harm!

The beautiful facade of El-Phoenician on a quiet evening in Walsh Bay. The restaurant has stunning views of the bay, quietly attentive service and a wonderful finesse about it (without the small portions!)

Mixed dips - smooth, creamy and rich, accompanied by tangy tabbouleh and Pita breads. And that's just to start...

The intimidating meat platter arrives, laden with coriander roasted potatoes, skewers of beef and chicken, lamb patties and sausage and even fried chicken. And there's more spicy pita bread lurking beneath it all... they weren't joking about generous portions! 

I told you it was intimidating...wouldn't have eaten all that dip if we had known.

Making room for dessert, while slurping on some very interesting Lebanese wine ('oily', but not unpleasant!)

Divine rosewater panacotta, and turkish delight in the background... even though we were gut-bustingly full, we still managed to put this away!

Perfect for a date night, or a comfortable dinner with friends when you want to get fancy before the theatre but don't want to sit around picking at cashew-sized steaks. This is the place to go for good tantalizingly tasty Lebanese food that will debunk any notions you had of greasy kebab shops.