175 Swan Street, Richmond
Phone 03 9425 9805
I may be a little late to the party, but this is the first time I’ve been to Flavours of Lakhoum, despite being impressed when reading about their artistic portrait coffees, generous Middle Eastern inspired salads and easybeat bohemian atmosphere. It had been on my “list” of places to go to for a very long time, and in the end it was pure chance that had us walking through their door. After a fossick through Dimmeys, we had worked up a suitable appetite to find somewhere to eat, and voila, my synapses fired on Lakhoum.
The place is just oozing atmosphere, and to be honest we felt like we had been transported to some exotic cafe hidden in the souks of Marrakech. There is colour, texture, smells, sounds – the vibrancy of the joint just rocks. Also, I spotted a familiar face – the ex-owner of Lebanese House on Russell Street, which sadly closed in March 2008, is now giving lip and a bit of banter just like in his old place. Love it.
I decide to go a lightish route, and had the zucchini fritter with a generous dollop of hummus. Two salads came on the side; chickpea and tomato dressed with tart yoghurt, and a lemony tomato, onion and parsley salad (kind of like tabouli without the bulgur). Mmm. To keep the tarty citrussy thing going, I also had one of their magnificent home-made lemon squashes.
Dan went with the chicken shish, all wrapped up in a pita bread. It was so good, he devoured it in about two mouthfuls.
To finish, Dan had a the refreshing Moroccan Mint Tea, made with both fresh and dried mint. I choose a traditional Turkish Coffee, thick with coffee grounds. And we both couldn’t resist the Turkish Delight.
