Situated just off Glenn Huntley road in Elsternwick, Arabesque's dishes are made to share - offering both banquet and al a carte options. On this occasion we tried the Helim & Fig (grilled haloumi with fig jam topped with a capsicum and red onion salad and crispy air dried beef), the Manti (Turkish dumplings), the Makloubeh Chicken (chicken on top of grilled eggplant and spice lamb pilaf rice) and the beef kofta (beef meatballs served on a saffron pilaf rice).
The marriage of the flavours in the Helim & Fig were absolutely drool worthy. The Haloumi could have come out a touch warmer - but the flavours definitely made up for it!
Munti is one of my favourite dishes and this one was pretty good. However, to qualify as one of the best Munti's I've had, it needed a handful more of pine nuts for texture, and at least another decent glug of red pepper sauce.
The Makloubeh Chicken was a delicious collection of tastes and textures - however, I did find the lettuce a strange touch as it ended up going soggy with the heat from the rest of the dish.
The beef kofta was my least favourite - whilst it came our looking absolutely magnificent, and it had all the makings of a delicious dish, unfortunately the koftas themselves were unpleasantly salty.
The venue itself is a touch old fashioned, but the staff were attentive and friendly, and the overall place had a welcoming vibe. Arabesque is the sort of place that is definitely worth a second try.
Service: 4/5
Food: 3.5/5
Venue: 3/5
Total: 10.5/15
Verdict: like - get around to trying it at some point
Shop 1, 1-3 Carre Street, Elsternwick
No comments:
Post a Comment