Souk

 

 

 

 

 Hidden away on Blight Avenue is Melbourne’s newsih Middle Eastern restaurant Souk. Lit up by only the likes of pink neon signs and yellow taxi lights (hence the terrible pictures), the venue itself is spacious a metro-edgy vibe.

Heading there for a mid week lunch, I was surprised to find that we were the only ones in the restaurant - although let’s be honest, as a Middle Eastern restaurant, you’re always going to face an up hill battle with Melbourne institute Maha situated just around the corner.

But at a slightly cheaper price tag than Maha, $45 will get you the 'Opa Gardash Style' (2 small meze and large meze), $55 will get you the 'Salim Shady' (3 small meze and 2 large meze), $65 the 'Fat Fatima' (4 small meze and 2 large meze) and $70 will get you the 'Yallah Feed Me' (7 items of the chef's choice plus desert).

On this occasion we went for the 'Salim Shady' ordering the KFC (Kuwaiti fried chicken), the Manti (tiny Turkish beef dumplings), the Fattoush Salad, the DIY Kebab Station and the Lamb Shwarma.
The Manti was the highlight of the meal - an incredibly more-ish dish that perfectly balanced in texture and flavour. The Fattoush Salad was also another highlight, but unfortunately the cone it was wrapped in was slightly on the tough (midly soggy) side, making it hard to crack with a spoon.

 

 

The KFC was the disappointment of the day - I know what you’re thinking...how can you go wrong with fried chicken?? But it was dry, almost tasted burnt, and definitely wasn't worth the calories.



The mains were both okay, but the DIY Kebabs hit one of my pet hates - they only gave us 5 pita breads when there were three of us (I mean come on, how hard is it either to cut the pita smaller so there’s six, or just add in a little extra) and there wasn't enough sauce meaning that our kebabs were pretty dry.



 

Was it the best Middle Eastern food I’ve had in Melbourne? Well no, but some of the dishes were still pretty tasty.

Food: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Venue: 3.5/5
Total: 10.5/15
Verdict: like - get around to trying it at some point.