El Phoenician

328 Church Street
Parramatta
NSW 2150
Australia

Phone: (02) 9633 1611

Fax: (02) 9633 1622

E mail bookings@el-phoenician.com.au

Trading hours Monday - Friday Lunch- 12 pm - 3 pm Monday - Saturday  Dinner- 5 pm to late

Tonight's review will be on a little lebanese restaurant on the main strip of Parramatta CBD. We started off the night walking down Church street thinking what we should eat when came upon a few posters advertising belly dancers and sword jugglers. This caught our attention so we kept the restaurant in mind.

Met up with two friends: Julie and Sam. Everyone was pretty indecisive of where to go eat, so I suggested El phoenician , although it was right in front of us when I did :)

The place was dimly lit but still had enough light for us to see what we were ordering. We started off by ordering some drinks. I had a light beer, Sam had a Shiraz, Betty & Julie had some water. While we were ordering, we started chomping away on some deep fried lebanese bread. This was fantastic, the bread was so oily but yet so good.

We ordered a lamb shish kebab, grilled barramundi, salt and pepper squid & a plate of pickled vegetables. The plate of pickled vegetables was supposed to be the entree, strangely enough, all the mains came out first. About ten minutes into the meal, we had to remind the staff that we ordered the pickles.

The salt and pepper squid was deep fried and scored so they looked like a bunch of curled up super fatty pieces of golden brown goodness. Unlike most places, El phoenician  didn't completely smother the squid in salt. I could actually still taste the flavour of the squid for a change.

We ordered another dip for the lamb shish kebab, while we were waiting on this, we dug into the fish. The fish was grilled perfectly without any hint of being overcooked. This I could say is the best tasting fish dish I've had in a while, the creamy hummus looking sauce on top is actually a citrus tasting sauce called Tahina. The pine nuts added crunchiness and a little extra flavour to the mix.

When the extra sauce finally arrived, we all grabbed a shish kebab each (excluding Ms Betty). This I could say absolutely pwns the shish kebab I had with Hieu and Trang in fairfield. It absolutely smashes it to the ground, and then some. The meat was flavoured with spices, olive oil and a touch of red wine. This dish was quickly gone. There was only one shish kebab left so I split that with Sam. The taste of the meat aws unique compared to most kebabs I've had in my 23 years. It actually had extra flavouring (apart from the meaty taste). I'd say this is the BEST kebab I've ever had!

To end the night off, we couldn't eat any more. So we decided to give the dessert menu a miss. All up, I'd recommend this restaurant to everyone that asks me where to eat lebanese. I'd give this place a 9/10!