Taoufik, the Chef/Owner at The Sultan, the Lebanese restaurant at Penrose Wharf, told us our starter would take about twenty minutes to cook - “everything is prepared fresh” - but that he had some Lebanese tea to warm us up while we waited. It was sweet but gorgeous and we sipped to our heart's content. At the end of the meal, he treated us to his Arab coffee (containing cardamom, apples and more and sweetened with rose water).
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| Mezze |
He has a great selection of Mezzes to share and we opted for number two, including Baba Ghanoush, Potato Haro (Spicy Potato), Fatayer Spinach, Fatoush Salad, Hummus, Falafel and more, served with pickles olives, tahina sauce and Lebanese bread. It was quite a plateful - maybe too much if you are going for one of his superb specialities afterwards - but it does serve as a terrific introduction to the type of food you may expect in this comfortable place.
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| Moussaka |
Enjoyed it very much and then I tucked into my main course, the Dawood Basha: Charcoal Lamb meatballs, cooked in a terrific lively tomato sauce and served with a delicious Lebanese rice.
CL loved their version of moussaka, lighter and more flavoursome than the usual Greek version and consisting of aubergines cooked with tomato, onions, sweet pepper and minced lamb and served with that fabulous rice. They also do a vegetarian moussaka. Overall, there is a massive choice here and they also do takeaway.
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| Dawood Basha |
We were too full for dessert but our host kindly treated us to some Lebanese coffee. The coffee was poured from a special pot and then topped up with a little rosewater. Good, but the tea was better! And before we left, we got some of his big selection of baklava. He has quite a lot made with an eye to the Christmas market.
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| A little rosewater in your coffee? |
Overall the dishes are overflowing with flavours, flavours that we locals don't come across everyday, and they are enhanced by the herbs and spices (but nothing too extreme, they don't use chilli, for instance). If you want a change, then do try the Sultan. You'll be assured of a sweet welcome from Taoufik and his staff.
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