A Lebanese restaurant in the heart of Pennant Hills, Byblos is a great in between venue offering some fresh street-style dishes with a twist. Clearly when it comes to Lebanese cuisine there are many critics, but Byblos is the perfect place to come when you want authentic food with a uniqueness about it.
The locals love the falafel here, and I found out why.. they use a secret recipe which results in a dense falafel that packs a punch! I can’t give away and trade secrets but they actually sell their falafel commercially too, but you must come visit them in-store to get the real deal because they are that little bit more special. They were surprisingly light to eat with a lot of fresh flavours coming through, usually I would be full after two but these ones are very nourish I could keep on going.
They were also the first to bring out commercially sold Gluten Free Pizza bases (a.k.a ‘Julian’s gluten free pizza bases’), which are found in various store-fronts throughout Australia along with restaurants and cafes. You can find these babies at Coles and convenience stores.
The Vegetarian Mixed Plate featured above comes with those secret recipe falafel that everyone’s raving about, along with fried cauliflower, grilled eggplant, tahini sauce, pickles, a green salad & Lebanese mountain bread.
The Cauliflower was cooked to the perfectly with just the right amount of resistance, the eggplant was simple and delicious bringing back memories of my mum’s home grilled eggplant. The tahini sauce was amazing, you must dip those falafel in it, the perfect combination.really loved this mixed plate and would recommend it to vegetarians but also you meat lovers too because although there was no meat in sight it was filling and everything on the plate just made sense.
The Tabbouleh is a must try here, I liked that it was a little bit different to other ones I have tried. The side salad that came with the mixed plate was also really amazing, with the crispy sumac bread.
When I saw House-made Lebanese Lemonade on the menu I just had to check it out! It had a good balance of sweet and sour with the surprising flavour of rose water through it, it was very refreshing.
Last but not least we had the desserts & Lebanese coffee, which is a specially sourced blend and is brewed to order ensuring the fresh and smooth taste. For a more bitter blend I found it didn’t even need sugar at all, usually I add at least a spoonful of it.
For dessert I tried the Knaffe and the ‘Halawat El Jibeen’ which I had never heard of until the other day. A very unheard of dish made of cheese, semolina, sugar & rose blossom syrup. I really loved this traditional Lebanese dessert, even more so than the knaffe which was of course incredible. The Knaffe had a light cheese flavour and the Persian fairy floss was a beautiful addition to a traditional dish. I would even travel back here just to eat their desserts and coffee.
Overall, a lovely space with a good viewing window out front. The owners Tracey & Julian were very lovely people who are very passionate about their new restaurant. They were very humble and not trying to compete with anyone, but just wanting to bring some delicious traditional dishes to the food scene with their own personal touch. A great spot for lunch and dinner, the menu was reasonably priced and with the quality of food you are getting you would definitely want to return here. It was also lovely to see the food dream being passed down the line to her son who was manning the grill. Great Lebanese food at affordable prices, and a lovely spot to have a meal with friends or colleagues.
