Bekya
You only need to look at the layout at Bekya to know it is a place for family, friends and shared Middle Eastern feasts. Several very long tables grace the room and groups of 20 or more are clearly a regular thing.
Located in the heart of the Tramsheds development in Forest Lodge, Bekya is run by the team behind the enormously popular Al Aseel restaurants. They've upped the design ante from Al Aseel's original Greenacre location; out with branded chunky white plates and in with on-trend artisan ceramics, beaten metal, timber and cast iron. There's still an element of kitsch, with a trellis covered with fake vines, pot plants that won't ever need to be watered, and neon lights spelling "fresh salad", "olives" and "fresh bread".
Simple things done well, with robust, punchy flavours, are what Bekya is all about. An intensely smoky babaganoush stands out among the trio of dips, which we mop up with warm flatbreads straight from the hotplate. Ladies fingers – haloumi-stuffed filo pastry fried to a golden crisp – are super crunchy, the filling at once salty, creamy and squeaky. Like the spicy potatoes fried with garlic, coriander and chilli, they are a huge hit with the kids.
The Grazing Plate gives us a taste of some of the best of Bekya's meze-style dishes: golfball-sized falafels with an intense green, herby centre; marinated and grilled eggplant; sumac-dusted cauliflower florets; and slices of deep fried haloumi all drizzled with tahini and sitting on a bed of fattoush.
Egyptian koshari is the signature dish and a true Middle Eastern comfort food. Rice, lentils, macaroni and chickpeas are tossed in a slightly spicy tomato sauce and topped with tendrils of crisply fried onions.
Bekya's is a terrific menu for vegetarians but meat cooked on the chargrill is also a highlight. With our carnivorous kids in tow, we have to be quick to nab any of the chicken, lamb and kafta skewers, which come with salad and dollops of hummus, tangy labne and that delicious babaganoush as part of the Bekya Board.
As a family of four we're hungry enough to pick a bunch of dishes to share, but if you're dining as a couple you'd do well to opt for one of the banquets, offering multiple dishes in manageable portions. That way, you enjoy Bekya's generous feast the way it was intended.
-Sally Webb
Tramsheds, 1 Dalgal Way, Forest Lodge; (02) 9188 7437; bekya.com.au.
Atlas Dining
Atlas Dining, South Yarra. Photo: Bonnie Savage
Southsiders have embraced this neighbourhood gem serving modern Vietnamese food. No, make that Israeli. Sorry, Korean. Actually, it's option D – all of the above – as this 50-seater embarks on a fresh culinary journey every four months.
Even more improbably, the expedition is led by a 23-year-old chef in his first venture. But Charlie Carrington is a precocious talent whose youth belies his experience in kitchens such as Vue de Monde and Sydney's Marque and Firedoor.
Carrington engaged Sydney-based studio GelliKovic Architects to refit a former Indian restaurant with blond timber, tan leather and pale walls stripped back to the original crumbling paintwork, a neutral backdrop that lets the food shine bright.
Carrington's time at Firedoor strongly informs his cooking, no matter the cuisine he's exploring. Smoke and heat from the wood oven and custom-designed grill touch every dish on the five-course set menu, currently in the guise of a Korean passport. At $65 a head, it's excellent value. For another $15 you can extend the trip with banchan, a clutch of small, sparky side dishes – optional, but recommended.
Considered details abound, as in the custom-made leather knife rolls delivered at the start of the meal. These allow you to choose your weapons for the succession of small, mostly vegetable-based courses that follow, each infused with so much flavour the relative absence of meat might not strike you until you reach dessert.
The dishes change incrementally from week to week, so what you taste now won't be exactly what lands on your table in September, when the Korean stay ends. But pray for birthday soup, based loosely on a traditional seaweed soup. Carrington's version is an umami-tastic combination of dehydrated seaweed and roasted pine mushrooms bedded on barley and brown rice, equal parts comfort and joy. And look out for Atlas's refined riff on army stew, a fusion dish that pairs house-made kimchi with crisp shards of American jack cheese, which melt and enrich the broth.
It's such clever, nuanced and, yes, mature cooking that what might have been dismissed initially as gimmickry has diners scheduling future meals to see how this young upstart handles Mexican and Peruvian food.
Buckle up, Melbourne. Atlas Dining is cleared for take-off.
- Roslyn Grundy
133 Commercial Road, South Yarra; (03) 9826 2621; atlasdining.com.au.