As an avid follower of many of the very popular Perth foodie blogs, the Prophet Lebanese Cafe has been at the top of my ‘must dine at’ list for a couple of years now. Located in East Victoria Park, it is on the south side of the Swan River and that, combined with the difficulty in securing a reservation with less than a day’s notice, probably explains why I hadn’t yet made the journey to sample the highly recommended authentic Lebanese cuisine. According to the numerous reviews, this was a red hot restaurant – on the casual and relaxed side – relatively small and with the added bonus of BYO beer and wine. I mean, no wonder it is always booked up well in advance! Anyway, my sister in law and her hubby were up from Esperance with their two kids for a week or so early in the new year, and we had enough foresight to make reservations for one of the nights they managed to be kid-free (lucky grandparents on babysitting duty). Keeping in mind they had to drive from Sorrento, pick up hubby and I in Woodlands, then make the journey to Vic Park, you can imagine the pressure I was under to deliver a fabulous meal! I should not have been worried. After a quick drink at the Balmoral pub a few doors up, the four of us made our way into the brightly lit, simply decorated restaurant. It was about half full when we arrived at 730pm but didn’t take long before all tables were full and walk-ins were put turned away. Within moments of being seated, us girls had our wine poured (from our BYO bottles – fantastic!), whilst the guys cracked their first beers. We perused the menu for a few minutes before asking the lovely waitress what she recommended. She proceeded to list off a few dishes, but I had read so many great things about the Banquet, I asked about that. Despite being told it would probably be too much food for four people (challenge accepted!), we decided to order it – for $40 per person and including ten dishes, it seemed like super good value and meant we would be able to try most of the recommended dishes, plus a few we probably would not have chosen ourselves. So. Here we go.
Round 1: Freshly warmed pita bread with garlic dip and pickles
You can see by the stack of pita in the next pic, that we had PLENTY. And let me tell you, this dip was so freaking good, that I am glad they bought out the next dishes pretty much within 3 minutes otherwise we all would have filled up on pita bread and garlic dip, with a cheeky pickle rolled up inside! Such yummy flavour in the dip though, seriously addictive!
Round 2: House-made hommos and babaganoush (with the first course)
Mmmm, more deliciousness to smear all over our pita! The hommos with its generous lashings of olive oil and paprika was good, but WOW – the smokiness of the eggplant in the babaganoush was to die for. A little on the chunky side, but that only added to the texture and taste of the dish, both had the perfect combo of lemon and garlic.
Round 3: Tabouleh
This is a traditional Lebanese salad and it’s zestiness and freshness really cut through the heavier dips we had just finished sampling. Finely chopped parsley, tomato, onion, crushed wheat, lemon and oil (seeing a theme here?!) make up this delicious dish. I am not usually a fan of tabouleh (granted, my main experience has been the version at the kebab shops, probably not the most authentic) but I really enjoy this.
Round 4: Falafel
Falafel. Another food I have never had the inclination to eat in the past (why eat vegetarian when you can eat meat?) but which I am sure glad was included as part of the banquet. One of the highlights of the night in my view, this broad bean and chickpea deep fried ball of deliciousness was crispy on the outside but melted in your mouth. yum yum yum.
By this point I am getting worried that i really should have stopped at one (or lets be honest, three or four) pieces of pita with the various dips. With only half the food bought out by now, and the main dishes yet to arrive, I hope I can fit a taste of everything in!
Round 5: Main courses!
Well when they bought out this bevy of beautiful dishes including Fatoush Salad, Lamb Samosas (I am sure this is not the correct name!), Vegetarian samosas (didn’t catch what was in it) as well as a tomatoey steamed beans dish, Lamb Shish Kebabs and Chicken Shish Tawooks (yep thats a thing!) I think all our mouths dropped to the ground. How on earth were we going to eat all this… I was sure I could only fit a tiny bit of the fatuous salad in.
Needless to say, I managed more than a nibble of everything. The chicken was ridiculously tender (and I probably preferred it to the lamb which was a teeny bit on the tougher side although that could be because it was the last thing i ate so it had been sitting a while), and I could not get enough of the fatuous salad. ‘Lettuce and tomato with a bit of fried bread?!’ i hear you say. Oh yeah, seriously. You ain’t tried lebanese food ’til you tried fatuous salad at the Prophet. The combination of dressing and herbs in the salad was crazy good. I may have had third and fourth helpings of that bad boy.
The samosas were also tasty although again, by the time I was eating them, I was reaching my capacity and a bite of each was all I could manage. The beans were also full of flavour – nothing special about the way they were served, but the homeliness of them, and the taste, made them something I would definitely order again.
Final course: Dessert and Lebanese Coffee
Now, I confess, by this point, I was entering that zone when I am so satisfied with my dinner that taking photos is no longer taking any form of priority (must work on that, as sometimes dessert is the best part!).
Included as part of the banquet is the options to try the authentic Lebanese coffee. We all jumped at the chance, and as the icing on the proverbial cake, ordered some of the house made baklava to go with it. I wish I had photos as the way they served the coffee was rom a weird looking half jug / half pot thing. The coffee had a very strong scent and almost looked viscous as it was poured from the jug/pot into our individual espresso style cups.
I love my coffee, and the aroma and taste of this coffee was very different to what I am used to – but I really enjoyed it. Surprisingly it didn’t make me feel any fuller, but helped my food digest (maybe that was the wine).
And the baklava. Oh, the baklava. Cooked fresh that day, this was a real treat and I recommend if you have the change to try authentic baklava you jump at it. I have had baklava before in cafe’s and they truly were not even worthy of being a comparison of the baklava at the Prophet – light and delicious and sticky and everything you want dessert to be!
All in all, we had a fantastic night at the Prophet and I will definitely be heading back there again. Its terrific value, the staff are lovely and the food is mouthwateringly spectacular. Just don’t forget to book ahead, and don’t forget to BYO.
