Byblos on O’Connell | SA Weekend restaurant review

A feast of new flavours brings a welcome change to the dining options on a retail strip just north of the city – in a prime location where Mancini’s used to be.

Table of food at Byblos on O'Connell, North Adelaide

Don’t fill up on the bread, we counsel each other as the warm, steam-puffed pitas are brought to the table.

Good luck with that.

These delectable little whoopee cushions are just the start.

Bread in various forms finds a place on almost everything we order during a Lebanese feast at new North Adelaide restaurant Byblos on O’Connell.

A different pita, this time hot off the grill, comes with the raw meat paste of the kibbeh nayye. Shattered fragments of fried pita are an intrinsic part of the fattoush salad.

More are included as an alternative to chips with the grilled fish. Lamb skewers?

They are crowned with a slice of pita pizza.

Byblos brings a welcome point of difference to North Adelaide’s retail and dining strip, where it has taken over a prominent corner site previously occupied by Mancini’s.

Co-owner Gaby Chahoud already has a significant holding on the street, with Italian stalwarts DaVinci and Café Pellegrini part of his substantial hospitality portfolio.

Byblos, however, has extra meaning for him and the business’s other partners, who are also of Lebanese heritage.

This is the food and culture of their families and their ancestors, part of who they are and where they have come from.

The name Byblos refers to the city on Lebanon’s Mediterranean coastline, believed to be one of the world’s oldest.

The restaurant, however, looks anything but ancient, with plush black upholstery and tiles, downlighting and mirror-backed bar. Monochrome portraits of the country’s most famous singers fill much of the wall space. A separate upstairs lounge has a bar and hosts live performances.

Spinach pastries at Byblos on O'Connell, North Adelaide

In the few months Byblos has been open, word has clearly spread around the local community and the dining room is filled with large family groups and old friends reminiscing.

Being open to different customs, trying something unfamiliar and going with the flow will help in getting the most out of this experience.

Don’t be surprised if the smaller mezze plates are followed closely by the “mains” to create a colourful, table-filling feast, rather than treated as separate courses.

And if the wait staff disappear and leave those plates on the table long after they are finished, perhaps they don’t want to interrupt proceedings.

The bloke looking after us is certainly engaging as he shows how to create little furrows along the surface of the kibbeh nayye, before dressing it with oil.

The kibbeh is raw beef, pulverised into a stiff pulp and mixed with the grain burghul. It is eaten like a dip, with wedges of raw onion, mint leaves and, of course, pita.

The texture is quite foreign and the spicing subtle, putting the focus squarely on the meat’s flavour. One of those unfamiliar things to try, for sure.

Back on safer ground, the creaminess and smoky edge of the eggplant baba ghanoush are in perfect sync, with a hollow in the middle filled with olive oil and diced tomato.

Samosa-like triangular parcels of braised spinach touched with the tang of sumac are elevated by their excellent pastry casings.

Baba ghanoush (eggplant dip) at Byblos on O'Connell, North Adelaide

A small, plate-sized snapper has been too long on the grill, with the head blackened and flesh turned dry and splintery on one side in particular, though a fine tahini sauce does help a little.

Best to move on to skewers of marinated lamb that have been better handled, with a little bit of char in the right places and the interior of the meat still pink and juicy.

Desserts are displayed in a glass cabinet next to the bar, with a choice of more familiar western sweets (apple crumble, carrot cake) and traditional Lebanese favourites.

We are guided to the “mafrouke”, a strange-looking moulded green pudding that is doused with rose syrup at the table.

There’s no way we would have chosen it ourselves which would have been a shame.

That exterior is made from a pistachio and semolina paste, similar to marzipan, and is broken open to reveal a cheesecake-style filling based on whipped ricotta.

Not too sweet nor too rich, it is perfect with a cardamom-scented Turkish coffee.

Byblos, the restaurant, is a reminder that sometimes you don’t need to travel far to make a new discovery.

It could be right around the corner. An open mind is your ticket.