Guildford: Top 8 cafes and restaurants
From delectable desserts to wood-fired pizzas and intense flavours of the Middle East, this western Sydney high street has dishes to tempt the most discerning of tastebuds.
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Guildford is close to foodie mecca Granville, and Parramatta’s cafes and restaurants, but when it comes to gastronomical delights, it holds its own, with flavours from all points of the globe. While we enjoyed a nosh at these Guildford Rd cafes and restaurants before coronavirus restrictions were enforced, many eateries are still open for takeaway and delivery. Bon appetit.
GUILDFORD MINA PIZZERIA
Even on a scorching Saturday we visit, staff at this Lebanese pizzeria don’t break a sweat by the wood-fired oven as they churn out memorable offerings. Maarbani says the zaatar and the meat and cheese pizzas are among the most popular and our lunch can attest its popularity.
Our favourite is the Guildford Special (sausages, chicken, olives, capsicum and corn on a barbecue and garlic base) followed closely by the zaatar, with its fusion of herbs packing a flavoursome punch. Mina perfects its pizza bases with a crisp finish achieved after two minutes in the oven. “You have to have eyes on it 24/7,’’ worker Elaa Maarbani says. A steady stream of customers file through the shop, right opposite the train station, a convenient location for early birds who can collect some fuel from 5am. “It’s really famous,’’ Maarbani says. “We get people from Penrith, Blacktown and a lot of places. It’s like a breakfast for people. People can eat it for lunch, dinner, whenever.’’
Guildford Mina Pizzeria, 316 Railway Terrace, 9892 1448, open for takeaway
PROFITEROLE PATISSERIE
Beecroft customer Sue Ferguson declares this dessert emporium the purveyor of the best profiteroles in Sydney. Ms Ferguson’s parents ran the newsagency down the street in the 1980s but she returns to Guildford to get her hair done – and stock up on the treats – every six weeks. Another customer, Robert Sader, refuses to go to a function if the cake hasn’t been produced from the Profiterole Patisserie kitchen. Ibrahim and Marie Yacoub helm the shop, that is run with 12 staff including their sons John, Jason and Joey.
They prepare 700 profiteroles a day and prove baking is an art form, with cases of colourfully-glazed cakes and its signature profiterole ice cream-stuffed slabs populating the freezers. The ice cream profiterole baskets are an absolute marvel and showcase the skill Ibrahim first learned in Lebanon where he ran a shop in Beirut’s Ashrafieh district. Lebanon’s loss has been Guildford’s gain for almost 20 years.
“We were the first to start this and a lot of cake shops started to do this,’’ John says. Nothing screams celebration like scoops of multi-flavoured gelato sandwiched between profiteroles. For those opting for cakes that won’t melt, take your pick of traditional options. “One that’s highly recommended is our double custard cake,’’ John says. “It’s got vanilla custard, chocolate custard and marble sponge. It’s highly recommended because it doesn’t have fruit so kids love it. They’re picky with their fruit.” Well, we never said this was a health feature.
The adjoining room houses gifts for newborns and christenings, including drawers of sugared almonds and miniature chocolates, which hail from Belgium. The shop is never short on customers ordering cakes for celebrations but there are plenty of snack-sized offerings for a fleeting sugar hit. The Jason Special – a shortbread base with equal portions of cheesecake and chocolate mousse – is one such delight. Mini cream eclairs, fruit tarts, vanilla slices, tiramisu, Ferrero slice, cannoli, lemon meringue are some other temptations. My mudrake ball and coconut boule went down a treat. Ice cream is also an option.
Profiterole Patisserie, 246 Guildford Rd, Guildford, 9892 1199, profiterole.com.au
BAKIR’S SWEET SECRET ICE CREAM AND COCKTAIL
Nothing that tastes better on parched palates than downing a fresh juice or gelato. On a street not short of sweet indulgences, Bakir’s gives visitors a healthy option courtesy of its fruity drinks such as the watermelon, pineapple, carrot, apple juices. Our tropical rocket nashi has kashta (Lebanese clotted cream) and is anointed with honey.
We all agree the sweet, gooey honey is the drink’s winning element. Plates of avocado, nuts and kashta; banana splits and brownies are also sold. Those hankering for velvet-like gelato will find it in the blue bubblegum, salted caramel, Oreo, Nutella and Ferrero Rocher scoops, among other flavours.
While wholesome juices are popular, the gelato and sorbet is also enticing. Pre coronavirus, Bankstown’s Faride Khalili and Hashmat Nashad brought their children Sohail and Soha to the shop regularly to sit down and savour their favourite - the raspberry and strawberry sorbet. Regular customer Robert Sader is addicted to the mango and strawberry nashi with extra nuts and honey. “The honey is what makes it, and the nuts and cream,’’ he said. He is one of many customers keeping Bakir’s, which also trades in Granville, in business. “There’s a few (shops like this) but this one’s the best – the flavours, the freshness,’’ he said. “It’s traditional, how it should taste back home (in Lebanon). It’s cold, it’s fresh.’’
270 Guildford Rd, 9632 2211, open for takeaway
ABU SALIM FRUIT SHOP
If Bakir’s ever needs to stock up on ingredients for its tropical juices, it only requires a stroll down the road and, in a suburb brimming with greengrocers, Abu Salim’s is the mother of all fruit shops. The kaleidoscope of produce – glossy eggplants, ripe tomatoes – makes the recommended two servings of vegies a day seem meagre when there is so much temptation.
There’s more neatly-stocked fruit and fresh herbs inside, along with a nut counter, a box of the fattest dates I’ve ever seen and chocolate bars near the register. Shoppers are bombarded with aisles stuffed with pantry staples from the Middle East, Asia, the Mediterranean and subcontinent. There’s Syrian olive oil, jars of ginger and garlic, packets of buckwheat and pearl barley, pickled turnips and vine leaves, tins of chickpeas sitting near non-perishable pea, carrots and corn. Mop up eggplant dip with Lebanese bread or even opt for burger buns or white loafs. Load up your basket with chilli, garlic and satay sauces. You’ll find them near the huge tomato and barbecue varieties. Abu’s doesn’t do things in halves and you’ll also find industrial-sized rice packets including basmati. The dairy fridge has enough Greek yoghurt to feed Crete thanks to its 5kg buckets. There’s also 5kg tins of tomato paste if pizza and pasta are on the menu every day for the next decade. The rack of herb and spices offers everything from cumin and cinnamon to chicken salt and burger spices. Abu’s appeals to all – wholesalers, families, singles. Get cooking.
Abu Salim Supermarket, 317 Guildford Rd, 9721 0008
MINA KEBAB HOUSE
Few restaurants serve lamb shanks for a very reasonable $17 and if they do, I bet the portions are tiny. I bet they don’t sit on a bed of fluffy rice or are sweetly topped with carrots and sultanas, like the quabuli palaw Afghan dish, which I’m savouring at Mina Kebab House. The lamb is tender and parts easily from the bone with a spoon. We also feasted on golden-baked bolani, a traditional Afghan bread that we chose to fill with potatoes and chives.
The texture is soft and the flavours are subtle, so dunk it in yoghurt or chilli for some tang. It’s also great value for $8. Typical of Middle Eastern hospitality, sides are complimentary. Our friendly waitress placed garden salads before us. What really set my appetite into overdrive was the Afghan bread billowing like a parachute straight from the oven. Tear it apart and turn it into a pocket to hold the lamb, rice and salad. We recommend the freshly- squeezed orange and watermelon juices. While Lebanese cuisine is the first type that springs to my mind when thinking of Middle Eastern food, Mina’s top dishes, service and value is a reminder that Afghan fare is equally satisfying.
Mina Kebab House, 315 Guildford Rd, 0452 516 465 or 0470 528 338
YUM YUM BAKERY
Without prompting, locals will tell you how Yum Yum’s is their favourite noshery in Guildford. It’s more like an institution. Najib Haddad’s father, Toufic, established the manousheh bakery in 1990.
Last year Najib and his nephew Jeremy Agha claimed the Eggsellence Awards for their knockout awarma and egg pizza, a dish they say marries Lebanese and Aussie flavours. The snack is made up of handmade dough topped with lamb confit, sprinkled with zaatar (herbs including thyme and oregano) and then splashed with two sunny-side up eggs before it crisps up in the wood-fired oven for five minutes. Other pizzas include keshek, oregano as well as shanklish pide and dessert pizzas (hello banana, walnuts, honey, cinnamon, and Nutella). Plates include chicken and lamb sharwama, dips and wraps.
Yum Yum Bakery, 273 Guildford Rd, 9892 1917 or doordash.com, deliveroo.com.au
LA SHISH
After Yum Yum, anecdotal evidence suggests La Shish is probably the most popular eatery in Guildford. The restaurant has an extensive menu that mixes traditional Lebanese food with burgers, salads, children’s meals and seafood. But it’s Lebanese food that we come for and our famished appetites know the La Shish mixed and vegetarian plates will do the trick.
We weren’t let down. The platter-like portions impress. The falafel’s shell was crispy and the filling was tender like arancini. The photographer is won over and vows to return for a food expedition from the eastern suburbs with her daughter.
La Shish, 265 Guildford Rd, 9632 1847 or lashish.com.au, deliveroo.com.au, menulog.com.au
RIXOS
Social distancing restrictions have made us pine for the good old days when cafe visits meant engaging in a bit of gossip, reading the newspapers, lingering over a frothy coffee or two and tucking into some eggs benedict - with salmon, thank you. The pandemic might have hampered our dine-in habits, but fortunately caffeine is still available and Rixos is brewing Toby’s Estate coffees and cafe meals for takeaway, and delivering via Uber Eats. Its breakfast menu is available until 1pm for those after an acai bowl, smashed avocado or traditional English breakfast. Rixos’s mains include burgers, pastas, seafood, parmigiana, sirloins and salmon.
Rixos, 332 Guildford Rd, 8749 3845, rixos.com.au, Uber Eats
