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Aalia

Plush Levantine oasis in the heart of corporate Sydney.

Aalia’s dining room.
1 / 8Aalia’s dining room. Christopher Pearce
Grilled lobster with buttermilk and amba shatta.
2 / 8Grilled lobster with buttermilk and amba shatta.Jason Loucas
Quail mishkak.
3 / 8Quail mishkak. Jason Loucas
Aalia’s outdoor seating.
4 / 8Aalia’s outdoor seating. Louise Kennerley
Salted sesame leaf with sea urchin.
5 / 8Salted sesame leaf with sea urchin.Jason Loucas
Valrhona chocolate kataifi.
6 / 8Valrhona chocolate kataifi.Jason Loucas
The Harry Seidler-inspired interiors.
7 / 8The Harry Seidler-inspired interiors. supplied
Persian caviar.
8 / 8Persian caviar. Jason Loucas

Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

Middle Eastern$$$

By day, this long, slim glasshouse perched on a Martin Place terrace is filled with light. By night, it’s warmly romantic. Sought-after booths swallow up groups of six, and a recent rethink sees more tables for two.

Executive chef Paul Farag refines and redefines the family favourites and street food staples of Egypt, Lebanon, Iran and Turkey until they are reborn as rich and elegant banquet dishes. And we mean rich.

Soft pillows of bone marrow glisten in ful medames, tamarind oil pools around a spectacular barbecued prawn, and Moreton Bay bug swims in plumped-up orzo enriched with chicken fat. Even the flank steak is highly marbled wagyu, which really shouldn’t require an equally rich Cafe de Cairo butter, but then, why not?

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Service is smooth, flavours are big, and yes, that slow-roasted lamb neck with dusky folds of saj bread is still the glorious go-to.

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Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/nsw-good-food-guide/aalia-20241101-p5kn5k.html