The Al Shami mixed plate.
1/5The Al Shami mixed plate.Jennifer Soo
The dining room.
2/5The dining room.Jennifer Soo
Moussaka with rice.
3/5Moussaka with rice.Jennifer Soo
Fried kibbeh.
4/5Fried kibbeh.Jennifer Soo
Fatteh shamiya with cumin.
5/5Fatteh shamiya with cumin.Jennifer Soo

14.5/20

Middle Eastern$

Chef Ali Snoubar co-founded Al Shami in 2014,and it’s one of the few Sydney restaurants that specialises in Syrian cuisine.

The dining room is a bright and welcoming place,and while the tables and chairs are somewhat no-frills,there’s an impressive marble fountain that wouldn’t be out of place in an Arabian embassy.

Menu essentials include fried kibbeh,presented as little spice-powered parcels of minced lamb and pine nuts with a nutty burghul wheat shell;shakriya,a hot bowl of garlic and olive oil-slicked yoghurt smothering one formidable lamb shank;deep-fried cheese-filled sambousek;and the mixed plate featuring grilled sticks of marinated chicken and kofta,plus tabouli,hummus,toum and a punchy baba ganoush.

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If Snoubar isn’t in the kitchen,he’s likely chatting to regulars and offering guests complimentary tea. Hospitality at its finest.

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