The Camel Cafe

THE CAMEL CAFE

263 Townsend Street, Sydney

The Camel Cafe, facing Townsend Street

My dear friends, this was a very different dining experience for the six members of the UAG that met for our April outing.  Why you ask?  Because this small restaurant gave us so much more than just an excellent meal - we relaxed, we ate, we talked, we laughed, and we promised ourselves that next time we are trying the Hookah pipes (grape, double apple, watermelon and peach flavours!).

The first thing that you notice when you enter this restaurant is that it doesn't look like a restaurant.  There are comfy leather chairs, glass-topped coffee tables, lovely mesmerizing music,  wonderful aromas, and no sign of a either a cash register or a kitchen.

Meet your server, Moemen.

Yes, I was sitting next to him so that we could get his picture,  but I didn't tell him that I would be cropping myself out of the photo.

Members of UAG are never photographed.

You are looking at a very patient man.  Picture six women who had never tried this variety of middle eastern dishes and now imagine all of the possible questions they would have about the menu.

He waited on all the people in the restaurant, quietly and efficiently. Amazing.

Because I was anxious to try new things and because I had seen turkish coffee in all of those old black and white movies, I thought I'd start my dinner with this beverage.

I didn't like it.

However, I can tell you that it is thick and spicy and probably would have kept me up all night long if I had drunk more than you see here.

I switched with Anne Michele - she wanted to try it too and I drank her mango juice, which was delicious.

Moemen had an excellent suggestion for appetizers, as he realized fairly quickly that we didn't know what to order.

We ended up with a selection!  We received two baskets, each with different types of breads and chips - one with baba ghanouj and one with hummus in dishes in the center.  Although the hummus lovers loved the hummus, we all agreed that the baba ghanouj was great.

We also had eight fatayers - two of each of beef, chicken, cheese and spinach.  These fatayers were quite different from the ones we had tasted at Zana's; they were much lighter and flavourful.  My favourite was the cheese, but each of us was delighted with one of the flavours.

 

Friends, meet the Chicken Ferakh and I wish I could say it the way Moemen said it.  So cool.

Anne Michele ordered this dish and she said it was delicious!  Yes, that's a selection of fresh-cut vegetables, rice, and chicken with a white sauce.

Have I mentioned that these foods are from the middle east?  We tasted spices but the food was not spicy.  The chef has managed to balance the flavours beautifully.

And this is the other dish that we ordered - all five of us ordered the daily special, the lamb.  As you can see, it's the same as the dish that Anne Michele ordered with the exception of the choice of meat.

This lamb was cooked to perfection - you know when it melts in your mouth and you don't feel full when you've finished?

Just lovely.


And now we come to the desserts.  I must ask you to reach for your kleenex as I have sad news.  The Camel Cafe was SOLD OUT of my favourite, the baklava.  I can't tell you here whether or not their baklava was better or worse than Zana's because I don't know.  I was heart-broken at this turn of events until I tried their cheesecake. Oh my, a perfect ending for the meal.

Marshmallow Cheesecake

Camel's Chocolate Eruption Cheesecake

We do recommend that you make reservations for this restaurant, as it filled up while we were there and once you're there, well, it's so relaxing that it's difficult to leave.  Did you notice as well that you can park behind the restaurant?  We were concerned about the parking on Townsend Street and were thrilled to see their sign advertising parking behind the restaurant.

And one last thing....

When your bill arrives, it arrives in a box. With candies.  Perfect.