I've only just finished singing the praises of Mankoushe Cafe, so I'm going to keep this post pretty short - Mankoushe are doing a monthly banquet and you all need to get yourselves along as soon as you can. Basically the Mankoushe guys pick a day, pick a theme (it was Syrian this month, previous buffets have been Iraqi and Lebanese food) and make a crazy amount of delicious food that you can stuff into your face for just $20.
The menu is super veg-friendly - I'd hazard half the dishes are vegan and another quarter are vegetarian. Everything is well labelled and the staff are incredibly helpful and happy to make sure you know what you're eating. And the food is just incredible - a great mix of fresh salads, stewy dishes, rices and grains, fried goodies and sweets - you'll stuff yourself silly just getting a sample of everything. Some of the highlights: kibe dumplings stuffed with tahini, chickpeas and silverbeet, silverbeet rolls stuffed with cardamom and chickpeas, grilled eggplant with tomato, capsicum and parsley and a simple but wonderful rice and noodle mix. There were loads of other dishes too, including a tasty vegan slice - it really was an incredible spread.
You get the picture by now - we're big Mankoushe fans and will recommend a trip there any day of the week. The buffets are really something special though - you can tell how much they love whipping up this food and it's a brilliant way to experience all that Mankoushe has to offer. You really should get along to one of these afternoons - the next one will be Sunday, September 7. See you there!
____________
Read about our previous trips to Mankoushe Cafe here, here and here and our bakery visits here, here and here.
____________
Mankoushe Cafe
323 Lygon St, Brunswick East
9078 9223
monthly banquet $20
Accessibility: There's a small step up through a narrow-ish entry but everything's more generously spaced once you're in. We mostly self-served at the buffet, but the staff were happy to load plates up for us too. We paid on the way out at a low-ish counter. We didn't visit the toilets.
It sounds like a real bargain - a great quality buffet for only $20!
ReplyDeleteIt really is, Amanda! I hope one of your future Melbourne visits will coincide with banquet day. :-)
Delete