Zum Zum serves Middle Eastern food and more particularly Lebanese.  It is a few weeks since I have had Lebanese food and after lunch at Zum Zum I won’t leave it so long between indulging again.

We arrived about noon for lunch and grabbed a table that was outside and partly shaded, sipped a wine while we thought of food.

The wine was a generous pour.

There is a special lunch menu with very reasonable prices and we chose from that. I photographed it.  I hope you are able to check it out from this image.

We chose Silver beet rolls with chickpeas, rice, tomatoes and spices to share.  These are something like dolmates but more flavoursome than the ones I am used to.

Silver beet rolls with chickpeas, rice, tomato and spices

For mains we made an individual selection.

Fatteh – warm chickpea salad mixed with yogurt & tahini sauce

Lahmi B ajeen – filo pastry stuffed with lamb pinenuts and pomegranate essence

Both of us agreed that we liked our selection and we would order them again.  Perhaps that is unlikely as the menu is so interesting at another lunch we would probably try something different.

Zum Zum is definitely a place to return for lunch although too much of this delicious Lebanese influenced food and you could start to have withdrawal symptoms. And it is great value for money.

Inside dining

I haven’t tried dinner at Zum Zum but someone may be able to comment on that.

Where:-
Cafe Zum Zum
645 Rathdowne St
Carlton North 3054 VIC

Phone 9348 0455

Getting there:-
Tram 96 to East Brunswick.
It runs along Nicholson Street. Get off at Newry Road and walk left, through to Rathdowne Street.

Parking:-
There is two hour parking in the surrounding streets

Related posts:

1. Rocco Pantaleo – La Porchetta North Carlton
2. Motorbikes at La Porchetta Carlton North
3. “Little Italy” – Lygon Street – Carlton

I was with a vegetarian  friend who was visiting  from overseas and I  wanted to give her a experience of fine dining –something more than the  average vegetarian fare which often seems to include beans or Dahl.  Actually I quite like Dahl but I don’t see it as fine dining.  A work colleague suggested Shakarahri.

We dined well.   The evening and the food were a great success.

This year an old friend suggested Shakahari for a pre-Christmas  catch-up lunch.  I was excited and I wondered why I had left it so long between visits.

The outside of the restaurant is the same. A cute cottage painted yellow.  It opens up inside and flows through to the right, which takes you into the next door house and to the courtyard.

The inside is still the same orange colour and still furnished with a few Indian/Asian  artifacts.  It is comforting to find something you remember with affection is still the same.

However the menu had changed since my last visit so it was like a new adventure.  No change in the wine list and we ordered the Richmond Organic Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, that I remember,  to sip on while we chatted and discussed food.  I have always been wary of organic wines but this is a good Sauvignon Blanc.  $8.00 per glass.

There is a touch of romance to the menu.  For example ‘Scent of a green papaya’ in the entrees.  How could you go past a dish with a name like that – as you read it the scent seems to waft around you? You immediately want to taste  it. $14.50

Scent of a green papaya

This is how the menu describes the salad  -” Northern Territory green papaya (high medicinal qualities) lightly crushed and tossed with green beans, cherry tomatoes,cashew nuts and seaweed tofu crisps. Dressed with a sourish tamarind palm sugar chilli sauce”.

We also chose Croquettes de Chine.

Croquettes de Chine

This dish is described as;  “Crunchy patties of steamed mashed yam, potatoes, roasted macadamia nuts, pickled turnips and diced vegetables. Served with herbal oil, tossed greens, kim chee and a mild black bean ginger sauce”.  $19.5

We shared these dishes and thought them good choices for lunch.  The papaya salad was especially interesting.  The taste was light and different,  possibly like the scent of a green papaya.  We would order it again.  The Croquettes were filled with a subtle flavour.  I remember them from last time but I think they had something different served with them.

We  had intended to have dessert and we had talked about their ‘Black Rice and Sago Pudding’ as we headed to the restaurant only to find it was one of those things removed from the menu.

Another disappointment was the change in the seating. It was a calm warm day with some sun and we wanted to sit in the courtyard but there were no tables only benches for seating.   We asked about a table but we were told the manager, who wasn’t there, had wanted it that way.   I hope he has a change of heart and puts tables and chairs out there again.

Friendly service, fine vegetarian dining.  The restaurant has been operating for about 20 years so they must be doing something right.  For me it is the different slant on the usual vegetarian fare giving the meal a touch of lightness, that is often the romance of food.  In the winter a gas fire  looks cheerful and welcoming– try for a table near it.

The menu is labeled for gluten free, non dairy and vegan dishes see here. If you plan a visit have a look at the menu on line before you go.  It will help you work out what you want to eat.

Where:- Shakarahi Vegetarian Restaurant
201/203 Faraday Street
Carlton
Phone:- 9347 3848

Opening times:- Monday to Thursday Midday  to 3.30pm then 6.00pm to 9.30
Friday to Saturday Midday to 3.30pm then 6.00pm to 10.30pm
Sunday 6.00pm to 9.30pm

Getting there:- All trams that travel north along Swanston Street eg, 3, 6, 12,1, 8, 67.  Get off at the University stop and walk along Faraday Street to Lygon Street.  The restaurant is just over Lygon Street.

Related posts:

1. Rocco Pantaleo – La Porchetta North Carlton
2. Green Field -cheap and cheerful Vietnamese, Sydney Road, Brunswick
3. “Little Italy” – Lygon Street – Carlton

I knew nothing of Rocco Pantaleo on my first visit there and have subsequently eaten there on a number of occasions still not realizing why it was decorated this way.   I ate there because I liked the atmosphere and the pizzas.

I understand now that this was Mr Pantaleo’s flagship – his first restaurant. And  I see why it is full of motor bikes and racing memorabilia. This was his passion.  I’m told he was often in the restaurant so I may have seen him without realizing who he was. I believe many of the rich and famous have eaten there including Bill Clinton.

I live near the St Kilda Junction where he was killed on his way to the Grand Prix.  I will never pass that way again without thinking of him and La Porchetta in North Carlton.   I plan to visit the restaurant  next week so I can eat another delicious pizza and raise a glass of red to memory of Rocco Pantaleo.

La Porchetta

392 Rathdown Street

North Carlton – Phone 9347 8906

Getting there:-

Tram 96 to East Brunswick.

It runs along Nicholson Street. Get off at Curtain Street and walk left, through to Rathdowne Street.

Related posts:

1. Motorbikes at La Porchetta Carlton North
2. Lunch at Zum Zum Carlton North for Middle Eastern cooking with an emphasis on Lebanese.
3. Shakahari – fine vegetarian dining in Carlton.

It’s in your face Motorbikes.

The décor at La Porchetta in Charlton North is stunning – gob-smacking if you are seeing it for the first time.

Full sized motorbikes hang from the ceiling that is already covered with motorbike posters.

It’s worth a trip to Carlton North to experience it. The pizzas are at the top of the La Porchetta range and the glasses of wine generous and then of course there are the motor bikes. You can sit outside but who would want to when they can sit with the bikes.

To get there take tram 96 to East Brunswick. It runs along Nicholson Street. Get off at Curtain Street and walk left, through to Rathdowne Street.

There’s interesting shopping along the strip at Carlton North North. It’s worth checking it out while you’re there.

Related posts:

1. Rocco Pantaleo – La Porchetta North Carlton
2. Lunch at Zum Zum Carlton North for Middle Eastern cooking with an emphasis on Lebanese.
3. Cakes and ice cream – the GeloBar, East Brunswick