little white truths

As my husband N said after we'd eaten last night - thank god our planet contains so many different countries and cultures. Otherwise, where would food be? We'd be eating the same boring meals all the time. In Melbourne we're especially lucky to have so many different communities living together and opening restaurants - you can almost pretend you're overseas when you're in one, as we did last night.

Café 248 is one of those places I wish I'd discovered years ago. Glad I've found it now. One of N's friends put us on to it, saying it was authentic and really cheap, and had great food. He was right on two counts (it wasn't that cheap).

The café is comfortably small and I'm not a massive fan of the interior (too white and bright - for dinner especially I'd prefer dim lighting). When we went it was filled with Middle Eastern folk, which is always a good sign. I was excited from the moment we entered.

We placed our meal orders and I then studied the menu a bit more (they'd rushed us a little - it's that kind of place, which I actually like because it adds bustle). My eyes found this yoghurt, eggplant and garlic dip, which I ordered because I thought it would make a great accompaniment to the meat (it did). This cost $8 and there was so much dip that we almost didn't finish it.

The bread is nice - not the most amazing I've had of its kind, but still very good. The dip is thick and creamy and very sharp, with tonnes of garlic. Yay to that.

I ordered the Boneless Chicken Kebab main ($17), which was awesome. Beware the menu photos - from the pictures it looks like you get both rice and salad with your meal, when in fact you get a choice of one (and ordering a side of rice or salad will set you back at least $8).

I personally think the amount of salad on the plate was too small, and it meant the ratio of meat to greens was off: I like to mix up my mouthfuls with a bit of both, but the chicken far outlasted the salad. Next time I'll ask for salad without dressing - the dish didn't need it and I liked the yoghurt dip better as a sauce.

Most main meals seem to come with a burnt half of tomato and a lime wedge, which was a nice touch.

I really enjoyed my plate and forced myself to finish the whole lot, which was a bad idea hehe and next time I'll take some away. That chicken is at least two breasts' worth and it's too much for one meal (for me, anyway - but my husband felt the same about his dish and he eats like a horse).

N ordered the Soltani Kebab ($25), which had fat planks of marinated beef tenderloin and minced lamb. He asked for the meat to be medium rare and they were happy to accommodate this. I tried his meat and basmati rice and both were lovely. We fought over the yoghurt dip to go with our meals and I can't imagine the food without it, so I recommend ordering one of the dips as an entrée or side.

Overall

A great place, and we're already planning to go back. The service was good, no frills and efficient - just like the café itself.

Next time we plan to order the spinach, yoghurt and garlic dip (for a change) and a mixed meat main with meat and chicken to share - there's enough meat on the plate for that. We'll probably order the meal with rice and ask for a side salad, in the hope that the side salad is more generous and because the serving of rice with his meal was ample for two.

Recommended : )

Details

Open every day for dinner and on weekends for lunch as well.

Address: 248 Toorak Road (hence the name), near the corner of Chapel.