little white truths

Well, this review has been a long time coming - I've eaten at Lezzet THAT many times. I was introduced to it by my now husband (that's why I married him) and it's been a favourite for years. The only issue we've had with it in recent times is that one of the managers had a bit of an attitude problem (enough of one to keep us away), but that seems to have dulled and we haven't experienced the same problems on our last couple of visits. Thank god for that - it's enough to keep you away, don't you reckon? Like when you go into a shop and really love an item of clothing but don't like the sales assistant. When that happens, I leave without buying anything. It's a silent form of revolt.

Now for my review! Note that what I haven't pictured (because I'm a spanner) are the mixed dips ($17.50) and local calamari ($15.50) we shared for entrée. Next time we go back - which will be soon enough! - I'll take shots of those and go back and update this review.

In brief: the dips are wonderful overall (especially the carrot one) and served with warm Turkish bread. The only issue with the dips is that they're never served with enough bread and so you always have to order (and pay $4 for) a second serving, which annoys the bejesus out of me.The only let down in the dip collection is the hummus (the other two on offer being tzatziki and eggplant) - it's ok but not great and is reminiscent of cheap packaged hummus from Coles. I make a better one at home. Note: I've yet to eat here without having plenty of dips left over (even after two orders of bread), so what we do is reserve them for the mains - the tzatziki especially nicely dulls the richness of other dishes and works smashingly with the entrée calamari and tomato salad side I mention below.

The entrée calamari is served with lemon, mint, coriander, chilli, capsicum and Spanish onion. In the old days it wasn't battered, which I much preferred, but at least the batter is very light. My problem with battered seafood - lightly done or not - is that the batter overpowers the taste of the seafood. If I want seafood, I want to taste seafood and not crunchy oil! It is however lovely and comes with a nice patch of salad and what I think is aioli. I don't like the sauce it comes with (too rich for a battered dish and doesn't have much taste anyway) and I use the tzatziki from the dip collection instead for a different flavour combination. Note my husband would disagree - he always steals my share of the aioli.

This vine-wrapped salmon ($29.50) is beyond divine. The salmon is cooked perfectly - medium rare, soft and juicy. Not a touch of dryness. It comes with a wonderful sweet date mousse, a champagne reduction that isn't too much, and is served with potatoes (see below).

The only thing I'll say about the potatoes is that they used to come without that dollop of whatever it is on top (cream? yoghurt? we couldn't tell) and I preferred them that way. In any event, with unexpected sauces like that (ie, they're not listed on the menu) - I reckon they should be put on the side. Or at least let your customers know what to expect.

The salmon has become my favourite dish : )

The above Anatolian lamb ($30.50) was my favourite until I discovered the salmon. It's my husband's and brothers' favourite, and I'm yet to meet someone who doesn't love it - of all the many guests we've taken to Lezzet.

It's a shoulder of lamb slow cooked for 18 hours and is served with cous cous and date jus. The meaty chunks in the dish (that aren't the actual meat bits) are wonderful, juicy figs. Then menu describes the lamb as 'tender and melting off the bone' and that's totally right.

Note this is an incredibly rich dish, and I wouldn't chance having this as your only plate - it's better for sharing. We usually mix it with other fresher, lighter dishes (see below).

I've only tried the two sides from Lezzet, but I'd love to give them all a go. The above tomato salad ($9.50) comes with Spanish onion, cucumber and feta - and while the serving looks small, it easily serves four and we usually struggle to finish it (too much bread with the dips, I suspect). It's well balanced and they neither underdo nor overdo the amount of feta. It's a great accompaniment to the richness of the lamb - and quite a few of Lezzet's dishes are rather potent and complex, so it's a good idea to have something lighter to balance this.

How I love these beans ($9.50)! Served with yoghurt tahini and walnuts, they're wonderful on their own but also mix well with the salmon in particular. In the top right of the photo you can see the little dip pots that I wasn't smart enough to photograph (actually - I can blame my husband for that one since he was on photo duty that night hehe - but don't tell him I said that ; ) ).

The beans are tender and the serving is a great size for four people. If only two of you are dining, I'd stick with one side unless you're only ordering one entrée and a main to share. It's really easy to over-order here, particularly because - as mentioned - many dishes are quite rich and complex.

Atmosphere

Wonderful. I don't know how they manage to block out the sounds of traffic from Brighton Road, but they do. The lighting is nice and dim and you feel that you're eating somewhere special.

Service

Great. When we came here years ago it was excellent, then it dipped a bit (as mentioned at the top), but it has now picked up again and our waitress was really lovely, helpful and attentive - without being in-your-face. We gave her a big tip even though we really couldn't afford to do so - but good service deserves that. Having worked in hospitality myself for many years, I have a huge appreciation for decent service and I think it deserves to be rewarded.

In sum

The whole meal above cost around $40 per head (we ordered two serves of the lamb), including a bottle of wine. Considering how overpriced Australia is these days, you can easily drop $30+ on a substandard meal, so it's totally worth coming here and really enjoying the experience. We also had too much food in the end (perhaps could have dropped the calamari entrée), so we could have brought down the price. But we always make the mistake of overdoing the bread and dips (bloody hard not to) and I can see us making the same mistake every time we go (what's Einstein's definition of insanity again?!).

I haven't tried Lezzet's breakfast menu or pizzas yet, but my husband often used to order one of the wraps from the take away menu as a Friday night post-work treat and swears by them. The warm garlic bread ($4.50) that we've had before is baked fresh and is smashing.

Seriously, give this joint a go! I'll update this review when we go back and add more dishes (and photos) to the above. Yay to good food! Yay more to good food that isn't wildly expensive!

Details

Website: http://lezzet.com.au/

Addy:

77-81 Brighton Road

Elwood VIC 3184

(613) 953-17733

Hours:

Weekend Breakfast and Lunch:10:30am - 3pm

Dinner: Tues - Sun 5.30pm - 10pm

Monday - by reservation only