Zahr

We enjoyed a wonderful meal at Zahr Mezze, it was a Tuesday Evening and quite cold but the restaurant was cosy and inviting. It has just had a restyle. The owner and staff are friendly and helpful, and the lovely young waitress looks like Juliette Binoche in Chocolat. I was searching for Johnny Depp! But found hubby quite interesting. Hubby found the seafood Tagine very tasty and satisfying as a main course. I opted for the entrée Pork belly to have as a main. This was delicious, the pork was juicy and tasty, the crackle crisp and the salad was amazing, the hit of citrus with pork was perfect. The serving size was very generous for an entrée, I requested extra salad and the staff obliged happily.
I ate a lemon and pistachio cake home made by the owner’s grandmother with semolina, it was delicious.
Hubby enjoyed a traditional dessert, the name of which I can’t remember, but consisted of dates, pistachio and walnuts made into balls in a very short, but not sweet pastry. Together with the wonderful coffee this was very satisfying. Throughout the night a steady stream of customers came in for everything from coffee and dessert to wine and or a meal.
We will be back!
In fact that was the second visit in a week by our family. Hubby and daughter had Sunday Brekkie as well. They thoroughly enjoyed their bacon and eggs, Turkish bread, Lebanese sausage and coffees.

I’ve been to Zahr twice now, and can safely recommend their baked eggs for breakfast! They were delicious, and so full of flavour.
Coffee was quite good — nothing amazing but I would order again.
The atmosphere is a little bit corporate for my liking (I’m partial to the cosy places) and I saw two meetings happening near during our brunch date, so maybe keep that in mind.
Overall the service was attentive, the barista has nice eyes, and they do a mean brekkie — I’m keen to try dinner next!

I’ve walked pass Zahr on many occasions but never thought to try it till a girl friend suggested it as our venue for a catch up (sans children) on a Friday night. Luckily I made a reservation because when I arrived at 7.30pm, the restaurant was full, even the outside area too. assume there is heating out there but there were also smokers, so I recommend sitting inside. I sat at the sort-​of bar area waiting for my table to be cleared and my friend to arrive and noticed that there were a range of people dining there tonight — from young dating couples, older couples, and groups of friends. They can certainly accommodate larger groups.
Service was very friendly, but I didn’t think they were particularly attentive after our orders were taken because when my glass of wine (which I ordered by the glass) and water glass was empty, no one came to offer more wine or water. One dish also did not arrive, but we couldn’t ask about it because they were so busy with the larger tables and it was a full house, so it was hard to catch their attention and I didn’t feel like walking up to the counter. When we did get someone’s attention to ask for the bill, the waiter (who wasn’t the one who took our order) was very apologetic when we mentioned politely that one dish never came.
On to the food: there is a strong Lebanese/​Middle Eastern influence in the dishes (which would make Zahr a nice addition to the Hyde Park restaurant scene) and I recommend sharing a few dishes. We tried the fried white baits, zucchini fritters, lamb kibbeh (did not arrive) and carrot and apple salad. The white baits were crunchy, had the right amount of saltiness and the dip that it came with was very tangy and yummy. A terrific dish to have with pre-​dinner drinks. The zucchini fritters (x 3) was tasty enough but nothing ground-​breaking here. The tomato chutney it came with had a nice fresh homemade taste to it. A big disappointment was the carrot and apple salad, which at $ 22 a pop I was hoping to be blown away by it and I’ve had many outstanding Lebanese salads in my time. Nope. It was a very boring salad with a thick mayonnaise-​like dressing which did not taste distinctively of anything.
Wine list is mostly SA wines and while short had a few interesting varietals like Fiano.
Prices for food and wine was reasonable and would suit most budgets.
Noise level was a little loud, but it provided a nice vibe to the place on a Friday night.
I think it’s been almost a year since Zahr opened and there is certainly a niche for a restaurant like this in this neighbourhood. I’ll be returning to try their winter menu.

We had a Lebanese mezze, all the food was fantastic and service was good. I also enjoyed sipping a lemonade, not sure what it was called but it was good, made with ice. Coffee was smooth and full of body.

I went here to try out something new and I found it pretty good. We ordered a variety of smaller dishes to try out and share. Unfortunately the mayonnaise type sauce with the salt and pepper squid had tahini in it which my son ate before he realised. He’s allergic to sesame seeds.
But the food tasted really nice for us and my vego sister.

I booked this spot in anticipation of a nice dinner with an exciting menu. I was disappointed to hear that their specials on the board (which were the only exciting dishes on the menu) were not available. And the restaurant was empty!
The staff were nice and friendly and did not seem to kick up a fuss when we decided to move on to else where for dinner.
Hopefully, the restaurant will improve over time?

Hyde Park has been needing something like this. I went for dinner on a Saturday night and it was a nice atmosphere, nice that the options for food can be as small or large as you like and I can imagine coming here and having a wine and something light to eat or dinner. The restaurant looks warm and inviting and I watched as things started to come together in the weeks leading up to the opening.
The staff are super lovely and that is something I find essential.
The entrée mezze we had were beautiful, zucchini fritters and haloumi — yum! The lamb shank for main had amazing flavours but I think could have been cooked a little more slowly — the anticipated lamb shank experience of meat falling off the bone wasn’t quite achieved.
I also found it hard to find their contact details online but the staff assured me they are working on it, and the new FB page is coming along nicely (
). Plus they’ve now got a mention on Unilocal ;-)
I’ll be sure to visit again, very happy with this new addition to my neighbourhood.

We walked over to Zahr at around 6pm on Friday night and found a spot outside where we could watch the people of Hyde Park pass by while enjoying a glass of sauvignon blanc. I originally thought that this place was going to be a tapas and wine bar, and was surprised to realise that it’s actually a café and mezze bar with a limited wine list.
The staff were very friendly and attentive; they are clearly excited about their new business and making the effort to provide a welcoming place for their patrons. We ended up settling on a few dishes to share, including the falafel (which came with one ball each of three different varieties; I wish I wrote these down because I can’t remember what they were!), the zucchini and feta fritters, the haloumi, squid and a roasted carrot salad with rocket, pine nuts, coriander and labneh.
Overall, the food was really nice! I liked that it came out in small serves so that we could try lots of different items, and there was never so much food that I felt overstuffed. It was really easy to practice portion control when I only had a few bites of each dish.
The stand-​out dish was the carrot salad. The carrots were perfect: tender but not mushy, and the dressing on the salad was slightly sweet with a little bit of a spicy bite to finish. The haloumi was also really nice; quite salty and squeaky and served with the requisite lemon. We also both loved the zucchini fritters. They were rich in taste, but very light and almost fluffy in texture. They were served with a sweet and cinnamon-​kissed dipping sauce whose flavour reminded me of a hot cross bun. My companion reports that the squid had a nice bite but wasn’t rubbery, and the batter coating it was light and crispy, not heavy. The only disappointing dish for both of us was the falafel. Though served with a yogurt-​style sauce, we both found them dry and not very palatable.
As for the atmosphere, it was very pleasant. The inside was well fit out with a modern and simple décor, and the outdoor space was ample. We sat outside and the space heaters kept us perfectly warm despite the cool night. My only two complaints about the outdoor area are that there were two older ladies smoking within the confines of the café blinds, which made every puff of smoke a little too close for my taste, and the chairs (well, stools actually) were very uncomfortable. They are backless, black metal and are very heavy, which means that if you need to shift your position, you make a fantastically loud screech against the concrete floor. We would have likely lingered much longer over our food, and perhaps another glass of wine or two, if we were more comfortable in our seats. Overall though, it was a lovely meal and we enjoyed the food and service.