Where in Melbourne can you get lunch for 2 people for $2.00? Coburg – that’s where. At Zaatar on Sydney Road $2.00 buys you two (delicious) zaatar topped pizzas and in case you want something to wash them down with there are bottles of tap water and glasses ready on the bench. Zaatar is situated on the Corner of Sydney Rd and Munro St in Coburg. There is easy parking near by and the Sydney Road tram stops right outside.
The restaurant takes its name from the Middle Eastern spice mixture (zaatar) which includes a wild thyme or oregano, sumac, sesame seeds and salt. According to local rumour it is run by George, Ameen and Wadi Choueiri, sons of the founder of A1 Bakery. After A1 was sold they apparently fell out with its new owners and set up by themselves. Maybe this is true, maybe not, but either way it doesn’t affect the quality of the food.
When I visited (not for the first time) last week – a lunch reward for a 4 year old who had behaved impeccably at the dentists -I was feeling rich so we splashed out on more than just the pizzas. We had the mezze plate with dip and salad, a cheese pie, a latte, and a gingerbread man.
The mezze plate allows you to choose 3 mezze – I had a potato and pea ball, the pumpkin kibbeh and cheese pastry called a sambousik. Of these the cheese sambousik was, for me, the clear winner. The pumpkin kibbeh was pleasant enough and the potato and pea ball was OK- not bad just unremarkable. There were some meat options but I ignored them in favour of the veg. Which brings us nicely on to the subject of salad.
The reason I go to Zaatar at least once a week is their Tabouleh. There are two choices of salad to have with your mezze: Tabouleh and Fattoush. Whilst I really like their Fatoush I absolutely love their tabouleh. Lots of parsley, lots of tomato (yeah I know, not for everyone…) and a lovely lemony flavour. Zaatar’s chefs seem to have an odd relationship with lemon. While the Tabouleh and eggplant dip are beautifully acidic, their homous, for me, needs more lemon. Its really nice and smooth but too too rich without the acidic counterpoint. Anyway today I chose the eggplant as that tends to be reliably good.
My son, on the other hand, likes Zaatar for the cheese pies. Today he polished it off before I could taste it, much like the gingerbread man he followed it with. Previous experience tells me that this cheese pie was probably very similar to most of the pizza/pie options: quick, easy, tasty and filling.
At Zaatar you order at the counter, get a number and your food arrives at the table quickly. If you want to order more you go back up to the counter where the service is efficient and friendly. The seating area is large (easier to get a pram into the than equally fabulous Al Alamy up the road), and although it is often pretty busy I have never not found a table. Zaatar is open until 8pm each evening but is probably best suited to lunch when it’s noisy, busy and excellent, excellent value. 8/10
Next week we are off to a Taste of Thai to see whether they deserve the ‘92% like’ they are currently getting on Urbanspoon.
Coburg Food 