Every time we go down Edgware Road, I gaze out the window at all the Middle Eastern eateries that line the street. Soon after, I find myself licking my lips. There is Lebanese, Moroccan, Israeli and many more, but one that has always jumped out has been the Maroush Deli. This is probably because I can always see pyramids of all the baklava through the window!

We finally decided to dine at one of these places and so we ended up at Maroush Gardens – complete with a fish pond! Now I don't usually like to do 'quasi restaurant reviews', but I do want to recommend this place as we had a massive plate of top quality, delicious food.

We each ordered the lunchbox which is a selection of the mezza (I would usually say mezze, but their menu ended with an ‘a’) as chosen by the chef (we had hummus, baba ganouj, dolmades, a little pastry filled with spinach, one with cheese, some pickles, tabouleh, a falafel and some fantastic garlic sauce and a salsa-type sauce), and some grilled chicken. Usually they serve a mixed grill but as I operate a "no red meat" policy, they were happy to only give me the chicken - which was delightfully moist by the way! This lunch plate will set you back £16 and sustain you for a long afternoon . They also provide some warm, brown pita bread if you want to make the most of all the dips and sauces.

If you can make it to Edgware Road, be sure to stop in and check it out. The range of cold and hot mezzas is massive and it all looked great. If you just want a quick piece of baklava from the deli, check out the Maroush Deli which is across the street.

Deets: Maroush Gardens – 1 Connaught St (corner of Edgware Road) Tel: 020 7262 0222

It feels like I haven’t done a blog post in a while…probably because I haven’t! I was back in Sydney recently for a few weeks and had a packed schedule visiting friends and family. Obviously there was loads of food involved which I would like to share.

My sis (the other half of noredmeat.com) had a long list of foodie adventures lined up and the first was an unassuming Vietnamese place in Cabramatta. While at first I was hesitant to make the journey out to Sydney’s west, Thanh Binh was quite a surprise.

We didn’t even read the menu, instead followed Anita’s lead and ordered the prawn rice paper rolls which you roll yourself.

We are soon presented with various plates and bowls containing the ingredients for this feast. The table is adorned with the prawns which are minced and wrapped around sugarcane, vermicelli , rice paper sheets, a bowl of steaming water, and the various veggies and herbs, and of course fresh chilli.

It takes us a few attempts, but we soon get the hang of how to roll your own. My preferred method is to submerge a sheet of rice paper in the water until it has softened, then place it on a clean plate and if possible to stretch it across the plate without any folds. I then layer a slice of the prawn mince, some vermicelli, then strips of lettuce, cucumber and bean shoots, and fresh mint, followed by some chopped up chilli. Then the folding. I found the best way was to fold them like a fajita, but each to their own. It’s always a challenge to fold them after you have stuffed so much of the prawn and veggies inside. The chilli sauce is great to dunk your finished roll.

This would be a pretty easy meal to prepare at home too – it’s definitely one for me to try soon!

If you are in Sydney and want to make the trip to Cabramatta, here are the details:

Thanh Binh Restaurant 52a John St, Cabramatta NSW 2166

Somehow after stuffing ourselves, we still wanted to try a Pandan waffle!

One of the best Indian restaurants in Sydney is Billu's. Every time we go I am sooooo full and wish I hadn't eaten so much but it's all just so good. It's one of my parents favourite restaurants and it is always packed with other Indian's which is a good sign of a good Indian restaurant. They play Bollywood movies on a flat screen TV which adds to the experience. Even though it is in Harris Park it is worth the trip. They have recently opened a new restauranton Church St, Parramatta and have another restaurant in Epping. We started today's late lunch with Papri Chaat ($6.50). It is covered in tamarind, yoghurt, onion, chickpeas, coriander, green chilli's and sev. It is a great way to start an Indian feast. Next is Dahi puri ($6). Which is similar to papri chaat except it is all in a tiny bite sized puri, which you pop in your mouth for a flavour explosion. I usually get a Paneer Dosa every time I come here but they are pretty big and I'm not that hungry so we decide to have a paneer sizzler ($14.50) instead. Boy oh boy this is my absolute favourite. It is cottage cheese marinated in yoghurt and spices finished with onion, capsicum and a special sauce served on a sizzling platter. Heaven! The tawa chicken ($18.90) that mum orders is a hit. Actually this was the reason for going to Billu's today. Brett and I went to the good food and wine afficionado which was really lame and stopped in at my parents. Normally mum has a stash of tandoori chicken in the freezer but since she didn't have any she suggested we go to Billu's. So anyway the tawa chicken, similar to chicken tikka masala but with a sweet and spicy marinade is now up there with my other favourites. Other dishes we ordered to complement our favourites were chicken biryani ($13.90) and garlic naans ($3 each). This cross section photo of the paneer makes me wish there was a Billu's in the city. Billu's Indian Eatery, 62-64 Wigram St, Harris Park, Sydney 9687 7785

As we only had 2 days in Edinburgh, I wanted to make sure we didn’t waste any dining opportunities. So I did a bit of research into popular restaurants and noticed Tex Mex II was mentioned in a few places. I thought this seemed a tad strange firstly due to the name which lacks any originality or flair, and secondly due to the type of cuisine which just didn’t feel right for Edinburgh.

But what the hell do I know about Edinburgh!? Tex Mex II was awesome! I’m a big fan of Mexican food and this place really served it up well! It’s only a small eatery and they were quite busy, so we were glad we had booked as they had to turn quite a few people away during the time we were there. It’s quirky and colourful with food to match.

The veggie quesadillas came with piping hot chunks of fresh veggies (including pineapple which was amazing!) with a good dollop of guacamole, salsa and sour cream.

The flaming chicken fajitas are set alight to burn off the tequila which gives a superb taste! The cheese that was melted directly onto them was a bit too much dairy for me, but easily removed while still leaving a cheese flavour.

 

The frozen margaritas were also great! But as they are made in a large batch, they are not very strong. This ended up being a good thing though as it’s usually game over for me after one. I could have happily slurped a pitcher of these ones though! And they added strawberry and mango shots to give mine a twist which I thought was lovely.

I’m not surprised this place is as popular as it is. It deserves the great reviews around and makes for a fun night out. And to top it off, it’s very reasonably priced.

64 Thistle St, Edinburgh

Tel: 0131 260 9699

E: fatdonny@texmex2.com

We recently spent a weekend in Edinburgh to check out the Fringe Festival and I had received a hot tip to visit David Bann for some vegetarian food. I’m so glad we acted on that hot tip as it was one of the highlights of our weekend in the Scottish capital.

Snaps to the chef David Bann who believes that vegetarian food can be both tasty and healthy. I love veggie food and I think it’s such a shame when some restaurants just have one veggie dish (usually a mushroom risotto) on their menu which means they ‘cater’ for vegetarians.

Being the foodie I am, I made sure I checked out the menu online first which gave me that feeling of excitement and anticipation of what was in store.

The restaurant is located in the Old Town just off the Royal Mile and within walking distance of many of the Fringe venues. There was a range of people in there, many of which I wouldn’t have picked for choosing to eat veggie, but once I had tasted the food I understood why. Even carnivorous Chris loved it!

We shared the Thai fritters – spicy fritters of smoked tofu, peas, ginger, green chilli, lime, sesame and potato which was served with fresh banana chutney and plum sauce. These were amazing! The crunchy coating tasted similar to a falafel, but better! And the chutney with fresh banana was a new concept, but totally worked!

I had the broccoli crêpe with tarragon, toasted almonds and smoked Ardrahan cheese which was served with a salad of beetroot, fennel and orange. It was pretty cheesy, but so delicious and creamy!

 

Chris’ mushroom, runner bean and cashew curry came with jasmine rice, potato and fenugreek patties. This was cooked in an aromatic coconut, cashew, fresh tomato and coriander sauce, and served with sweet pineapple chutney and mint salad. He was pretty happy with this dish as the mushrooms and cashews were a great substitute for meat.

  

David Bann is a very modern restaurant with great service and while the menu isn’t massive, there is enough choices on there to make any full vegetarian feel spoilt for choice. A nice touch was the pitcher of water which comes with strawberries, orange, lemon and mint – so refreshing!  Definitely one to try if you are ever in Edinburgh.

56-58 St Mary's Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SX (Off the Royal Mile and the Cowgate)
Open every day, all day from 11 am. Reservations are recommended but not possible during the Fringe Festival, so just pop by.

Tel: 0131 556 5888

Email: info@davidbann.co.uk