648 Sydney Road, Brunswick Ph 03 9386 9674
After visiting A1 Bakery, we decided to cross the road and pay a visit to El Fayha Sweets. Their window claims that they have the “best Lebanese sweets in Melbourne.”
And you know what? I think they’re right. Inside this quaint shop, you’ll find a little Lebanese man sitting behind a counter, covered with various, Lebanese pastries.
Having never tried Lebanese sweets before I asked a lady who was waiting, which were the best to try. She said that she swears by the Pistachio version. Now to me, all the sweets basically looked the same; pastries, smothered in honey and sprinkled with nuts, the only difference being the shapes. From what I could tell, you are actually charged by the weight of the cakes you purchase. Some people before us actually bought $100 worth and another $50 worth! We asked for $10 worth of mixed pastries. The little man looks like he has been there for years- so much so, he didn’t even need to weigh our purchase.
And you know what? I think they’re right. Inside this quaint shop, you’ll find a little Lebanese man sitting behind a counter, covered with various, Lebanese pastries.
Having never tried Lebanese sweets before I asked a lady who was waiting, which were the best to try. She said that she swears by the Pistachio version. Now to me, all the sweets basically looked the same; pastries, smothered in honey and sprinkled with nuts, the only difference being the shapes. From what I could tell, you are actually charged by the weight of the cakes you purchase. Some people before us actually bought $100 worth and another $50 worth! We asked for $10 worth of mixed pastries. The little man looks like he has been there for years- so much so, he didn’t even need to weigh our purchase.
When we got home and finally tasted the sweet little treats, there was little difference between the flavours of each different shaped pastry. One of them had some Turkish delight at the bottom, which was the main difference. Another had a little more honey than the other. Even though they all tasted almost all the same, they were all delicious. Very sweet, sticky, yet crunchy at the same time. The little old Lebanese man seems to have this sweet treat making thing down pat!
7 comments:
I have to agree that most of the swweets tastes very similar. I wrote a similar thing on my post about the Sydney Road Festival where I bought a box and they all tasted the same after the first one. The one with more nuts tasted better, that was the only difference I could taste.
Yeh, unfortunately, as good as they were, there wasn't much difference. Judging by the amount he sells though, it seems that most people dont mind. Any other ideas on places for good middle eastern sweets?
There's a big one one block up from A1, on the same side, I forget what it's called. But most of the Lebanese cake shops in Sydney Road are good.
Those big-ordering customers are families that come in and buy the sweets en masse for their huge parties.
Try the znood el sitt, one of my favourite desserts. They all sell it, it might not be on display because it is more perishable. Ask for it by name and they'll be impressed.
Ooh.. znood el sitt you reckon? sounds good! what does that consist of? I think we saw that place you mentioned, but didn't go in. Maybe we'll check it out this weekend.
we normally go to Balha's which is further up the road, next to a party supplies place. They have really great sweets and we buy them buy the half-kilo or whole, depending on who we are getting them for!
For something different, try the ones that look like huge curry puffs and the other ones filled with cheese or cream.
They also have semolina type pastries. If you are after more baklava, you will have to choose the ones with different types of nuts as the ones in the photo are all pistachio, although admittedly these are my personal favourites!
hey cin, thanks for the great advice! Those other cakes sound amazing! I think at the shop we went to, they only had ones topped with pistachio... they all did look very similar.
Hi Adski, you just make me stop by your blog and give smile on my face. :) Actually I was browsing some picures about brunswick. I used to live nearby Syd Rd, like 3yrs ago for studying Eng.As the one who I used to be a neibourgh in Brunswick, I'd like to tell you you've got very good points to focus, A1 and ELFAIHA.But there're 2 more. I don't quite clearly remeber the names.. one was the turkish restaurant that faces wedding ornament and the other was the pizza shop. Also there are hugely famous "souvlaki" shop, 20~30 minutes away from here, u can get there with tram on Syd road.
Thx a million remind me the good memories.
Post a Comment