Enak! Xtra @ Al-Halabi Gourmet Restaurant
I heard some Enakers today say that they had never eaten this kind of food before and I heard others say they had been regulars at this restaurant for years. After today I think we’ll all join the latter group! Mr Al-Halabi and his lovely wife Nagam are from Damascus, in Syria and have been in the restaurant business in Malaysia since 1997. They started with Tarbush, the popular restaurant group, which they have since sold in order to focus on the two branches of Al-Halabi Gourmet, one in Pavilion Bukit Bintang and the newest addition in Pavilion Damansara.
We visited Pavilion Bukit Bintang and were welcomed to a charming upstairs area reminiscent of a Levantine street scene, complete with painted shutters and trailing greenery. The restaurant has a market-style set up with an in-house bakery for fresh breads and pastries, plus a substantial grocery section where guests can take home some of the delicious authentic produce used to create their meal. You can pick up fresh Mediterranean tomatoes and peppers, tahini using top-quality African sesame and sumptuous sweets from Jordan; great gifts for CNY or Hari Raya.
19 Enak! Members and their 6 guests paid RM55 per person to enjoy this amazing meal hosted by Chris Lang. Corinne Sibert led for the Enak! Team and Hoda Sayyahi and Anisa Abdoolcarim handled the collection. Edna, Rosemary, Sumitra and Sharareh took the photos.
Our meal began with sharing plates of appetisers: silky hummus, vine leaves stuffed with rice, crispy aromatic kibbeh (a croquette of seasoned spiced ground lamb), batata harra (seasoned potatoes – a big hit at our table), spinach fatayer pastries reminiscent of samosa or spanikopita and muhammara (roasted red pepper and walnut dip) mini ‘pizzas’. All of this served with fresh salad and delicious, warm, puffed Arabic bread. And remember, this is only the starters!
This feast was followed by fragrant lamb kebabs and delicious shish tawouk chicken skewers. Just when we thought we couldn’t get any more full, the meal was completed by oven-fresh warm kunafa, which is salty akkawi cheese covered in very fine shreds of filo ‘noodles’ drenched in syrup – a sweet and savoury medley made in heaven. Served with mint tea to aid digestion – something we all definitely needed at this point.
This was an extremely generous set menu and all appreciated the chance to try foods they may not have had before. Our table was lucky to have Enaker Lamis from Jordan who kindly shared with us both the details of the food and the stories of the outstanding hospitality which goes with it. Chris Lang organised this Enak! as she previously lived in Turkey and is a big fan of middle-Eastern food, and Mr Al-Halabi shared that their full menu contains dishes from all over the region; from Turkey to Syria to Yemen. Plenty of excuses to go back and try more dishes. The Bukit Bintang branch has been there since 2014 and will soon be getting a renovation refresh – let’s hope they don’t change it too much as they certainly already have a wonderful destination for foodies.
Many thanks to Mr Al-Halabi, Nagam and Chris for organising such a feast. Everyone commented on the friendly, efficient service so thanks to the team of wait staff. And thanks to Hoda, Anisa, Kyoko and Corinne for helping on the day. Photos thanks to Edna, Rosemary Sumitra and Sharareh and review thanks to Lorna.