Byblos Grill @ Bussorah Street - An Authentic Labanese Fare In Kampong Glam

Food choices aplenty at Kampong Glam, and Middle Eastern cuisine is one of them. Located at Bussorah Street, Byblos Grill serves up Lebanese cuisine with a wide selection of mezze and main courses.

Hummus 3.5/5

Lavash 4/5

Chickpeas were and are abundant in the Middle Eastern, resulting in this highly nutritious, and delicious Hummus. Made with chickpea, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, ours was creamy and rich with nutty tahini flavour. What it needed was perhaps a couple more dashes of lemon juice for an extra zing. The best way to appreciate its flavours is to have the Lavash, a thin flatbread served to us poofy and warm.

Platter 4/5

For mains, we had a platter consisting Lamb Kofta, and Chicken Tawouk served with rice and homemade sauces. The Lamb Kofta is a Middle Eastern meatball made with minced lamb marinated in 7 different Turkish and Lebanese spices, mixed with chopped parsley and onions. Skewered and grilled, the meat wasn't too gamey, and flavours of the spices came through quite well without being overpowering. The latter is chicken chunks marinated in a yoghurt spice mixture, skewered and charcoal grilled. The chicken chunks were lean but moist. Similar to the lamb skewer, the spices were just right. Their version of tomato salsa and a spice dip which is made of several spices were punchy and also helped to cut the richness of the meat skewers. The fluffy rice was a plus too.

Lahmacun Lamb 3.5/5

Lahmacun Lamb is like a Turkish pizza made with flatbread and minced lamb toppings. The sweet tomato base worked well with the juicy minced lamb.

Kunafa 4.2/5

For dessert, try Kunafa, a traditional Middle Eastern dessert made with thin noodle-like pastry soaked in sugar syrup and layered around cheese and baked. Although the expected stringy cheese was missing, as well as that sprinkle of vibrant green crushed pistachios, all other elements made it really yummy - the tart citrus wedges, the savoury cheese bits and the milky cream that mellow out and complement the sweetness of the pastry. And Turkish Coffee is a must!

Photos and words by Si An. A girl who is allured by travelling, loves the feel of freedom, smell of the rain and the aroma of fine coffee and food. Note: This is an invited tasting. 


Byblos Grill
14 Bussorah Street
Singapore 199435
Tel:+65 6296 8577
Facebook
Website
Nearest MRT: Bugis (EW Line, DT Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 11am - 1am

Direction:
1) Alight at Nicoll Highway MRT station. Take Exit A. Take the overhead bridge to Beach Road. Walk towards the junction of Jalan Sultan and Beach Road. Cross the road and walk down Beach Road. Turn right onto Bussorah Street. Walk to destination. Journey time about 10 minutes. [Map]

2) Alight at Bugis MRT station. Take Exit B. Walk towards Raffles Hospital. Walk to junction of North Bridge Road and Ophir Road. Cross the junction and walk down North Bridge Road towards Arab Street. Turn right into Arab Street. Walk down Arab Street. Turn left onto Baghdad Street. Turn right onto Bussorah Street. Walk to destination. Journey time about 10 minutes. [Map]

Gokul Vegetarian Restaurant @ Upper Dickson Road (Little India)

I think most people like me if given a choice will not visit any vegetarian restaurants. There is just this unsatisfactory feeling of not being full when one does not consume meat for a meal. However it does not mean that vegetarian food is not delicious and I have been introduced to probably one of the best vegetarian restaurant in town by Luke aka Hungry Angmo our vegetarian food blogger who brought Nat and me to Gokul Vegetairan Restaurant at Little India. It opened my eye to a whole new perspective of vegetarian food.

Lemongrass Juice 4/5

I was overwhelmed by the huge menu at Gokul Vegetairan Restaurant that includes North Indian, South Indian and Asian fusion vegetarian cuisine. According to Luke, there are over 500 over items in the menu. That is a menu that is not easy for any ordinary kitchen to pull it off.

We started with one of Luke's favourite drink which is the Lemongrass Juice ($5). The melange of green apple, mint, pandan and lemongrass gave the drink a good refreshing start to the dinner.

Char Kway Teow 4/5

An Indian restaurant serving an Asian local hawker fare as a vegetarian dish, this just caught my attention and I had to order it to find out how the rendition of the Char Kway Teow ($7.50) taste? Of course there was no cockles or fish cakes but substituted with beancurd and vegetables. The stir fried flat noodles in black saue was surprising  very well executed and not oily. It was really close to the real thing without the cockles and fish cakes.

Hyderabad Dum Briyani 4/5

For a full meal, one can go for the Hyderabad Dum Briyani ($10). Love that the restaurant used basmatic rice for their briyani. The long grain rice was fragrant and fluffy. Hidden in the pile of rice was the delectable masala soya chunks.

Mysore Mutton 4.5/5

The Mysore Mutton ($9) was my favourite for the night. The vegetarian mutton was cooked in mysore gravy that was so delish with all the different delectable spices hitting the palate. Even the texture of the vegetarian mutton was so close to the real thing that I could be easily fooled if in a blind tasting. We also got the romali roti to go with the mysore mutton.

Malai Kofta 4.2/5

I called it the twin tower when the Malai Kofta ($10) was served. It definitely is a eye catching dish. The kofta cooked in Mughlai style has a smooth and creamy gravy drench over the towering kofta. I am not exactly sure what is in it but I could taste potato. It was my first encounter of the dish and I totally enjoyed it. Kind of having a potato salad in a creamy sauce.

I have to say I had a satisfying dinner at Gokul. I left not feeling that I have actually eaten vegetarian. I have never expected vegetarian dish can be so tasty and I applauded their vegetarian rendition of Asian cuisine.  There are so many items on their menu that I want to check out and I am sure they will be as good as what I had. Time to plan for my next visit.


Gokul Vegetarian Restaurant
19 Upper Dickson Road
Singapore 207478
Tel: +65 63967769
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GokulVegetarianRestaurant
Website: http://gokulvegetarianrestaurant.com/
Nearest MRT: Little India (NE Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 1030am - 1030pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Little India MRT station. Take Exit E. Walk down Buffalo Street to Serangoon Road. Turn left on Serangoon Road and walk to the traffic light. Cross the road at the traffic light. Walk to Dickson Road. Journey time about 7 minutes. [Map]