That Food Guy

Albaik (Newcastle)

Opening in March this year, Albaik doesn’t strike me as a place that you’d seek out but rather stumble upon. Their Lebanese cuisine is often very new to some (myself included!) but after being recommended their food by family, I just had to give it a go!

The Place

Situated just off the roundabout under Byker Bridge and in the shell of The Plough pub, Albaik isn’t exactly the most eye-catching of restaurants. However, once you get inside, the decor is certainly impactful! The whole thing looks very middle-eastern authentic, complete with beautiful hanging lanterns and all shapes and sizes of Hookah along the bar. The interior is about as far from the shabby, pub-like exterior as possible, but most definitely not gaudy.

The People

As soon as we entered, the co-owner Mustafa practically ran to the entrance to meet and greet, and see us to our table. On this quiet Sunday afternoon service with most Northerners going elsewhere for their traditional Sunday roast, Mustafa was the only one to serve us all afternoon. However, if he is waiting tables along with his employees every day then I’ve no doubt that he keeps them in very polite shape! From what we experienced, fantastically friendly staff.

The Menu

As previously mentioned, I’ve never had Lebanese food before. Hence, the menu was full of new and exciting things for me to try! They have a huge range very similar to Greek and Turkish food, consisting mostly of juicy grilled meat and fish, mum’s own hummus, herby salads, and spiced sauces. Each dish is explained nice and simply for the layman (most visitors), and is neatly laid out into lots of different sections. We took this to mean ‘order a ton of different things and stick it in the middle of the table’, but there are some bigger main dishes if you prefer.

The Food

As I said, we decided on a more Mezze-style lunch, choosing a few of the more delicious sounding dishes to share between us. Eventually, we decided on: Kabees, a selection of pickles; Kibbeh Shameyieh, deep fried lamb meatballs mixed with cracked wheat and onions filled with sautéed minced meat; Albaik Salad, a salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, parsley, mint, onion, radish, Lebanese spices, and a lemon and olive oil dressing; Hommos Shawarma Mix, hummus topped with sliced lamb and chicken; Bammieh B’zeit, okra cooked with tomato, onion, fresh coriander and olive oil; Manakiesh Lamb, baked Lebanese pastry topped with lamb, herbs and olive oil; and of course some Flatbreads! The first 5 are shown in clockwise order below, with the pickles at the top.

The Manakiesh Lamb arrived a couple of minutes later, and so is shown separately.

And as soon as it all arrived, it looked fantastic (as you can very well see), and smelled amazing.

The hommos (Lebanese hummus) was creamy and lifted nicely by lemon juice, the little well in it’s centre absolutely overflowing with succulent, deeply flavoured marinaded lamb and chicken. Very good indeed!

A textural wonderland, the Kibbeh Shameyieh were nutty and crunchy on the outside, and soft, dense and juicy on the inside. Not the most flavoursome of all the dishes, the lamb being spiced less than the other lamb we had, but nice nonetheless.

The Kabees (pickles) and Albaik Salad were very refreshing alongside the oily meat dishes, with the pickles definitely acting more as palette cleanser. However, for a lighter lunch I’d choose that salad hands down. All of the main ingredients were obviously very fresh, brightened even more by the lemon and finely-chopped mint. A real winner there!

For me, the Manakiesh Lamb was simply more of a meat-feast pizza than anything novel, but still very tasty if a little more filling than the other dishes due to the hefty dough base.

And finally, Albaik’s trump card was played in the form of a little bowl of okra in a smoky tomato sauce, with soft and light flatbreads to dip. The okra almost melted in the sauce, making it absolutely perfect to be scooped up by the clouds of fresh flatbread, cooked to order in the kitchen. The Bammieh B’zeit is certainly my preferred dish of the day! I could eat vats of that stuff.

Overall, we had a fantastic meal at Albaik. I’d thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoys anything Greek or Turkish, anyone who’s a kebab connoisseur, and anyone who loves flavoursome food. And as if this wasn’t enough of an incentive, the meal that we had was incredibly cheap - just over £10 per head… and we were absolutely full to the brim! Well worth checking out, even if it doesn’t look it to start with.

Albaik Restaurant

98 Byker Bank,
Newcastle Upon Tyne,
NE6 1LA

Tel: 0191 228 9000
Web: http://www.albaik.just-eat.co.uk/

Cafe 21 at Fenwick (Newcastle)

Café 21 at Fenwick is one of the more recent venues in the upscale chain of eateries in North-East England captained by Terry Laybourne, creator of the 21 Hospitality Group. In the years leading up to the Fenwick diner opening, the increasing success of Café 21 down at Newcastle’s Quayside, and Bistro 21 in Durham have meant that a lot is expected of a mere department store restaurant.

The Place

Always nigh-on heaving, Café 21 at Fenwick is buzzing, bold and bright. The large windows at the far side combined with plenty of mirrors create a very light atmosphere for a quick bite in the middle of the bustling shopping day. Around lunchtime, combine that with every seat filled by businesspersons and shoppers chatting over food and drink, and light quickly becomes lively and brimming - in my opinion a great way to spend a meal with anyone.

The People

The staff at Café 21 are always insistent on being as friendly and helpful as possible, even amounting to telling us our table was ready about 10 minutes before it actually was! Otherwise, we were never rushed to decide on our food, always greeted very politely by every staff member, and given prompt service - the discretionary 10% service charge is deserved! Even offering to give out recipes is not beyond the young crew.

The Menu 

The café menu is by no means sparse with a nice selection of classic, light dishes and the fixed price menu has food to suit any palette. The drinks list is amazing for a department store café, my only complaint being that it lacks slightly on the beer-front.

On the café menu there is quite an interesting range of food, laid out casually with no boundary between starter and main (which may feel strange, depending on how you view the place as you enter). One thing I notice immediately is that all of the dishes stick out as being nice and light, perfect for a café situated in a busy shopping area. Everything sounds fantastic! - Salad of Prawns, Avocado, Chicory and Pink Grapefruit; Omelette with Fine Herbs, Gruyere Cheese or Smoked Ham; Nicoise Style Salad with Spanish White Tuna; and Cheddar Cheese and Spinach Soufflé! This just touches on an impressive line-up. Where there is a boundary however, is between these dishes and the Sandwiches, of which the Marinated Aubergine, Chickpea Puree, Roasted Peppers and Watercress sounds delightful! The desserts are all quite classic and not particularly innovative, but the real sweet gems are with the cakes and pastries. Again they are classic, but not at all your average scone-in-a-tearoom! Designed to entice weary shoppers, the pastries are some of the first things to catch your eye as you’re waiting for a table. Sadly, I was visiting for lunch and couldn’t gorge myself on Fruit Scones, Almond Croissants, Triple Chocolate and Wholenut Brownies, or Homemade Shortbread all afternoon! All-around quite impressive.

The Food 

Having made the excruciatingly difficult decision to go along with the fixed price menu (split into traditional starter, main and dessert sections unlike the café menu), my lunching partner and I both chose Roast Butternut Squash and Sweet Potatoes with Goats Cheese and Pesto to start.

This dish was really quite tasty! I was a little confused when it arrived as it was more of a salad than what I had expected, the squash and sweet potato being served cold with lamb’s lettuce and a slight vinegar dressing. However, once I got into it, I loved it. The goats cheese was enormously creamy (sticking to my teeth), the squash and sweet potato was soft and slightly caramelized, and the pesto was not overly-strong at all - more like little hills of tangy basil dressing. All-in-all, it worked very nicely indeed.

To follow, I had the Roast Rump of Lamb with Spiced Cous Cous.

Sadly, this dish sounded much better than it actually was, and the cous cous ended up being the highlight. Quite simply, the lamb was supposed to be pink but had been left under a heat lamp so long that it ended up being well-done by the time it reached me. I was hoping for much more, but only the cous cous delivered - it was delicately spiced (flavoured similarly to a tagine), with some beautifully cooked mange tout and green beans running through it, lending great freshness. Disappointing lamb, but at least some thought had gone into what came with it.

Aside from that, the real highlight for me came with my partner’s main dish - Salmon and Haddock Fishcake with Buttered Spinach, Hollandaise Sauce and Chips.

The fishcake itself was beautifully cooked, nice and moist on the inside but dry and crispy on the out. On its own, the fishcake may have been considered a bit too salty for most tastes, but combined with the spinach and Hollandaise it worked perfectly! The fish was delicate, the greens were peppery and moist, and overall this was the best dish of the day.

Overall, I think that Terry Laybourne has crafted another winner, in a great location, and with a carefully considered menu to both show off beautiful produce and culinary skill, and to cater for anyone who could possibly nip through Fenwick. There are three different ways to approach the restaurant: As a 21 Hospitality venue, it doesn’t quite match up to it’s older brothers and sisters but has a lot of time to catch up in terms of quality; as a restaurant, it is fantastic for lunch for anyone; but as a department store café it is absolutely brilliant.

Café 21 at Fenwick

First Floor, French Salon, Fenwick,
Northumberland Street,
Newcastle Upon Tyne,
NE99 1AR

Tel: 0191 260 3373
Web: http://www.cafe21fenwick.co.uk/