A friend and I decided to try out some Lebanese food at Petra Palace in Woden. I had driven past the restaurant on a few occasions while in Phillip, and it just so happened to be in the Entertainment Book too. I liked that the tables were inlaid with a brass(?) dish/tray in the middle.
Beautiful metallic artwork adorns the walls.
We started off with the cheese sambousek ($15 for 4 pieces). The pastry was a decent thickness, not overly dry and a nice golden colour. They had just come out of the fry pan as the feta inside was still hot. We did enjoy these but thought they were a little expensive.
For my main, I chose the lamb fatteh ($25), a casserole of marinated lamb, crispy Lebanese bread, spiced rice, garlic, mint, yoghurt and pine nuts. This was served in a deep bowl smothered in yoghurt.
Underneath the layer of lamb, I found rice and fried pita bread. This made for one filling meal. Unfortunately, I found there was far too much yoghurt in the dish, even after mixing everything together, that the sourness of the yoghurt overpowered everything else. All I could taste was yoghurt. I think if there was less of it, and the flavours of the other ingredients such as the lamb came through, it would have been a tasty dish.
The fatteh came with these massive puffed pita bread, one for each of us.I didn’t realise there was simply air inside until I ripped it open.
The below picture shows the inside of the bread. I ripped pieces off and added it into the fatteh mix to somehow lessen the sourness of the yoghurt.
My friend ordered the vegetarian version, the Petra fatteh ($18) with eggplant, Lebanese bread, spiced rice, garlic, mint, yoghurt and tahini sauce with pine nuts.
Though a little disappointed with my main, I would go back to Petra Palace to try out other items on the menu like the meat! The mixed grill served with hot chips will be my choice next time. Service was polite and attentive, though we were there for an early dinner and there were no other diners at the time. For the parents, the restaurant’s kids menu includes a drink AND dessert with a meal.
Petra Palace can be found at 51 Colbee Court in Phillip, Woden. Open for dinner only from Monday to Saturday, with belly dancing on every Saturday night.
Foodgasm 5/10
Value for money 6/10
Service 8/10
FPJ score 19/30
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