We were in an area in Melbourne where there were many Muslim residents. How lucky they are with so many halal restaurants or cafes! Our choice this time was an Iraqi restaurant. It looked clean and spacious, and able to cater to many customers. On the glass window outside is the menu, listing items along with the price. Mmmm…good value. And the menu shared some similarities with other Arab restaurants: a range of meat and chicken dishes, traditional breakfasts, dips, bread and salad. It looked like the lamb used was lean. The beetroot salad we opted for was sprinkled with yummy pomegranate and the lamb dish came with one of my favourite sides-pink pickled turnip. I like the Arabic music they played which coincidentally included songs that my father used to play in Indonesia. When we stoped at this restaurant, it was not dinner time yet but past lunchtime, plus it was a week day. But there were several visitors, predominantly for take away orders which Al Tanoor offers. The wait staff are friendly, while the room decor is traditional. We shared one lamb and salad because we were not very hungry; despite this the portions were quite large. We also tried Iraqi coffee which was lovely – strong and slightly seasoned with aniseed.

Kami pergi kesuatu area dimana disana-sini terlihat banyak orang Islamnya. Alangkah beruntungnya mereka karena banyak sekali restauran atau cafe yang halal. Pilihan kami jatuh pada restaurant Iraq yang kelihatan bersih dengan kapasitas pengunjung yang lumayan. Di jendela kaca diluar terpampang menu-menu yang tersedia beserta harganya. Mmmm … harganya lumayan murah. Dan menunya tidak banyak beda dengan restoran-restoran Arab lain:daging, ayam, menu sarapan tradisi, dip, roti, dan salad … hanya kelihatan lamb-nya tidak begitu banyak lemak. Salad mereka ada butiran-butiran buah delima yang aku suka juga ‘pink pickle’ kesukaanku. Aku suka musik Arab yang mereka mainkan kebetulan lagunya yang sering ayahku dengar di Indonesia. Ketika kami mampir kerumah makan ini tidak waktu lunch juga belum waktu dinner ditambah weekday. Tapi pengunjungnya lumayan cukup banyak. Cuma kelihatan lebih banyak yang take away. Jadi rupanya kita bisa pesan dan mengambilnya sendiri untuk dibawa pulang. Pelayannya cukup ramah, decorasi ruangan biasa saja. Makanan yang kami pesan lamb dan salad karena kami tidak begitu lapar. Porsinya cukup banyak buat ukuran kita. Kami juga mencoba kopi Iraq yang kental dan sedikit berbumbu.

Details

Al Tanoor Iraqi Restaurant, Roxburgh Village, 250 Somerton Rd, Roxburgh Park Victoria

Monday – Sunday 9am-9pm

Muslim-owned; all halal menu

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Restaurant/Al-Tanoor-Iraqi-Restaurant-1973319202903434/