Review Tarboosh Lebanese Kitchen - Balmain

I have always wanted to try out the Lebanese food at Tarboosh Crows Nest. Hence, I was really excited when my friend asked me to join her for lunch at their new store in Balmain on the weekend. Loving both the food and the vibe there. Staff were friendly and efficient. Menu was reasonably priced and food portions were pretty generous. They have a great selection of dips, different types of Hummus, Labne and Baba Gaboush. My favourite entree was the Cheese Sambousek which were like cheese cigars. As for the mains, I would recommend the Mixed Grill if you cannot decide on what to order. That includes a big plate of chicken breast skewers, lamb skewers and Kafta skewers. They also have a selection of homemade desserts if you are a dessert person. I would definitely come back to try out the rest of their dishes next time!

Food was good. But lots of areas for improvement - nothing came out together, our side of chips was there 10 minutes before any mains, then 2 mains, and another 5-10 minutes before the other 2. The waitress forgot a couple of things that we asked for during the meal (more bread for e.g.). Also was surprised to see that corkage charge was $5 pp - and annoying that this is not noted on the drinks menu, especially given that this is much more than the norm for the area.

Excellent food, perfectly cooked. We will be back! Pricing is pretty standard for Lebanese restaurants. Service was great, food took a standard amount of time to arrive at our table. I will be a regular customer if Tarboosh keeps up the very high level of quality.

Very good and tasty food. From the dips and breads to the deserts, every dish is copious and flavoursome. There’s actually a lot of food on the plate! Service was ok although it was a busy night and they could have used an extra staff. The place can also be a bit loud (need to put acoustic panels). Will definitely return or get take away.

Terrible customer service. My husband, toddler, a friend and her toddler and myself arrived at 530pm on Saturday for an early / light dinner. There was only one other table occupied at the restaurant at this time. We ordered a selection of share plates, kids meals, and one main- totalling around $120. When we were ordering our food, the waitress proceeded to tell us that while she would "let it go” on this occasion (since we have kids and therefore wouldn’t be staying long), we were required to order at least 2-3 mains and her boss (who had apparently left 30 mins ago) "would not be happy". We pointed out that the restaurant was empty and that we had ordered many share plates (not necessitating so many main courses) and that we would finish our meals and leave soon. As Balmain locals, we always try to be very supportive of local business however we were made to feel very uncomfortable and embarrassed by the waitress’ comments. As such, we will never return to this restaurant or recommend it. The waitress’ comment regarding our order was completely inappropriate. Spending $120 on a few share plates, at a close to empty restaurant, at 530pm (we left around 615) does not appear unreasonable. I would think that a local business would be grateful for any customers, particularly so early on in the evening. We will also be sharing our experience with other local families so that they can choose wisely when venturing out with their kids for early and stress free meals.

A shame that a pleasant dinner ended up with some silly price gouging when we got the bill. Wow - $5 a head for wine corkage - we were slugged $30 corkage for a bottle of wine i had brought. That was slugged even though two in party were over 80 years old and did not drink my birthday wine. But wait, there's more, $7.50 for a cup of tea. Ouch ... No warning either about these things, although the staff seemed well aware when i queried these things when paying. There were very few diners that night, and the service was reasonable Food was your standard lebanese food The "bad taste" at the end with the bill sadly means i will never go back. Luckily there are so many great eating places around this place. Shameful gouging, really shamefiul

Super yummy entrees (potatoes & Lebanese sausage), would of licked the plate clean if we could. Really loved the olives and spreads given as starters. The chicken grill plate wasn’t as good, but included all the necessities and was tasty when eaten all together.

Pretty average. Food was OK, nothing amazing. Haloumi was nice. Service pretty poor. Asked for veggies with the dips, got bread. Ordered a glass of wine, came halfway through main course. Will need to do much better if they hope to still be there in a year's time!

Felt like trying another Lebanese restaurant after the first one’s garlic sauce didn’t meet our expectations. Tried this place which seems to have recently opened in Balmain via Uber eats. Ordered chicken sharmarwa, chips and garlic sauce. The garlic sauce tasted much better than the other place but was still lacking the strong garlic flavours you get back west. I really missed the charcoaly taste of chicken as well so this chicken sharwama didn’t hit the mark. Overall, food was ok but was really overpriced. I’m not a fan of Lebanese food so will probably not be back.

Tarboosh is a Lebanese Restaurant that has recently opened up in Balmain, a second store after the success of the first one in Crows Nest. It serves hearty and authentic Lebanese cuisine and we came here to dine one weekend for lunch in a big group of friends. To start we had flat bread with a trio of dips.The first was Hummus with pine nuts; A Puree Of Chick Peas Blended with Tahini, Lemon Juice, and Pine Nuts. I loved this, it was delicious and healthy and the nuts added good flavour. The second was the Baba ganoosh; Smoky Chargrilled Eggplant Blended with Tahini and Lemon Juice. I loved the lemon juice here, which added a nice zesty flavour. The third was my favourite, Labne: fresh home made yoghurt. It was simple but perfect and went well with the meats later on as well.

Making a splash on Darling Street, Balmain, Tarboosh Lebanese Restaurant gave away free felafel last weekend. Along with adding some life and colour to the restaurant strip with pumping Arabic music and a colourful belly dancer, the felafel free-for-all heralded the return of Lebanese cuisine to a peninsula that has lacked it for many years. Named for the red felt hat symbolic of Arabic culture, Tarboosh is a second outlet for owner and chef, Sam Matar, who opened a sister restaurant by the same name in Crows Nest last year.With a wine list created by Robert Dessanti (the Wog with the Grog), Tarboosh is set to be a restaurant destination for more than just special occasions. Tuesday nights, for example, will be Mezze Nights, where the chef will send out all-you-can-eat mezze for $25/head with the purchase of a glass of wine. While the dishes will be at the chef’s behest, they may include their moist Kebbe ($15/4). These football-shaped fried lamb mince balls are fragrant with cinnamon and cloves from the use of baharat, a Lebanese seven-spice blend. Ladies Fingers ($14/4) filled with feta and parsley are another winner; their oozing, salty cheese provided some amusement at our table. Sadly the...