meyhanee, balmain – sydney

Yes! Finally, we have a meze place in Sydney. And a good one, too. I am so happy to have discovered this place called Meyhanee.

One of our dear friends, Hürol, was talking about a meze place in Balmain for some time. When it was time to catch up with Hürol and Chris again, we decided to go to Meyhanee. I must admit, it turned out to be an incredible night. The food was fantastic. So was the company. Each one of us shared a story with the others. It’s what you do at a meyhane, Peoples.

Meyhane is a traditional pub, by the way. Not just in Turkey but also in Azerbaijan, Iran (not surprising as the word ‘meze’ is coming from Iran) and the Balkans. Some general information about meyhane can be found on the cover of Meyhanee’s menu. So, check it out before you order your food.

I chatted with the owner of Meyhanee, Aşkın, only to find out that we had lived within the same part of Turkey (hence the decor). He is new in Australia compared to me but his business is doing well. So, that’s good to hear.

Meze fridge with all the fresh mezes on display (above). The first one looks like haydari. All of these mezes are served with warm Turkish bread called pide (as seen below). They are warm because they come straight from the oven. You cannot beat freshly baked bread, can you?

Salad of mustard greens (below). We didn’t try this but it was on display so I took a photo of it. On the other hand, here’s what we had:

This fava (below) was to die for. It was so creamy, so delicious; we ordered another one. Fava is a broad bean pate with lots of olive oil, raw onions and fresh dill. My husband is not a huge fan of beans but he loved this one. That should be telling you something.

Şakşuka. The name may suggest Tunisian but this variety is Turkish. As you move down to the Mediterranean region, you notice that it’s done with yoghurt. At Meyhanee, it’s more Aegean style.

Salad of smoked eggplant with walnuts, tomatoes and a touch of chilli. It was amazing. Zeytinyağlı Yeşil Fasulye (fresh green beans cooked in a tomato base with olive oil). Zucchini flowers stuffed with rice and herbs. They were light and quite tasty. Normally there are only 3 dolmas in one portion but they gave us 4 because it was 4 of us sharing. Purslane salad with yoghurt. I don’t where they get their purslane from as it is kind of difficult to get in Sydney. Stuffed vine leaves and cabbage.

Stuffed artichokes with peas and potatoes (above). OK guys, these are difficult to make and the main ingredient in this dish is hard to find in Australia. I don’t know how they managed to get it but it’s a triumph!

Desserts

… and as for dessert we had Fırında Sütlaç which is a Turkish rice pudding, semolina helwa, Kemalpaşa Tatlısı (a gulab jamon-like dessert from Bursa region) which comes with clotted cream and baklava with ice cream.

We also had complimentary Turkish tea and coffee and an extra portion of rice pudding. It was very nice of them. We were very well looked after.

After Hürol finished his coffee, I read the cup for him. It was all positive, Peoples!

I must have missed my Turkish tea because I had 2!

We are definitely going back to Mehanee in Balmain and taking more friends with us. Next time, I won’t forget to take a proper camera with me like I did this time. Sorry about the poor quality in my photos this time round.

Meyhanee can be found at this address:
374 Darling Street
Balmain, NSW 2041