Oh Merrylands. Home of kebabs, kebabs… and kebabs. Luckily I do feel like eating Lebanese today because I’d be very disappointed if I were craving sushi.
Standing outside, reading the menu. It’s always too embarrassing to enter a place and then leave if I don’t want to order. I like this place, but I’ve had most of the normal mains before. So onto the breakfast menu! Breakfast for lunch, mmm…
Though I must say none of the offerings sound anything like the western concept of what’s appropriate in the first hours of the day. All the better!
Hmm, dried yoghurt curds with spices, tomato, onion and olive oil. Shanklish. That sounds new to me!
Going in, taking a seat. A guy appears from the kitchen.
“Is breakfast still available?”
He looks a little confused, but nods. I order the shanklish and sit back with my novel to wait. In Revolutionary Road, the main character is about to have an affair. In Merrylands, a mezze plate of olives, pickled radish, tomato and green chili is placed before me, along with a basket stacked full with triangles of flat pita bread.
Chewing a couple of the salty green olives, dropping the pits into the handy empty bowl. Turning the pages, encircled by imaginary lives.
The waiter is back, placing a shallow dish down. Right, what the heck is shanklish?
It looks like a plate of crumbled feta, with finely diced tomato and onion scattered across the top. A pool of yellow olive oil glistens beneath, and what looks like red paprika has been dusted over everything. I think I spy little bits of chili mixed into the cheese, as well as dried herbs.
Poke the cheese. It not only looks like feta, but shares its softness. Does it taste like feta? Time to know!
Mmm… it does, super-rich creamy feta. No skim fat-reduction here! It’s over-poweringly strong. Salty, rich, tangy nearly to the point of puckering.
It is definitely chili, it’s heat rises up and makes the flavour even more overwhelming. The paprika burns after I swallow. It’s all so demanding that I barely taste the raw onion… amazing as I’m normally so sensitive to it. The olive oil is everywhere, making it slippery, clinging on my tongue after it helps the shanklish down my throat.
Thank goodness for the tomato, which cools and softens and adds juice.
A few mouthfuls later and the shock has died down, making it more enjoyable. Still, it’s too rich to be enjoyed alone. I take a triangle of bread and spoon it on, wrapping it.
Yes. Good. Very good. But perhaps a little dry, the tomato just can’t do enough…
My next piece of pita, and this time I add one of the bright purple strips of radish. Bite in. The vinegar from the pickled vegetable cuts through the cloying cheese, making it perfect.
Mmm… oil runs over my hands. I try to let it drip into the bowl but it begins to trickle down my arm and gets on the pages of my book. Ooops, it’s not my book… oh well, too yummy to care!
A blink later and I can’t believe how much I’ve eaten, and so quickly! All that cheese and oil and bread…
It was just that good.
Rating:
Specifics: Shanklish, ordered from Al-Arzah, Merrylands
Shanklish
Oh Merrylands. Home of kebabs, kebabs… and kebabs. Luckily I do feel like eating Lebanese today because I’d be very disappointed if I were craving sushi.
Standing outside, reading the menu. It’s always too embarrassing to enter a place and then leave if I don’t want to order. I like this place, but I’ve had most of the normal mains before. So onto the breakfast menu! Breakfast for lunch, mmm…
Though I must say none of the offerings sound anything like the western concept of what’s appropriate in the first hours of the day. All the better!
Hmm, dried yoghurt curds with spices, tomato, onion and olive oil. Shanklish. That sounds new to me!
Going in, taking a seat. A guy appears from the kitchen.
“Is breakfast still available?”
He looks a little confused, but nods. I order the shanklish and sit back with my novel to wait. In Revolutionary Road, the main character is about to have an affair. In Merrylands, a mezze plate of olives, pickled radish, tomato and green chili is placed before me, along with a basket stacked full with triangles of flat pita bread.
Chewing a couple of the salty green olives, dropping the pits into the handy empty bowl. Turning the pages, encircled by imaginary lives.
The waiter is back, placing a shallow dish down. Right, what the heck is shanklish?
It looks like a plate of crumbled feta, with finely diced tomato and onion scattered across the top. A pool of yellow olive oil glistens beneath, and what looks like red paprika has been dusted over everything. I think I spy little bits of chili mixed into the cheese, as well as dried herbs.
Poke the cheese. It not only looks like feta, but shares its softness. Does it taste like feta? Time to know!
Mmm… it does, super-rich creamy feta. No skim fat-reduction here! It’s over-poweringly strong. Salty, rich, tangy nearly to the point of puckering.
It is definitely chili, it’s heat rises up and makes the flavour even more overwhelming. The paprika burns after I swallow. It’s all so demanding that I barely taste the raw onion… amazing as I’m normally so sensitive to it. The olive oil is everywhere, making it slippery, clinging on my tongue after it helps the shanklish down my throat.
Thank goodness for the tomato, which cools and softens and adds juice.
A few mouthfuls later and the shock has died down, making it more enjoyable. Still, it’s too rich to be enjoyed alone. I take a triangle of bread and spoon it on, wrapping it.
Yes. Good. Very good. But perhaps a little dry, the tomato just can’t do enough…
My next piece of pita, and this time I add one of the bright purple strips of radish. Bite in. The vinegar from the pickled vegetable cuts through the cloying cheese, making it perfect.
Mmm… oil runs over my hands. I try to let it drip into the bowl but it begins to trickle down my arm and gets on the pages of my book. Ooops, it’s not my book… oh well, too yummy to care!
A blink later and I can’t believe how much I’ve eaten, and so quickly! All that cheese and oil and bread…
It was just that good.
Rating:
Specifics: Shanklish, ordered from Al-Arzah, Merrylands