Kamel

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

The special lunch time pides sound great and we get the veggie option with roasted sweet potato, cashew pesto, feta and rocket – Amazing!.

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Dec 17, 2011 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Fabulous food, good value and great atmosphere.

Dec 10, 2010 

6.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  5     

We had a group booking for Kamel on a Sunday night. We found the staff very helpful and attentive without being over bearing. For example, a couple of our group were late so the staff didn’t show any annoyance just asked what we’d like to do. Also the water jugs were replaced regularly and without a fuss.

As a group we had one of the banquets which gave us a wide variety of dishes to try. While the food was lovely the portion sizes were a little small and while it’s a banquet so there was little dish after little dish it was bit noticeable. No one went hungry but a bit more wouldn’t have gone astray.

Bread and dip was the first part, and they were the traditional hommus, beetroot and tatziki dips and the beetroot dip was a great hit. This was followed by some saganaki which was okay and well received by the table. I'm not fond of it, so I can't say for sure how good it was. Next were moroccan pumpkin and spring onion puffs with smokey relish. These were crispy and mild, given a hint of spice by the relish and so were very refreshing.

Next came peri peri broccolini with almonds. To be sure, this was lovely but the peri peri went missing somewhere and it was peri. It was accompanied by slow cooked beef and molokhia with parsnip mash which was considered great by the table. The beef was tender and the vegetables soft but maintained their cohesion and didn’t become a gluggy mess and the parsnip mash was just that bit different from potato to provide a little extra to the beef.

The next course was prune and cous cous stuffed chicken and this, perhaps, was the highlight of the night. It was accompanied by a simple fattoush salad of bread, tomato, cucumber and capsicum but was delicious. More chicken would have definitely been devoured. Dessert was share plates of Turkish delight, baklava, halva flavoured ice-cream, Turkish delight flavoured ice-cream and Turkish fairy floss.

There were two baklava fans in our group and they were both disappointed. While it was nice, it was obviously one made to travel and thus was firm and did not have the usual soaked in sugar syrup. There was very little pastry in it and what pastry there was, was wrapped around a nut meal centre. The Turkish delight was both firm and sweet and went over well and the halva ice-cream was a very nice surprise.

It’s not a flavour you would think would work as an ice-cream but it did. Turkish delight flavoured ice-cream is fine, given its sweet nature, it’s not unexpected that it would be a good flavour but seasame, surprisingly good. And the fairy floss was great. It’s not as sickly sweet as western fairy floss and while it was as dissolvable as western pink fairy floss, it had the faintest taste of seasame which kept it from being overly sweet. It was a pleasant way to finish the meal.

Coffee was had after and spiced hot chocolate. There were a few groans at the Turkish coffee until those who’d ordered it explained that the coffee sludge at the bottom was meant to be there. It was though sweet and good and the spiced hot chocolate was very good. It got a recipe request at any rate.

All in all Kamel was a nice experience though a little overpriced. Given it’s locale that’s understandable but while people didn’t go away hungry, either another dish or a larger portion would have been good on some of it. We enjoyed it though and would probably return, maybe next time though not a banquet but the individual dishes.

Oct 03, 2010 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  8     

A great little place. Extensive menu, vego options and value for money were all great. On the flipside, the waitstaff were a bit inattentive and very slow with drinks. Overall though a lovely atmosphere and good chow, a happy find. And recommended.

Mar 21, 2010 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Outstanding, what a little Gem. Food was way above my expectation. Gotta try the "fairyfloss"!

Feb 14, 2010 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

I just loved Kamel, so much so that my friends and I booked our next night there before we even left! The first time we went there we had brunch and the second time we had dinner. The vegetarian banquet was delicious! The atmosphere is cosy and casual, the service is friendly and the meals are hearty, healthy and full of flavour. All at a fair price too. Well worth a try!

Jun 08, 2009 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Great dining experience, will definitely be returning.

Mar 14, 2009 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Have eaten at Kamel many times - brunch, dinner, snacks. Always superb. Best food in Albert Park. Love the private dining room you can book upstairs. The dessert plate for 2 is a must have!

Oct 12, 2007 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Good view to look out at albert park state school, also people go by.

Aug 31, 2006