El Karim Restaurant

3 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  3      Service  3      Value  1     

Sadly I suggested this restaurant as it was central to a few families celebrating a birthday. I went a year ago mid week and it was okay but this time we attended on a busy Saturday night. We were urged to select a banquet to make things easier for the restaurant. Water was placed on the table but we were never asked if we wanted to order drinks.

As the birthday girl was vegetarian we opted for the vegetarian banquet. $28 per head for a vegetarian banquet that is basically a small variety of entrees. They were generous with bread and tabbouleh but the dips were a smear on a saucer and each morsel of food was allocated as one piece per person.

Honestly, how much does a dolmade cost? Couldn't they provide 2 per person? One small felafel per person, a kibbeh, a few beans, a small floret of cauliflower, you can't charge $28 for this! I ate almost nothing for fear that there would not be enough food for the others. The food is nice but the good feeling and generosity of Lebanese cuisine is sadly lacking.

May 04, 2012 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  10     

Really nice food and hospitable staff. Well priced, good range of dishes, must try pomegranate slow cooked lamb. Will definitely visit again.

Feb 18, 2012 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

There are no pretentious owners or waitstaff at this friendly, elegant restaurant. They are very helpful, smiling pleasant staff with crisp white tablecloths and fast, extremely tasty food. I would thoroughly recommend this dining experience.

Jan 20, 2012 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

Had a lovely night with friends. We selected the full banquet for $40 and there was more than enough food. All the dishes were superb and I highly recommend it for a night out a local, suburban restaurant. My favourites were the ladies fingers, hommos topped with mince lamb, home made yoghurt, haloumi, and lamb skewers.

Dec 16, 2011 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

Fabulous Lebanese, creative combos that stretch the "typical" cuisine with an inventive touch. Fresh and delicious, efficient and cheerful service. Mains are very reasonably priced. Excellent vegetarian options (I'm veg). Books out even on Tuesday nights (always book in advance). Desserts are innovative too!

Nov 22, 2011 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  10     

We had my birthday dinner with family here last week. Banquet was fantastic, more than enough for our growing young adult children. The staff were very attentive and friendly. We will be dining here again, loved it all!

Oct 06, 2011 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

Terrific! I hadn't been here for a few years and was delighted with what looked like a make-over. Great atmosphere on a wintry Friday night, cosy and busy. The food was extremely tasty and a great variety of flavours. Medium portions which left room for the delicious desserts. Highly recommended, great value too.

Aug 24, 2011 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  10     

Very good Lebanese food. Fresh and delicious typical Middle Eastern fare. Service is friendly and helpful. Mains are very reasonably priced. Excellent vegetarian options too. This place has a strong following of dedicated diners and I can see why!

Apr 10, 2011 

3.8 Below Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  1      Value  1     

Went to El Karim last night - it was take out and my wife's birthday with friends. I was very disappointed as they did not allow me to use my Entertainment Card for a discount even though the prices for dine in and take out are the same. Also take out is supposed to include both baklava and Turkish Delight. We got no Turkish Delight. When I discovered this and rang them I was told that their internet menu was out of date. This is not good enough and I will not be returning.

Apr 10, 2011 

6.3 Average

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  3     

Update 19 Feb 2011 - We weren't that hungry yet still needed to spend $80 for not a lot of food which to be fair was equal in standard to my last visit in 2007 and all other aspects of the place were unchanged. My only new observation is that as this place is convenient to nearby Roseville Cinema, serves clean tasty food fast in a nice environment and seemingly perfect for middle-aged north shorers needing to catch a quick bite before a movie.

They've, therefore, priced their product to cash in on this convenience, in my view. You can get far better Lebanese at lower prices But they'll not necessarily be fast, near your cinema, in your suburb, have the same ambience or style of patron. It all depends what you're after, and clever restaurateurs will charge accordingly and I've downgraded by scores for this restaurant from my previous review having taken into account the above.

Original review 30 Jun 2007 - To me El Karim used to have a distinctly backpacker feel to it on the one and only occasion we dined there, which was some years ago. My memory's vague but I'm sure the décor was of the cheap but effective variety you get when decorating on a budget and involved lots of hiding devices like throws on the old lounge chairs, flimsy screens and tie-dyed cloth sails hanging from ceilings, you know the kind.

Given this backdrop the food was incongruously expensive and mediocre hence our decision to only pay the one visit, speculating that they were attempting to take advantage of the restaurant's conveniently close proximity to Roseville Cinema, a place typically patronised by well healed but possibly gastronomically naive North Shore types of a certain age.

The strategy may not have worked as we recently noticed a distinctly upmarket change to this enduring little place. Ochre yellow walls complemented spiffy tables with matching chairs adorned with elegant white and blue tablecloths to a backdrop of tasteful Middle Eastern artefacts liberally placed throughout.

The prices seemed reasonable considering the fit out, so in we went. The service was excellent to say the least. In fact I don't think I've encountered better. The waiters were all charming and handsome young men in matching white shirts and ties who darted around constantly checking everyone was happy.

Forgive me for saying this but on the whole Lebanese food to me is fairly predictable and tends not to vary a great deal from place to place, unlike say French or Thai food for instance. I think this comes from its inherent simplicity and the success or otherwise of a night out at a Lebanese restaurant hangs on the total experience including not just the food but elements such as décor, price, service, belly dancing and so on.

I dare say many reading this would disagree, some violenty. I'm note sure El Karim is the belly dancing variety of Lebanese restaurant as it seems to be modelling itself on the elegant 'modern Australian' look.

This place offers classic Lebanese fare and we had the usual suspects such as Lebanese bread, dips, ladies fingers, kibbi, tabouli and Lebanese style warmed green bean and tomato ragout. I couldn't fault any of it except for what to me was a curiously smoky and tasteless dish of barbequed chicken wings with garlic cream, although for the record my wife liked it.

Other than the usual sweet offerings there was a delightful medley of gelato, unusual for a Lebanese restaurant, and well worth a try. At $112 which included a $10 tip, nice bottle of white wine ($27) and a lovely Czech beer ($7) we felt this place was well worth the money given the food was overall good, it was very handy to the cinema, elegantly appointed and staffed by highly professionally waiters.

We'll be back, probably after catching a movie at the Roseville Cinema next door. It's also BYO wine with reasonable corkage.

Feb 20, 2011