Jackie M.
Google
My dining companion was half joking when he said, “I bet he owns the winery too.” We’re seated in Gebran Lebanese Cuisine, a Mount Lewis stalwart for more than two decades. He’s referring to owner, John Gebran, who incidentally did, in 2021, purchase the Goulburn winery, Kingsdale, that dominates the succinct wine list. We’re actually dining next door to the main restaurant—once designated as Padrino Italian, but swept up into the popularity of the rustic North Lebanese. Gebran also owns Aji, the neighbouring Japanese (his “second favourite cuisine”). You can order food from both restaurants in either of them.
The cooking methods at Gebran are simple—the same as you’d find in old-school rural Lebanese kitchens—where all of the animal is in play. Scooped up in branded flatbread, hlaywat ($26)—pan-seared sweetbreads in lemon, garlic and parsley—is a great exemplar. It eats well with the reasonably-priced Kingdale Chardonnay ($45). Creamy lamb shawarma-topped hommos ($18) arrives faster than you can ask, ‘where is our food?’ Labneh harrah ($16)—where strained yogurt (labneh) is gently combined with spicy red chili paste (harissa), almonds and pistachio—was new to me. It suited being wrapped up in flatbread with pickles ($5) and grilled meats from the mixed grill ($38/6). The barbecued lamb, chicken and kafta skewers also come with a pot of garlic sauce. You can also get split jumbo king prawns ($13/each) if you prefer a seafood feast to a land-based one. The only miss on our table-wide spread was the Gebran salad ($20) where lettuce—topped with golden nuggets of deep-fried halloumi—was limp rather than crisp.
