Bianca: Now that the cold weather is in full swing, it means the heavy quilts come out, we dust the coats off, bring out the ugg boots and eat every single carb in sight. Just us? Oh… But I’ll be honest I’ll be eating heavy carbs in the middle of summer, such is the love for my bread, pizzas and pasta.
But my ultimate carby treat? Pizza! And surprisingly the one I eat the least. Here at FFS we’ve had a bit of a recent obsession with one type of pizza in particular, Lebanese Manoush. Step in Manoosh Pizza in Enmore.
We happened to visit during a torrential rainy weekend with various weather warnings warding off all ‘non-essential travel’. Riff Raff, we had eating to do!!
Having been around for 7 + years Manoosh has built quite the loyal following, during our visit there was a steady stream of people coming in and out of the store despite the crazy weather. It’s an unassuming spot, with a few tables outside the store and a small interior section to the right with a few indoor tables. We’re all about that natural light (or natural clouds) so braved the outside elements and settled in for the carb onslaught.
The pinnacle for all manoush, the Zaatar Bread -w/ ground thyme, sesame seeds & sumac (folded) $3 is your staple indicator and this was a good one. Generous amount of herbs with a thin base. Perhaps slightly OTT with the sesame seeds but that’s too my personal tastes.
The Zaatar Deluxe style- w/cheese, pepperoni, chilli flakes, fresh tomato, capsicum, olives and onion (folded) $8 was served folded but unfurled for its grand unveiling and subsequent photo-shoot. The dough lends itself to a lighter pizza leaving you feeling not so heavy. The vegetables aided to cut through the cheese and spice. I’m a pepperoni fiend and loved this one.
I think we were all equally enamoured by the Haloumi Pie $7, this isn’t going to make your doctor happy but you will win a bunch of friends. Gooey melted haloumi encased within a dough. Melted fully to remove the rubbery texture you usually encounter with the Greek cheese. This is a must order!!
For the sake of ‘research’ we surged on, with 3 each of the Sambousik – puff pastry filled with lamb mince, onion & pine nuts $8 (1/2 doz). And while tasty seemed a little pedestrian after the delicious zaatar. The Falafel – chickpeas, onions, parsley & spices $8 (1/2 doz) were much more vibrant and more akin to the generous flavourings we all know Lebanese food to be. Crispy and moreish, particularly smothered in the accompanying Toum (garlic sauce). And just for general curiosity we had the Cheesy Chorizo Balls – smoked chorizo in a potato dough $8 (1/2 doz) which could probably have been skipped.
Moving on to the more traditional pizzas and the Garlic Chicken – w/ cheese, chicken, mushroom, fresh tomato, olives, oregano and garlic sauce $16 came highly recommended. And I can see why. The dough was light and the base crispy, which I tend to prefer (more so than the soupy Neapolitan style). Generously topped with ingredients and the piece de resistance, that garlic sauce. Which is one of the milder incarnations of toum I’ve come across. Sometimes after eating toum you virtually have to lock yourself in a room by yourself for at least 24 hours, lest you fire breath on someone.
And the seminal classic, the Meat Lovers –w/ cheese, ham, chicken, pepperoni, sujuc, cabanossi on a tomato base $17. First off the bat, sujuk is literally one of the best things in the world (especially on manoush/pizza). The dry spicy sausage tends to plump up beautifully when near heat (and we are talking about the food sausage!!). Another must order for the carnivorous folk.
In an attempt to negate all the heaviness we also ordered Mediterranean salad $8.5 which was a perfectly adequate side salad/ shaming tool.
And we all know no meal in For Food’s Sake world is complete without something sweet. And behind burgers my next great love is peanut butter. So it was a no brainer. The Peanut Butter Fudge – w/ banana and melted fudge in puff pastry $7.5 it’s simple but incredibly delicious and hard to stop eating.
It’s all very cheap and cheerful at Manoosh, it’s more suited for a takeaway joint but we had a comfortable dining experience outside despite the rain and wind. The food is well priced and at that price point, gives Sultans Table directly across the road a run for its money.
Bianca
Photos by Alex
*For Food’s Sake were invited to dine as guests of Manoosh but all thoughts are our own and independent.
Manoosh is my fave local pizza joint. The garlic bread, Vegan’s Paradise and Halva dessert pastry are great too.
So good to see manoosh entering the Australian vernacular. And I love haloumi pockets. Such a good thing to reheat the next day!
The food here was so delicious! Thanks for showing it to me! 😀