Hannibal (Surry Hills)

By St

Invite: Lyly and Karen’s joint 25th birthday at Hannibal, 7pm. I had to google the restaurant because the name was freaky. What are we eating? Humans? I know vampires are all the craze atm and I like Tru Blood but… Oh Lebanese food! I can stomach that.

So at 7pm, Jo and I were led downstairs to the special red cushion room. Since we were on time it was easy for us to step over the empty Persian cushions to sit against the wall. This later becomes a pain because you cannot escape to the bathroom unless you inconvenience your neighbours to get out, or you could step across the table but not recommended for the skirts and dresses. 

Red cushion room

We were finally placing our orders at 8 with the majority opting for the Hannibal Feast ($38 pp). Twenty minutes later out came baskets of Lebanese bread and dips: hommos, baba ganouj and tatziki. The hommus was of the rough, nutty kind; tatziki had a lot of garlic and slightly sour but the favourite of the night was the smoky baba ganouj.  

Lebanese bread

Hommos

Baba ganouj

Tatziki

The tabouly came out next but we were waiting for a replenishment of bread so just ate the tabouly on its own- fresh but wanting more juice and lime. 

Tabouly

The shish kebabs had big chunks of delicious soft lamb. Cyndi’s grilled shish tawook was fine but I found the chicken to be on the dry side and perhaps slightly burnt as the skewer kept on breaking when trying to slide the chicken off.  

Lamb shish kebab

Chicken shish tawook

The falafels were crispy and soft on the inside. I didn’t try the fried kebbe but with nobody being Lebanese at the party, the consensus was that they tasted similar to the falafel.

Falafels

Fried kebbe

Finally some sweets! I was telling everyone how nice lady fingers are as many were starting to get full and weren’t as willing to try things. First cut of the fingers made a liar of me. They were savory and contained mince, similar to spring rolls but not as crispy

Lady fingers

Rounding up to 10pm, the poor cabbage rolls kafta remained largely untouched. Cyndi and I braved the satiety and digged into the rice and spinach fillings- good with strange tangy saltiness, but definitely too heavy at this stage of the banquet. 

Cabbage rolls kafta

We didn’t care to notice on the night but we didn’t get the majadra as part of the feast. Instead listed as an extra $3 dessert, we were given baklava. Very sweet and I love my sweets so I had two pieces even though we were going to have some black forest birthday cake.

Baklava

A big low for the night were the uncomfortable seated cushions. I lost life in my left bum and had to resuscitate it with constant shifting. This was tricky as we had ~30 ppl packed shoulder to shoulder or legs over legs under low tables without much free room. Because people sat opposite to you across the table, you had to be conscious of your legs (footsies) and you couldn’t straighten them to stretch it. Pins and needles were the order of the night. 

Many thought the service was poor as we had to ask a few times for more bread and water to several different waiters. Having said that, there were 30 people and I couldn’t fault the delivery of the food- when they food came out. It was constant and quick and finding empty plates to discharge was no mean feat. It was usually 1 dish to share between 5-8 people, but they do bring second rounds for most dishes.  

The night would be incomplete without a 20 minute performance from a belly dancer. I warn you, if you choose to sit on the outside of the tables, you have a high chance (1 in 3) of being picked (in some cases pushed) to dance and of course suffer from pals who video record it :)

Birthday girls doing some belly dancing

A very festive and entertaining night with plenty to eat. The food was average-good. I have had better Lebanese food. You come here for the atmosphere and entertainment, making Hannibal a great venue for celebrations. Hooray, it’s BYO. 

Wokking rating /5:

Hannibal's Lebanese

557 Elizabeth St

Surry Hills

02 9698 8288

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