Bayti's Lebanese banquet is ludicrously generous

At the entrance to Bayti, the flagship restaurant at the luxurious V by Crown development in Parramatta, there's a segment that's been left untouched. A glance down reveals the foundations of historic buildings from the city's early days, spotlit and cordoned off. There's history in bricks and mortar, of course, but at Bayti the heritage lives and breathes in the food, drink and hospitality of the Khouzame family.

Open the menu and a portrait of George Khouzame – dapper and moustachioed – stares back, just as it does from the wall. Khouzame, posthumously awarded an AOM in 2015, migrated to Australia from Lebanon in the 1970s and with his wife, Julie, founded The Self-Help Centre before starting a catering business which still trades today.

In December 2019, their children realised a long-held dream by launching the family's first restaurant, Bayti, meaning "my home" in Arabic. Its operators, siblings Priscilla and Najee Khouzame, continue a thread that extends back in time, with a set banquet menu informed by Australia, Lebanon and, clearly, good taste. 

Unsurprisingly, this starts with mezze. To your left, roasted spatchcock, the skin burnished and the flesh juicy, covered in fragrant zaatar and served with gloriously garlicky toum. Next to it, a bowl of gently smoky baba ghanoush decorated with pomegranate. Beside that, hummus made with organic chickpeas, pleasantly creamy and garnished with roasted cashews and wagyu. 

As waiters keep coming, the table is positively assaulted. There are about 10 dishes, ranging from halloumi wrapped in kataifi and fried to lamb kofta moulded around cinnamon sticks.

The centrepoint, though, is the saj. Sourced from a Syrian refugee who bakes in his garage, the thin, pliable rounds of this less-famous Lebanese bread arrive initially to be swiped through dips, then in various other guises. Fried in wedges, it's slipped between cucumbers and tomatoes in fattoush, then used to scoop up a thoroughly modern kingfish tartare tossed with yoghurt and chives. Later, crisp threads of it form a nest over a lemony eggplant fatteh, the shredded flesh topped with yoghurt, fried eggplant and more pomegranate for appealing acidity and texture.

An hour in (by which time there's every possibility you'll be wondering how much more you can eat), you're as likely to be impressed by the attention to detail as you are by the generosity. There's no head chef, so Najee and Priscilla oversee everything, running the floor, choosing their own suppliers and instructing the kitchen.

Each plate is intricately arranged, the seasoning astute and the flavours balanced. And though family and tradition feature prominently, dishes such as kingfish and salmon nayee (which swaps pounded, raw meat for fish) also display modern tastes.

The drinks list, apart from bottled cocktails from high-flying CBD bar Maybe Sammy, makes a point of drawing on Lebanese ideas (props to whoever figured that limonana, featuring chopped mint, lemon and sugar, is killer with a splash of vodka). 

A strong roster of Lebanese wines is supported by local drops – often with a Lebanese connection, such as Levantine Hill from the Yarra Valley – and there's a decent selection of Lebanese arak, an aniseed spirit said to aid digestion.

You might need this if you chose the lamb shoulder. Cooked for 12 hours, it eases away from the bone, crisp vine leaves adding texture. Yoghurt and a squeeze of charred lemon cut the heft and there's tabbouleh on the side. It's ludicrously generous, so much so that there's little chance two of you will finish it. 

Since the venue doesn't allow you to take any home, it feels a little wasteful, an odd oversight when the Khouzames get so many details right. Few restaurants design their booking system to let you specify wheelchair access, for example, but Bayti does. The music feels both ancient and current, and the room, featuring marble, terrazzo and leather, looks the part.

Desserts, again, raise the bar. Ladies fingers come hot from the fryer, the clotted-cream centre bursting at first bite, while the outstanding aish el saraya sees breadcrumbs soaked in syrup, then topped with more cloud-like ashta and pistachios.

Najee puts Bayti's COVID survival down to the support of locals. For a family that's played such a vital role in the community, I'd say they deserve it. This isn't charity, though. It's people enjoying the spoils of a family with hospitality in their blood really turning it on. Get a group together and go see for yourself.

Vibe: Polished but relaxed, with an epic set menu

Go-to dish: Twelve-hour roasted lamb shoulder

Drinks: Extensive, with connections to Lebanon across cocktails, beer, wine, arak, tea and coffee

Cost: $300 for two, excluding drinks (banquet: $300 for 2; $350 for 3; $100 per person for groups of 4 or more; Children $75 per head)

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine