29 November 2010

Lat Dior African Eatery ~ Enmore


Alison dined at Lat Dior on Wednesday (with her royal highness MelbaToast), then brings me on Friday. A good sign.






It's strange that we have rarely eaten at Lat Dior in the years it has been open. It's just down the road and the food is delicious. I think we're unfairly cynical about African restaurants in Sydney. We never see any African folks eating in them, and the food never correlates to our (limited) experiences in Africa. But we're not African and the folks that cook and run Lat Dior are. And the dishes are from West and North Africa. Alison and I have only been to East and South Africa, and only for a short time. If the food is tweaked to western tastes then so be it. It's delicious. Really delicious. The owners are from Senegal and are also behind the popular Kiliminjaro on King Street, Newtown, and the once Afrilanka on Oxford Street. Lat Dior is casual, very friendly, byo and excellent value. Definitely worth a try.



Bissap - African Flower Drink - $2.50. Light, sweet and syrupy. Interesting though not amazing.



Harissa - $1. A delicious condiment with a light spicy chili kick. Highly Recommended. Wikipedia describes Harissa as "a Tunisian hot chilli sauce commonly eaten in North Africa whose main ingredients are Piri piri chili peppers, serrano pepper or other hot chillis and olive oil. It is a standard ingredient of North African cuisine, most closely associated with Tunisia and Algeria but recently also making inroads in Morocco according to food expert Paula Wolfert."



Accara - $6 for four pieces - Black-eyed beans soaked overnight and then ground with mild African spices. These reminded us of felafels, but more flavoursome, a nice starter.



Sap Sap $6 - Fresh Country Watercress served with a dressing of mild African spices with a dish of tamarind and pepper. This was my favourite dish: perfectly dressed peppery greens. This blew my little mind. Amazing.



We asked the waiter what the most popular dish was: #4 - Yassa - $10.50. 'Chicken off the bone marinated for hours with mild African spices, fried and then steamed with onions.' As Larry David would say, pretty, pretty, pretty good.



Couscous (Perfumed) - From North Africa. Boneless lamb, cut into cubes steamed with a tasty and mild African sauce with vegetables, served on a bed of couscous grain with chickpeas, vegetables, etc.  $10.50. This was my next favourite.



Tajine Fish - From North Africa. Fresh and boneless tuna, marinated for hours with fresh Tahitian pickle, olive oil, saffron, pepper etc. This tasted like a mild curry, lovely, Alison loved this one.



African Flat Breat - $2 per piece. Hearty pancakes perfect for sopping up sauces.



Lat Dior Menu - Click to Enlarge



Lat Dior Menu - Click to Enlarge



Lat Dior Menu - Click to Enlarge



Lat Dior Menu - Click to Enlarge



Lat Dior Menu - Click to Enlarge



Lat Dior Menu - Click to Enlarge

BTW...  A few years ago there was a wonderful joint in Petersham that served East African food and was always packed with African folks, but alas it is no more. I was addicted to their beans and rice. If anybody knows of anywhere similar in Sydney we'd LOVE to know.

Lat-Dior African Eatery on Urbanspoon

8 comments:

  1. Finally I'm a leader and not a follower! Whoop whoop! I'm desperate to go here again for the Sap Sap, god it was yummy! And I really loved the flat bread too. There is a South African restaurant in Baulkham Hills that I read about over the weekend - I'm going to give it try soon.

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  2. The African Queen, an African restaurant on Illawarra Rd Marrickville, was featured on the ABC's Happiness show last night. I wonder what that is like?

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  3. I haven't heard good things about African Queen but we should really give it a try.

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  4. I'm willing to give the African Queen a try. I'm hoping there'll be some African restaurants open up in the Auburn area as there is quite a large African population in the area now...fingers crossed!

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  5. That food looks delicious and so cheap! Means you can try more things.

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  6. I'm not too sure about 'authentic' African restaurants in Sydney (if anyone knows somewhere, ie an African joint where African folks eat, i'd love to know) but I stumbled upon a great little African grocery store in Parramatta that had plenty of African punters. It's not huge (in fact, it's quite small) but there are plenty of African groceries and ingredients on offer, as well as a selection of Nollywood films. It's well worth a look, it's underneath the car park behind the Roxy Theatre. The couple that run it are lovely as well.

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  7. Lat-Dior is the real deal. My wife and I luv this joint. We'll be heading here before Jill Scott tonight... Yo!

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Thanks for your comment joy - please keep your musings happy - if you want to complain about a restaurant please do it on a restaurant review site (or your own blog) - we're all about celebrating cultural diversity and the great eats that come along with it :-)

Our ethics: We pay for all our own meals and travel (though sometimes Mum shouts us).