Meso Bites

Meso Bites grew from owner Haider Karim Al-Baghdadi’s desire to introduce Iraqi food to the CBD, where there are no dedicated restaurants. His inspiration? His country’s history as Mesopotamia, one of the world’s oldest recorded civilisations, as well as family recipes passed down through generations.

The top seller is one of the simplest dishes: skewers of beef, chicken, lamb or kofta, marinated in a secret house spice blend, and served with hummus and tabbouleh. But carbohydrates play a starring role too, often appearing more than once in a single dish. Pudgy bulghur dumplings filled with beef and lamb are simmered with chickpeas and onion in a rich beef stew known as yakhni, based on the owner’s mother’s recipe. Sham quzi is another staple, made from thin flaky pastry stuffed with aromatic spiced rice.

Must order dish: Yakhni – handmade beef and lamb dumplings served in a bowl of brothy chickpeas.

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