For the epicures of Perth whose means or aerophobia prevent them from seeing the world, Beaufort street offers a way to taste it. You can travel to Mexico at El Público, France at P’tite Ardoise Bistro and even Nepal at Gurkhas. And now Raah, for a taste of the Middle East.
Raah sits at the southern end of Beaufort street in place of Veritas, but completely redecorated in a contemporary style inspired by the Middle-East. The golden yellow stucco-like walls have been sandblasted to reveal undercoats of deep reds and turquoise. A ribbon of rust-brown metal with mirror cut-outs in Islamic arabesque geometric shapes reflect the light from hanging lanterns. The tables are laid simply with linen and traditional Turkish salt and pepper shakers.
Raah’s food is influenced by Syrian, Moroccan and Lebanese cuisine, and everything is designed to be shared. The mezze include classics like gozleme, hummus with Turkish bread and Syrian spiced olives. But Raah’s famous for the prawns that are coated in preserved lemon, Turkish chilli and coriander and grilled to perfection. And then there’s the quail that is poached in cinnamon and then fried to create a crispy skin, served with a tahini, black chilli-cucumber yogurt sauce.
From the “More Substantial” dishes, the unanimous standout is the yogurt-marinated goat with green chilli, coriander and dates, perfect for dipping in the spicy aubergine relish.
If you have any space left, squeeze in a taste of Raah’s dessert. The petite fours offer a great selection of Raah’s best sweets: Turkish delight, chocolate brownie, lemon meringue and pistachio nougat.
Or better yet, skip dessert and order the scrumptious Turkish delight martini.
(Also published in AgendaCity)
Im having my birthday dinner in the private room out the back at Raah, Ive always had such a fabulous meal there, the food is brilliant! I love that they have dukkuh in place of salt!