We had just finished our Filipino tasting feast and we were on our way to Al Dhiaffah when we took a detour and stopped by Al Jamil's grocery store. We met Mr Jamil who was such an affable man. He was delighted to see us and enthusiastically described the various delights provisioned in his store. I was fascinated by the variety of goods he had. He was also a very generous man and he kept piling us with his store's goodies, like lollies and canned drinks. How generous of him. I do wonder how he makes money if he is doling these gifts to his customers. Once again, I am reminded of the genuine warmth of the Fairfield locals.
Al Dhiaffah Al Iraqi
This is reputedly the first Iraqi restaurant in Sydney. We were there earlier than the normal lunch time hours so the restaurant was empty. But when I passed by later on, I could see many more patrons dining at this place.
Hassan was congenial and rather shy. But boy was he generous! Plate after plate of authentic Iraqi food was served to us. We had lamb shanks served on a bed of what looked like noodles but more likely to be rice. There was a platter of meat which were beautiful cooked ( lamb, beef and chicken). There was of course the bread, white beans stew, okra stew, and pickled cucumber.
We were all enjoying the food. As an aside, here's a funny little story; Simon of Simon Food Favourites, initially asked at the Filipino place if that was lunch. I said no, it was just a tasting. Then at Al Dhiaffah, he asked again if this was lunch. Again I said no but I couldn't help laughing. It started to become an in-group joke. I can understand why Simon kept asking the question. These restaurateurs were incredibly generous with the number of servings they were doling out.
Al Dhiaffah Al Iraqi
13 The Crescent
Fairfield
NSW 2165
Tel: +612 9755 0870
