A lovely evening - Minzaman & Brunetti

On Saturday evening, I went out for dinner with friends to a Lebanese restaurant at 292 Lygon Street, Carlton called Minzaman. We all found that the meats in the main courses were a little dry (I had Shish Tawook, being chicken skewers marinated in garlic and lemon, and served with tabbouleh). However, the desserts were faultless - one of my friends had the baklava, which was just gorgeous because it wasn't drowned in honey, and the nutty filling was rich and fudgy. I had the rice pudding with orange flower syrup - again, a gorgeous dessert, and thankfully very light after a very filling main course. There were two different bellydancers to entertain us during the evening, who gave fun performances while interacting with the guests. To further add to the atmosphere, the men at our table smoked tobacco-filled shishas (like the hookah smoked by the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland).

Afterwards, although we couldn't eat another thing, we went to Brunetti, an Italian cake shop, that sells the most amazing array of wonderful cakes, slices, biscuits and sweets that I have ever seen. At Brunetti, I purchased the wonderful tart pictured at the top of this post to take home. The chocolate top is all style and no substance - it is like a scrunched up ball of chocolate (if this weren't a physical impossibility) which, although it doesn't taste all that amazing, looks spectacular. You can lift the chocolate top right off to reveal the tart underneath. It featured a pleasant shortcrust shell which, although a little thicker than I prefer, tasted pleasant. The custard filling was devine - smooth, silky and not overly sweet. I will definitely be back!