Aalia
25 Martin Pl, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Restaurant
•Why you'll love Aalia
- Offers guests with a completely private and memorable dining experience with versatile indoor-outdoor venue.
- Serves diners an Arabian nomadic time-travelling odyssey of dishes and offers flexible event packages.
- Convenient location with nearby attractions and easy access to public transports.
AALIA introduces a new perspective on Middle Eastern cuisine, unlike any other restaurant in the world. Our interior organically emerges from Harry Seidler’s original iconic MLC architecture. Our ambition is realised in a space and experience that fluidly blends the past with the now, the interior with the exterior. Sculptural architectural features, tactile materials and furnishings are used in perfect synergy to create intimate and relaxing spaces. The culinary team led by Executive Chef Paul Farag have spent years exploring dishes and techniques from lesser-known regions and coastlines of the Middle East and North Africa. They discovered forgotten ingredients from millennia ago and uncovered recipes from within the pages of 10th-century Arabic cookbooks. AALIA beautifully combines ingredients from across territories and times, contrasting tradition with modern techniques to offer diners an Arabian nomadic time-travelling odyssey of dishes.
Reviews for Aalia
Adhitya Suvarna (Addy)
Very delightful and delicious experience of middles eastern cuisine with a fine dining twist. We had the signature banquet and it was amazing and very thoughtfully prepared. Staff, especially Aleyna, were very knowledgeable and explained the dishes well. Great value and definitely returning for more.
Rachel Wong
Food was interesting, not the typical middle eastern as it has an African twist to it. Uni wrapped in sesame leaves was not worth $18 per piece we reckon as u can’t really taste the uni with the rice and the leave. And the sesame leaves was extremely oily. Pita bread and the dips were not bad, except the bread was quite oily too. Cod was pretty normal and the duck was not bad. We tried chocolate and the date for dessert. Chocolate was normal, my friend who tried the date quite like it. Interesting taste but nothing to wow about. Probably good to try it out but don’t think we would come back again.
Jacqueline S
Brought one of my best friends here for a birthday lunch and the premium banquet menu was stunning. Every dish was an explosion of flavours and had very good portions of food. Together with prompt, friendly service in a wonderful atmosphere, this restaurant was a winner for us.
My Nguyen
Good: Lamb tartar was fresh and nice texture. Dry aged Murray cod has crispy skin and silky flesh. Not my liking: Cuttlefish with couscous was a bit mushy and not my favourite texture. Duck was not special. I preferred Lily Mu duck. Lion mane mushroom was too oily. Complementary chocolate truffle was lovely.
Yugi Kim
We had an enjoyable meal, with the lion’s mane dish and short ribs standing out as the highlights. That said, we were expecting a bit more overall. The bone marrow was underwhelming, more reminiscent of a standard hummus recipe than anything memorable, so perhaps best skipped. Also skip the chips as they’re a little boring on their own; we asked for aioli but only mayo and ketchup are available, which was a little odd for a middle eastern restaurant. Service was fine, though we had to ask for water refills, which held it to 4 stars. The atmosphere felt quite cramped, and having to walk outside to access a public restroom in the adjacent building (currently under repair) detracted from the overall experience. At a total of $400, the evening felt somewhat average relative to expectations.
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