Rumi

Ph: 9388 8255; 132 Lygon St, Brunswick East 3057

middle eastern, $$ -
Open Sat 10am-3pm Tue-Sat 6-10pm; Licensed, BYO, Corkage $6 bottle; MC V EFT
Chef Joseph Abboud (5-12-08) Owner Joseph Abboud (5-12-08)

Other published opinions

Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 14.5/20 "Melbourne has great Middle Eastern food, and charismatic, mid-price restaurants built around an ethos of recycled chic, but never have the two harmonised as well as they do at Rumi (named after a mystic 13th-century Anatolian poet)"

The Age Cheap Eats 2008 "A hop from Melbourne's Middle Eastern epicentre, Rumi elevates that region's cuisine to lofty heights"

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 14.5/20 "What does that Khalil Gibran verse on the wall at Rumi say? (It's in Arabic.) Might as well be: 'Book ahead or eat on the footpath' - such is the attraction of this star of the East Brunswick boom"

The Age Dani Valent, 26-3-2007 "I loved Rumi as soon as I walked in. The waiters were friendly and helpful even though it was rush hour - always a good sign of a restaurant on top of its game. The snug corner shop is furnished with retro wooden school chairs and bare timber tables (with linen napkins) -- there's none of the cushiony clutter that's more or less regulation Melbourne-Middle-Eastern decor. The spunky, modern look is balanced with delicate cultural flourishes: brass coffee pots, tactile green carafes."

The Age John Lethlean, 26-10-2006 "Well, Rumi is interesting indeed. Moorish whites, draping sheer fabrics, Riedel "0"Series wine glasses, waiters who bring drinks on a smart brass tray you hold from above by its brass handles ... this is Lebanese/Middle Eastern food dragged into the new millennium by young food and wine entrepreneurs, true to the spirit but free from the cliches of old; a fresh, New World approach. And whoever is out back knows about food. ... chef/proprietor Joseph Abboud has a background that includes est, est, est and Ondine, Circa and working as a prep cook at Ladro (where his fiance and front-of-house manager worked, too). This vindication of my early snapshot analysis is, of course, of marginal significance to the others. But I'm happy. And so should be Mr Abboud and his staff. Rumi is the Lebanese Ladro, and I'm excited."

The Age Cheap Eats 2007 "A passage from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet, painted on the wall, sets a suitably inspirational tone in a place for which foodies are prophesying greatness."

Herald Sun Dining Out, Simon Plant, 14-11-06 Score: 14/20 "Open only a few months, Rumi is putting a lively new spin on Melbourne's Middle-Eastern food scene. Homestyle dishes get a moddish makeover here and Lebanese wines are listed among a short, sharp list of local drops. On a busy night, service was a bit chaotic, but the welcome was as warm as the flatbread."

Herald Sun Eat, Bob Hart, 16-9-06 "Rumi is the creation of a young, classically trained chef of Lebanese extraction who has worked in some of Melbourne's most celebrated kitchens, but now cooks the food he has always eaten at home. Almost.He is Joseph Abboud, whose mother is a dedicated cook and whose father swears by her cooking. And Joseph's.For Rumi, Joseph has embellished his mother's offerings with Turkish and Iranian variations, pointing to his conviction that most of the food of the region is of Persian descent."

Age Epicure Unexplored Territory, Matt Preston, 26-9-06 "Owner Joseph Abboud, who has cooked everywhere from Ondine and Vue de monde to MoMo, says the food he is doing is more traditional than that of many of his predecessors. But there's no mistaking the intent set out by the script from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet painted around the pale walls, the applegreen aprons and Middle Eastern-style glass water pitchers."