Walsh Bay is now home to this slick indoor/outdoor, 100-seat, Middle Eastern restaurant. Jounieh is the inner city offering from the team behind Parramatta's Lebanese fine diner El-Phoenician, perched on Walsh Bay's Promenade Foreshore.
The restaurant is named after a Lebanese coastal town, and calls upon traditional Lebanese flavours and spices to underpin a menu that goes from delicate seafood small plates (including grilled Moreton Bay bugs with citrus butter and Sydney rock oysters) right through to hearty 11-hour cooked lamb shoulder and shawarma served with pita, tarator and pickles.
Chef Gonzales-Poncet – whose resume includes stints at Felix, Coogee Pavilion and Song Kitchen – is also cooking up samke harrah croquettes (a bite-sized take on a traditional whole grilled snapper dish), kibbi nayeh (ground spiced lamb) and arnabeet (golden cauliflower with pomegranate, mint, parsley and roasted almonds). Wine-wise you can work your way through drops from the Bekaa Valley or try a zaatar-spiced cocktail. They also offer a fuss-free pre-theatre dinner menu, with veggo, seafood and meat options.