Mr Lawrence

On the ground floor, a long communal marble-top table sits in the middle of the dining room. Booth seating lines one side of the room, and the bar extends along the wall of the other, where sets of dining tables and chairs are dotted around. Up the stairs, a function room is situated in a back corner while another dining room and balcony make up the rest of the floor. The balcony has a beautiful view of the water, and at night, you can see the coloured lights from the shipping channel blink continuously. You could only imagine how great this spot would be on a sunny Melbourne day.

We stopped by on a Wednesday night and were given our choice of seats on the ground floor. The a la carte menu is made up of mezze plates, sides and salads, Turkish pizza, meat and vegetarian mains. A little note at the bottom dictates that Mr Lawrence food is for sharing, so shared we did.

First, a mezze plate for two, the highlights of which were the Egyptian falafels with tahini yoghurt and the haloumi and feta boreks that came with date jam. Then came what the waiter told us were favourites: a lamb, yoghurt and almond Turkish pizza and a chermoula salmon, fennel and spinach tagine with mograbieh, which is also known as pearl or giant couscous, FYI. Each dish was amazing on its own, but together made for a Middle Eastern tastebud dance party.

As possibly the biggest fan of savoury food, I’m almost sorry (not sorry) to say that the highlight of the meal was the dessert. We’d decided that we were just going to share a cinnamon chocolate mousse, which comes with rhubarb compote and broken baklava, but our waiter suggested we give the Moroccan mess a try, and thank the dessert gods we listened to him. The combination of rosewater meringue, berries, double cream and pashmak (a.k.a Iranian candy floss) sounded like it would be too sickly sweet. But we were pleasantly surprised to say the least, the cream balances out the sweetness of the meringue and pashmak, and the berries added that bit of freshness. It was the perfect way to wrap up our meals, I strongly recommend you save some space for this treat of treats.

Friends, please do yourselves a favour and check this place out. According to others online, they do some of the best Middle Eastern food around town, and they also have a $10 Turkish pizza deal on Mondays. Combined with the view and welcoming atmosphere, you have no excuse! 

Mr Lawrence
67 Beach Street, Port Melbourne
Open everyday, 12pm to late
mrlawrence.com.au