Restaurant review: This Cork favourite puts the Izz into Palestinian pizzazz
Izz Cafe, 14 George's Quay, Ballintemple, Cork.
14 George's Quay, Ballintemple, Cork
At first, it may take some lateral thinking, but I believe there is something pointedly appropriate about dining at Izz Cafe as we count down to Christmas. After all, Christmas Day is supposed to be a celebration of the birth of one particular child, born roughly 2000 years ago, in Palestine. Shortly afterwards, an angel appears in a dream and warns the young family to flee to Egypt to escape persecution by Herod, who operated with the unequivocal backing of the most powerful empire of the day. Ringing any bells?
We are six at a small farewell lunch for a departing colleague on the same day as Christmas Jumper day in HQ. Other than this accidental Grinch and the departing colleague, the four women have all made the effort and, though still in the foothills of December, I experience my first festive frisson of the season.
Two large traditional ceramic meze platters arrive at the table, freighting a smorgasbord of appetisers, the vibrant riot of colour enough to challenge any Christmas tree.
Warak dawali, vine leaves stuffed with rice snuggle up to makdous, pickled baby aubergines stuffed with walnuts, garlic and chilli. I used to be besotted with them until aubergine decided we were no longer friends, that it was now allergic to me although the clinicians argue it is the other way around. Thankfully, they vanish in seconds before my first tear falls. I am still good to go, however, with an airy, light tabbouleh that glitters like a miniature jewel-box, a finely diced salad of parsley, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, spring onion and bulgur wheat, topped with ruby-red pomegranate seeds — a wee mouthful soars around the palate, airborne by citric lemon and herbaceous mint.
Meaty green olives, pickled green chilli peppers and miniature cucumbers add acidity and crunch, a fine contrast when paired with the piping hot breads which I smear with hummus and fiery fresh pureed chilli of warning sign red.
There are three types of hummus, cratered in the centre to hold a pool of grassy piquant olive oil, with chopped parsley and a few whole chickpeas: pale green avocado hummus is almost silken, the fruit’s additional fat adding lush layers of texture; a glorious pink beetroot hummus has an earthy sweetness; and original hummus is a rich, granular cream creeping up on the right side of a garlic tang. A smokey mash of aubergine, babaganoush,completes the dips.
That, right there, is probably as much as I’d eat for lunch but this is a double celebration of festivities and farewells so we order a further round of dishes.
Manaeesh (plural), topped flatbreads are the bedrock on which the Izz Cafe menu is built. Musakhan is freighted with shredded chicken, roasted in olive oil with cardamom, red onions and sumac, while a manoushet (singular) with halloumi, baked with olive oil, oregano and razor razor-thinthin slices of tomato, further seasoned with z’aatar, is a delightfully lighter Levantine cousin of Italian pizza from the other side of the Mediterranean.
Falafel wrap is a feast, the class of bounty that guarantees you’ll be looking for a takeaway box on departure: crunchy, savoury falafel, roughly mashed and baked onto the flatbread, then topped with hummus, tahini, chilli, pickles, salad and yogurt.
Lentil soup, with squash and sweet potato, should be compulsory in every first aid box in the land, this hefty, dense broth, deep ochre in hue and earthy with cumin and turmeric, is a true cure-all comforter.
Having previously witnessed Izz Alkarajeh putting on a magloubeh show, where a large pot of fragrant, layered rice dish with the meat at the bottom, is upended with a showman’s pizzazz onto a platter after cooking, allowing succulent juices to seep down through the layers, I put in an order for same.Â
Although I’d prefer the lamb version, meat here is very good chicken. The serving size, however, has doggy bag written all over it: a humongous, mahogany-brown leg and thigh of chicken alongside upturned rice, a dome the size and shape of a Christmas pudding, roasted almonds studded across the top. On the side, a bowl of labneh, salad of tomato and cucumber and a walnut-stuffed date. Even after sharing out servings to the other meat eaters and having a fair taste myself, there is enough to pretty much feed me and a hungry No 2 Son later that night.
Nobody is even interested in dessert, but before leaving I pick up two of Eman’s beautiful bakes to take home, a slice each of golden-orange saffron cake and a creamy coffee cake that has a fair share of tiramisu in its bloodline. Unsurprisingly, they are delicious. That is according to the aforementioned teen who, equally unsurprisingly, scoffs the lot after a ‘communication breakdown’ — his belly ‘misheard’.
At another time, Izz Cafe would be seen for what it is, a truly special restaurant, with lovely staff serving great food. Over recent years it has become something else, a spiritual home for the Cork Palestine Solidarity campaign, a beacon of hope and community in the face of Israel’s evil genocide. My combined Christmas and New Year wish is for a real and definitive end to the horrors being endured by the Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis and that Izz Cafe can go back to being just a truly special restaurant.
Dinner for two €145.70 (including Palestine colas, not including tip)
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