Suburban Crawl #6: Syria's Shamiat is staying

An expanding Syrian empire in Fairfield might be the only hope that strip ever had.

I remember when Shamiat first opened. I used to live on a few doors down from this strip on Victoria Road in Northcote. The strip was always a nothing spot. Nothing made an inroad there; a strip of shops sandwiched between the two major streets of High and Station. 

I’d lived on Victoria Rd for about five years, and in that time, I saw it undergo many changes, from the bizarre one-armed organic grocer Joe, who seemed only to sell rotten produce at extremely high prices, to the beautiful Cafe Kalimbra, which was owned by the guy from 1200 Techniques.

A small side note to elaborate on the oddity of the Victoria Road Strip: Right around when I moved in, someone was shot in some bizarre drug deal behind Joe’s Organic Grocer that would become Shamiat. There’s a lot of Northcote/Fairfield lore to be hand in this area.

Fast forward to 2019 when, one day, out of the blue, Shamiat appeared. I visited within the first few days of opening; they were still figuring it out, but I was excited – a Syrian place on my doorstep was great news. Shamiat was opened by a Syrian family who first came to Melbourne as refugees.

Years later, after moving from the area, I was so happy that Shamiat had expanded its operations. From its humble beginnings, it’s now engulfed the two vacant shops to the right of it, opening up a takeaway area and a daytime cafe. (RIP to the weird milk bar / secret fish N chip shop cum delivery-only takeaway ice-cream-donut-burger-place). 

There’s always some miscommunication when you go in, bad hearing on my part and a thick accent I sometimes miss, but it was always a wonderful interaction. The interior is usually pretty dimly lit against the bright white light emitted from the kitchen at the back. The first thing I ever ordered was a falafel wrap from them, and it was pretty good. I would go back quite often for lunch.

My favourite was their roast chicken with rice, always spiced to perfection. It quickly became the spot we’d go to for our sharehouse events. The BYO corkage was cheap, and you never left hungry when splitting the meals. I was also determined to give them as much business as possible, scared that the enterprise might fail and the strip would never be doomed to hold a decent place down.

This was the first I’d had the chance to go back since they expanded, and they are worth a write-up in this humble publication. I want them to succeed and champion them at each step.

I met Mim there, and we strategised the menu. We looked through the extensive pages and tried to get a mix of new and familiar things. We decided to get my favourite dish, the Mujadra (lentils and rice with crispy caramelised onions), cabbage rolls, halloumi, and shish barak (which was these lamb dumplings in a yoghurt/feta sauce). 

The food is beautifully spiced, with toches of cumin, a little sweetness from pomegranate, and some of the creaminess of the yoghurt broth.

We were gifted little cups of tea as we let the meal settle in our stomachs. Behind us, two older women sat down and immediately asked us from across the room if we had suggestions for what to eat. Two older ladies were trying Syrian food and asking for suggestions on their food tour. They got the roast chicken and sang its praises as we left.

Shamiat is generally a great suburban spot, family-owned, not too flashy and overproduced. Its flaws make it a beautiful place to eat, in my opinion.