After 10 years as one of Surry Hills – and Sydney’s – most beloved diners, Nomad has opened a second eatery just 200 metres down the road. Like its forebear, Beau & Dough’s menu takes its cues from the Middle East. But it’s a more casual diner and the focus here is squarely on manoush – a Lebanese flatbread topped with za’atar and olive oil, and sometimes piled with other toppings (spicy lamb or spinach and feta).

“We’ve always wanted to do manoush,” says Rebecca Yazbek, Nomad Group’s co-owner. “We drive to Lakemba way too often to get our fix.”

Like all things Nomad, Beau & Dough’s manoush is excellent. It’s stretched by hand, then baked to order. The result is a perfectly crispy outside and a soft, chewy inside. So far, the most popular version is the one topped with sujuk (a dry spiced sausage), egg and cheese.

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“It’s the bacon and eggs of the Middle East,” says Yazbek. “Sujuk is a beautiful cured sausage, with spices – paprika and chilli – inside. It’s broken up and topped with gooey, baked egg. It’s great hangover food!”

Other must-tries conceived by head chef Ibrahim Kasif (ex-Stanbuli) are the Beau Signature Za’atar, which is doused in olive oil and house-made za’atar, and the Za’atar and Cheese, layered with haloumi.

There is also a hearty selection of Middle Eastern-inspired mains. The roast vegetable plate comes piled with fried cauliflower, roasted pumpkin and silverbeet, then topped with tahini, baba ganoush, muhammara (roasted red pepper dip) and zhoug (spicy coriander sauce). Equally tempting is the twice-cooked lamb neck with harissa XO, yoghurt and zucchini ezme (a spicy Turkish accompaniment that can take the form of a dip, sauce or salad – in this case, it’s the latter).

Alongside Turkish Fanta and lemonade, there’s also champagne behind the bar and a selection of NSW wines on tap. Brunch cocktails will be a must when Beau Bar, taking up residence in the same building, opens towards the end of February.

The Beau building has frontage on Reservoir Street (you can’t miss it, with its beautiful blue tiling), with a narrow walkway running along its side that connects to Foster Street, where Nomad lives. Yazbek collaborated with Smart Design Studio to give the expansive, seven-metre-wide space an austere, pared back aesthetic, dominated by stainless steel and natural stone. Natural light streams in from three sides, and there’s seating indoors and out.

“The clean aesthetic is juxtaposed with the chaos of an open working kitchen, and in-house baking, in all its glory,” says Yazbek. “I love it.”

Beau and Dough
52 Reservoir St, Surry Hills

Hours
Daily 7am-late

beau.sydney