A Gourmet Greek Lebanese and Italian Food Tour of Sydney

Come along as we do a bespoke Gourmet Safari food tour in Sydney crossing three different countries: Greece, Lebanon and Italy. Find shops and restaurants that sell incredibly delicious food and find out the fascinating stories behind these businesses and what makes them successful!

It's a Monday morning, a day usually reserved for catching up on the weekend's activities. But this Monday I'm at Central Station in Sydney boarding a bus headed for three mystery destinations with Celestyal Cruises. The European cruise line's execs are in Sydney to promote their Greek, Turkish islands and Middle East cruises.

Miloway Wines

Our guide Nino from Gourmet Safaris is originally from Sicily and he divulges where our first stop will be. It will be in Earlwood in Sydney's inner west where we have been encouraged to bring bags and cooler bags because it's likely that we will want to buy up big. Nino says that the "Greeks love hills," and Greek families wanting a bit more space moved from Marrickville to Earlwood.

Harry Ipermachou's Miloway Wines store is distinctive from the street with blue and white signs and the shop is located at the former cinema The Chelsea Theatre. We are welcomed in with samples of Commanderie St John Port and Ouzo and Harry tells us the story behind the name Miloway. Originally he wanted to register the name as "Miles Away" as he was thousands of miles away from his homeland of Cyprus but the person registering it made a mistake and called it Miloway instead. "I said forget it! God bless Miloway!" says Harry laughing.

The business has proved a massive success with all of the generations in the family working in the business ensuring its legacy will remain. 90% of their stock is from Cyprus and Greece. When they started in 1983 they sold $200 worth of products a day but slowly but surely business picked up. Now they have their own trucks delivering their products. On top of the shop are four floors where they store all of the stock.

They have 22 labels of ouzo, caper leaves, carob grape molasses as well as fresh and dried trahana (crushed wheat with yogurt). You can also buy 1919 brandy for $375 or the 1898 for $1000 that is very popular with Asian clientele. They also stock 16 varieties of halloumi as well as loukaniko sausage made with red wine and a range of dips made by Harry's wife. My friend Celia swears by their taramasalata dip and they do in a pink and white version and it's truly glorious stuff. We sample olives, cheeses, dips and octopus. Harry makes the octopus himself where he cooks it in wine in 1 tonne batches. "You cook it in water you may as well put in the bin. No flavour!" says Harry shaking his head.

Trianon Cake Shop

Trianon Cake Shop is not an official stop on the tour but I quickly run next door to try two of their best sellers. The Mamoulia or Momos is a triangular biscuit with a pastry outer and filled with Turkish delight and dusted with desiccated coconut on the outside. It's absolutely delicious- you buy it by the weight and one of these will set you back around $1.20 or $28 a kilo.

I also buy a tahinopota, a wonderful bread scroll made with sweetened tahini. This too is glorious, especially heated up and the scroll has a delightful halva flavour to it.

Al Aseel

With our bags laden down with goodies and pastries we head to our next stop: lunch at Al Aseel. The last time I visited the original Al Aseel was over 10 years ago and it has changed a lot. Like A LOT. It has had quite a facelift and looks modern and upmarket. Al Aseel first opened up in the late 90s with owner Faysal El Abd but now they have branches all over Sydney from Bankstown, Castle Hill, Parramatta, Liverpool, Chatswood, Pagewood and Alexandria.

Our lunch today is a set menu with a spread of Lebanese bread, dips, salads and grilled meats. We start with the colourful pickles and then try the smoky baba ganoush and the creamy hummus. While the decor looks different, the smooth as silk hummus hasn't changed at all. It's still brilliantly smooth.

One of the things that they are known for are their felafels that are crunchy on the outside and moist and flavoursome on the inside and are made with both chickpeas and fava beans. But make sure to also order the cauliflower or the Arnabeet that are deep fried, caramelised florets of cauliflower.

There is also chicken shawarma but my favourite meat is the Kafta Mishwe served with chilli brushed bread topped with sliced white onion and toum. And to finish off there is tea and two types of baklava!

Raineri's Continental Delicatessen

You know how they say that there's nothing like an overnight success? For 45 years Raineri's Continental Delicatessen has been serving the people of Five Dock with their Italian supplies but it was only recently that the lines snaked outside of the deli. A year ago we visited here on a Five Dock Tour to sample some of the meats and cheeses. But when I was chatting to Sam Raineri he showed me his focaccia panini - huge sandwiches made to order with meats sliced to order. All for a bargain price of $15 and big enough to serve 2 people a hearty, filling lunch. I was blown away by the generosity of the sandwiches and the fresh flavours and it was a hit on social media.

Cut to 1 year later and now the lines snake out the door even on a Monday and it has gone viral on TikTok. The shelf displays have gone and in its place are long share tables and bar seating for the hundreds of customers a day that line up for their panini. Sam has a new flavour that he wants to try out on me. It's made with freshly sliced porchetta (yesss!) with marinated capsicum peppers, olives, pesto, broccolini and artichokes. Sam toasts it lightly on the panini grill and packages up each hefty half separately. It's absolutely delicious with a sort of Italian muffaletta vibe to it.

But on the tour the official activity is back at the cheese and meat counter where his brother Joseph passes around samples of cheese and meat. He starts with the prosciutto sliced in paper thin layers. They can track where each leg of prosciutto comes from and honestly once you try this one, you cannot look back, it's that silky soft.

"This is head office," quips Joseph pointing a knife to Sicily on a map. He offers us slices of Calcagno cheese from Sicily. This has been aged for 14 months and is made with sheep's milk and it is so good that I keep sampling more pieces despite how much I have already eaten. We also try an Asiago from Veneto, a Provolone dolce or mild as well as a fennel salami. Joseph explains that fennel seed in salami is Calabrian down to Sicily.

We finish with an aged parmigiano reggiano replete with tiny diamonds of crunchy salt, a by product of the ageing process as well as pistachio biscuits and biscotti. And the only way to rile up this good natured Sicilian family? Bring up parmesan cheese in a tube!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever go on organised food tours or do you do impromptu ones that you plan yourselves?

NQN attended the food tour as a guest of Celestyal Cruises. This cruise line specialises in the Mediterranean and Middle East.