Tucked away in the boiler room of the Drumcondra Arts and Business Campus is an ode to Middle-Eastern cuisine called Shouk, Hebrew for “street market”.
Although the space is dinky, our host Alon Salman kindly sources a table to accommodate us. The eclectic assortment of furniture paired with the low ceiling gives the space a homely feel. The menu is simple and reasonable, the star of the show clearly being the pita, ranging from €6–€10, with the option of falafel, med burger, cauliflower, chicken schnitzel or shawarma or ribeye minute steak. I opted for mezze platter (€12), served on a wooden board accompanied by a basket of warm, shredded pitas. On the board were five ramekins of falafel, beetroot salad, Moroccan aubergine salad, hummus and tomato and cucumber salad.
Three smaller ramekins contained tahini, baba ganoush and chimichurri. I devoured the hummus, possibly the nicest I have ever tasted, even if there might have been a tad too much garlic. The aubergine salad was a strange experience and, had I been blindfolded, I would have guessed that I was eating mushrooms. The flavours in the mezze platter were divine and bursting with freshness. Admittedly, Shouk was initially chosen to accommodate our vegan friend, but by the time the meal finished I knew I’d sneak back without them.
Some weeks later, I sit opposite Alon Salman, the owner of Shouk, and I am reminded of what a small world we live in. Salman grew up in Kiryat Ono in Tel Aviv and is the son of Ezra Salman from Israel and Mary Byrne from Bree in Wexford. After initial disbelief, we figure out that our families, in fact, know each other.
Despite the Irish family, Shouk is a wonderfully distinctively Middle-Eastern affair. The style of cooking might be in his blood, as Salman’s father’s family own numerous bakeries in Iraq . Two years ago, Salman and his wife, Leslie, returned to Ireland with the idea of opening a business based on the Israeli pita. From this spawned Alon’s Pita Bar, a glorified gazebo focused on serving up pitas. Business was hard in the beginning, but Salman struck gold upon meeting the owner of the Drumcondra Arts and Business Campus who allowed him to set up shop out front to catch the crowds en route to Croke Park on match days. While the Pita Bar continues to frequent markets around the country, the focus since February has been on Shouk. It opened quietly three months ago and since then has garnered quite a reputation. Shouk is embarking upon an exciting period, and I suggest you all follow it closely.
