Balha's Fingers

I finally made it to Balha's Pastry yesterday. For those who have been living under a shell, Balha is this awesome Lebanese pastry shop on Sydney Road in Brunswick West.

A friend's friend gave me a piece (ok, several) of this awesome melt-in-your-mouth pastry last year and after many days and months craving and dreaming of it, I finally made it to the place where it's sold!

One of my part time jobs brought me to this part of Melbourne and I just had to seize the opportunity to grab a few tasty morsels. Any sweeties is always a 'yes' in my books! :)

Stepped into the shop and was greeted with the lovely aroma of baked pastries, syrup and I think, nuts. As you walked in the shop, you'll see a long table counter shielded with a row of glass panels. Behind it, what would look like an endless (I know, I exaggerate) trays of pastries. 

I perused through tray after tray for anything called "Baklavas" 'cos that's what my friend told me it's called. But there wasn't any. On closer inspection, the only thing that looked like what I tasted was called "Fingers". Lol.

What a name. Curious why fingers though. As I was rushing to work, I didn't have time to ask. It was AUD20/kg, hence, I thought ordering AUD5 worth would give me a few pieces of heaven. I didn't imagine that it'll total to 15+ pieces for only AUD5. hehe. 

With just AUD5, I can only get 2 petite macarons from La Belle Miette.

Don't tell Mr. C. He'll forbid me from finishing this decadently sweet temptation. If given the chance, I wouldn't put it past him to throw it away. ;p

 

 

The shop had so many other pastries and even sold chocolates. There is also a coffee making counter! 

Reading their website only did I know that they have a seating area upstairs besides outside seating for cafe patrons. But I didn't have much time to check out everything. Just enough time to point and order my "fingers", pay and leave.

Fingers : Filo Pastry, cashew and syrup

Mr. C reckons it looks more like caterpillars. He asked me from the kitchen area, "why were there so many caterpillars in the kitchen?" as I tinker away on my laptop in the TV room, to which I replied, "what caterpillars??". 

I really thought that there were caterpillars. He brought over the box of "fingers" much to my amusement and said, "caterpillars".