The Mediterranean is a cafe and restaurant at 162 Mokoia Road in Chatswood, Auckland, built around what it calls Middle Eastern Flavours — Lebanese-style mezze and mashawi skewers alongside pizza, calzone, pasta and grilled mains. Its website greets guests with a roll-call of hellos (Ciao, Yia Sou, Merhaba, Bonjour, Hola) and invites them to 'let your tastebuds travel', which is roughly what the menu does: it moves from authentic dips and fresh-baked flatbread to aged Angus eye fillet, lamb cutlets, salmon and a full pizza and pasta list.
The kitchen's house-made bread anchors much of the menu. Hummus is made 'the authentic Lebanese way' with mashed chickpeas, tahini and freshly squeezed lemon juice; baba ghanoush pairs char-grilled eggplant with tahini, garlic and lemon; and the mezze platter brings the three traditional dips together with warm flatbread. Seafood starters include in-house cut calamari and garlic or spicy prawns, while sharing builds bigger with antipasti platters of cured meats, cheeses, pickles and olives. The mashawi section covers authentic char-grilled skewers — lamb, chicken and the house kafta — capped by a mixed grill platter with all three, plus dips, flatbread and fattoush.
There is plenty beyond the mezze table too: nine large Pizza Traditionale options from Margherita to The Eduardo's Special, folded calzone, a family-recipe Lasagne Romano, and salads from the Moroccan (with your choice of lamb, beef or chicken) to the classic Lebanese fattoush. Dinner service runs Wednesday to Sunday from 5:00 PM until late (closed Mondays and Tuesdays), with reservations taken via the website, by email or by phone. The restaurant also caters weddings and functions.
On Mokoia Road in Chatswood, Auckland, The Mediterranean greets guests with a cheerful roll-call of hellos — Ciao, Yia Sou, Merhaba, Bonjour, Hola — and a thank-you in Arabic: 'Shookran for visiting our cafe and restaurant.' That many-tongued welcome says a lot about the place. This is an evening restaurant built around Middle Eastern flavours, where the kitchen's own invitation is to 'let your tastebuds travel' — and the menu genuinely does travel, from Lebanese mezze and mashawi skewers to pizza, calzone, pasta and grilled mains.
Nearly everything at The Mediterranean begins with bread baked fresh in-house. The hummus is made 'the authentic Lebanese way' — mashed chickpeas, tahini and freshly squeezed lemon juice — and arrives with a large, fresh-baked warm flatbread. So does the baba ghanoush, a chunky char-grilled eggplant dip combined with tahini, crushed garlic and lemon juice and finished with a drizzle of olive oil. The mezze platter gathers all three traditional dips — hummus, baba ghanoush and tzatziki — for the middle of the table, while marinated Kalamata olives and feta make a simpler, saltier companion to the same warm bread. For a taste of the Levant, the zeit wo za'atar man'oushe is freshly baked flatbread topped with aromatic za'atar and extra virgin olive oil, served authentically.
The starters extend to the sea as well: calamari cut and prepared fresh in-house, garlic prawns pan-fried and finished in a creamy sauce, and spicy prawns marinated in spices and chopped chillies, then char-grilled. For larger tables there is an antipasti platter of cured meats, cheeses, pickles and olives with homemade hummus — and an extra-large version that adds char-grilled chicken fillet, lamb fillet, calamari and king prawns.
Mains lean towards the grill. The peppercorn eye fillet is 250 grams of aged Angus cooked with green peppercorns, brandy, mushroom and a touch of cream; Ryash Ghanam offers tender lamb cutlets marinated in olive oil and lightly seasoned, served with seasonal vegetables, gourmet potatoes and tzatziki; and the grilled salmon comes with tzatziki, green salad and gourmet potatoes.
The mashawi section is the heart of the menu: authentic skewers, char-grilled for tenderness and flavour. Chunky lamb or chicken fillet pieces are marinated the Mediterranean way and skewered with onion and tomato; kafta is the house recipe of spiced beef and lamb mince mixed with parsley and onion. The mixed grill platter combines all three skewers with hummus, baba ghanoush, tzatziki, two flatbreads and fattoush salad.
Then there is the oven. The Pizza Traditionale list runs from a simple Margherita to The Eduardo's Special — 'the pizza that's got it all' — loaded with mushrooms, ham, salami, capsicum, tuna, shrimps, anchovies, capers and olives, with classics like the Napolitana, Marinara, Four Seasons and a vegetarian with char-grilled pineapple in between. Folded calzone comes in Continental Chilli and Classic Vegetarian, and a gluten-free base is available in the large size. Pasta covers familiar comforts: Lasagne Romano, a family recipe of beef lasagna with cheese and silver beet baked in rich Napolitana sauce; chicken fettuccine in a creamy mushroom sauce; and vegetarian ravioli in white sauce with parmesan, onion, mushrooms and garlic. Salads include the Moroccan — your choice of gently marinated lamb, beef eye fillet or chicken served hot with feta and Kalamata olives — and the fattoush, the traditional Lebanese salad dressed with sumac, dried mint, olive oil, garlic and lemon.
The Mediterranean keeps evening hours: open Wednesday to Sunday from 5:00 PM until late, and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Booking a table is straightforward — there is a reservation form on the website, or you can email [email protected] or call 09 419 0911. Given how much of the menu is built for sharing, it is the kind of place that rewards gathering a few people together.
Beyond à la carte dinners, the restaurant also caters weddings and functions, with a dedicated section of the site for enquiries, and a gallery that previews both the dining room and the food. Extras like the fresh-baked warm flatbread, homemade dips and roasted gourmet potatoes make it easy to stretch a meal around the table.
Whether you come for a mezze spread, a plate of mashawi or the pizza that has it all, the through-line is the same: fresh-baked bread, house-made dips and Mediterranean hospitality on Mokoia Road.