Vishal Rawal | Babylonia Fitzroy

Babylonia Fitzroy, on their website and at their entrance on Smith Street, invites you to “enter into enchantment”. Owners Prawin John Peter and Geoffrey Sage have created their own little oasis down in Fitzroy, complete with a lush outdoor garden courtyard and waterfall wall feature and a cosy front dining room with green leather banquettes, cream-painted brick walls and antique Turkish lampshades. It’s lovely by day and magical by night. They have shisha, belly dancing, cocktails, and of course, beautiful Middle Eastern food cooked by Vishal Rawal. Vishal loves cooking. It was such a pleasure to listen to the way he describes the food he makes, combining spices from his Indian heritage with the Middle Eastern dishes he has discovered and loves. You would absolutely want to work with Vishal because he is a hands-on chef; in amongst the pans at service and washing up at the end. For Vishal, team-work is vital and making diners happy, his goal. I was hanging off his every word and I reckon, now that the Melbourne days are becoming slightly darker and more chilly, this is a place you can warm your soul.