Friends in high places, they mean a lot of course but friends in the right places means a lot too. My friend M was just the person that I needed to speak to about a very important topic and she suggested that we meet up at Saks Espresso & Wine in Surry Hills as she works nearby. I did my due diligence (i.e. looking up reviews) and it all looked good. There’s a selection of arty books resting against the banquette near the window and inside is all red and it’s full with patrons.
My favourite Greek chef David Tsirekas tends to the Halloumi
Food is sizzling on the BBQ, a whole lamb is roasting on the spit and suddenly there’s a frisson, people are whispering and eyes are widened as the gossip passes through the crowd “He’s here!! He’s here!” they say. “Who is here” I ask Reem. “George Colambaris” she says smiling knowingly. “Oh” I say knowing of George’s dislike for bloggers and quotes such as “The biggest comment we get now is from girls who go to the toilet and love the moisturiser. You could put a dog turd on the plate and they’d still talk about the hand cream.” Meh, I say staying put. My favourite Greek chef is right at the BBQ, Perama’s David Tsirekas and Adriano Zumbo has just walked in. No need to get excited about a man who thinks he can serve me a dog turd and I’d be happy.
Adriano Zumbo
I don’t quite know what it is about me and Greek food but I adore it. Greek yogurt is my favourite type of yogurt, Halloumi is one of my favourite cheese and Taramosalata is also one of my favourite dips and don’t even get me started on Dolmades or Baklava which are a complete addiction for me. So this Friday night I am anxious. I am crossing from the North Shore to the Inner West during a heinously busy Friday night peak hour. My father was at the helm and we were running frightfully late – not helped by the traffic and my father’s unfamiliarity with the North and Inner West. When I finally get there I am greeted by Davis Tsirekas’s smiling face from the window of the busy kitchen. “Hello darling! Welcome!” he says. He lets me know that they’ve thoughtfully held the hot food (thanks guys!) until I got there.
Perama’s Head Chef: David Tsirekas
It’s a Tweetup arranged by Fridley and consists of hand picked bloggers and a few other tweeters. He and David have planned a special banquet for us tonight. For $50 we get the regular banquet menu plus all wine as well as a range of other courses. David will just keeping cooking things and sending them out to us until we tell him to stop (which is just music to my ears and stomach).
Course 1: Dips (Taramasalata, Tzatziki, Splt Pea). Pic by Betty’s Bites
Warned by many to pace myself for the onslaught of courses to come, I help myself to just a little bit of dip although they are all delicious, particularly the Taramasalata and the creamy Tzatziki which tops all other tzatzikis. David strains the already strained yogurt again and balances it with olive oil which gives it that creamy texture. There’s also smoked eggplant, split pea dip and olive paste which I didn’t get to try.
Course 2:Greek Salad
I have had far too many bad Greek salads in my life, so much so that I don’t usually order them. This is an exception with the creamy feta, spanish onion, fat olives and tomatoes telling you why the salad is so popular.
Course 3:Pickled octopus
Course 4: Pickled mushrooms
Course 5: Pickled cabbage
They’re all lovely pickles but the octopus has to be my favourite. But I didn’t eat too many of the pickles because I knew there was more to come and this was just the start.
Course 6: Zucchini fritters
The moist zucchini fritters signal a start to the hot dishes and the excitement to come.
My friend M raved to me about this place. She works in North Sydney and finds herself here, almost every day for lunch with her 2 boys on school holidays and they devour meal after meal. The Mad Greek in question is no doubt the person that merchandised the store, I suspect a graphic designer’s nightmare with multiple fonts and colours all over the window and large tins of SPC tinned tomatoes given pride of place in the front window.
From the outside, it’s posters of everything proclaiming “World Famous” this and that although you’d have to presume that’s a little on the hopeful side. The Mad Greek is also the man that would have scared you as a child, as he does with In, with mock stern and gruff expressions that adults can (for the most part) read but leaves kids wary. All dishes are $10 or under which includes pizzas, pasta and breakfast dishes, most with a Greek or Italian theme. We order with him and we’re not kept waiting long at all for within 5 minutes, our food arrives.
Cappucino $3
The coffee is by Primo. It’s a little bitter.
“World Famous Bacon and Egg Brioche” $4
“Ouzo88…” we all say. It sounds familiar to us and then we recall where we heard the name-they were the restaurant on the Chopping Block reality tv show where 2 restaurants compete for a monetary prize. They were pitted against Baja Cantina, and if I can be honest, were my favourites because they seemed to have a nicer attitude to things. We’re booked here tonight as it’s Hot Dog loves Greek food and it just happens to be his birthday.
Ouzo88 is situated at the quieter end of Crown Street, away from the hustle and bustle and perhaps as a result, the space is quite huge when you compare it the smaller places closer to Oxford Street. In fact it’s nice and spacious which is something of a rarity unless you’re dining in the high end of town. We’re given our menus, a cocktail menu and a food menu and our waitress is a very friendly woman who has the troublesome Hot Dog wrapped around her finger. He can either be a waitresses worst nightmare or best friend and we breathe a sigh of relief that she banters back with him.
First to arrive are the complimentary Ouzo shots, of which Hot Dog has many.
Four of us have decided to get the banquet for $46.80 per person with two us getting a la carte dishes in order to maximise sampling opportunities. The banquet includes a trio of dips & flat bread, Greek salad, Pan fried Halloumi cheese, Salt& Pepper squid with ouzo aioli, Chicken souvlakia and Slow cooked lamb served with roasted potatoes & vegies. We also order the zucchini, whitebait & 3 cheese fritters with ouzo aioli; chicken, feta, ricotta & dill pastries with skordalia and macaroni pie with beef mince, béchamel, mizuna & kefalotiri.
Trio of dips: clockwise from front Feta & Chili, Taramasalata and Eggplant dip
As seen in the Foodies Guide 2010
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