30 October 2011

a meal to write home about...

Hellenic Republic www.hellenicrepublic.com.au

  • 434 Lygon Street, East Brunswick, Melbourne - approximately four kilometers north of the city with a tram stop (routes one and eight) outside the door.
  • Dining at lunchtime
  • Party of four

As a self-confessed addict of Australian Masterchef, I was curious to try the restaurants of the judges who I had become so familiar with after they had graced primetime television viewing six nights a week for three months.  George Calombaris' 'Hellenic Republic' was the first restaurant I was fortunate enough to dine at after booking six weeks in advance.

It has now been over a week since we had lunch at Hellenic Republic.  It was one of those meals where if you pause and think about you can still taste the flavours that left you wanting more.  Needless to say, this meal ticked so many boxes that it inspired me to start blogging and made me want to share this meal experience with everyone I know!

The booking process was well organised and well communicated. It was clear from the beginning that there are allocated seating periods for both lunch and dinner.  We were allocated the 1:30pm to 4:00pm sitting for lunch.

I made sure I was hungry, to the point where, I was so hungry I completely forgot to take any photos of the delicious meal.  However, I will do my best to describe the flavours that you will hopefully not notice the lack of 'eye candy' in my first proper post!

Between the four of us we intially ordered taramasalata, pita bread, tyri saganaki, tzatziki, moussaka, slow-roasted lamb shoulder, free-range chicken off the spit, baby snapper, Cypriot salad and fried potatoes.  The waiter was very helpful in explaining the menu and made suggestions for the gaps in our desired dishes.  He also thought we ordered too much food so said he will do a half size of the chicken and lamb so that we would have the opportunity to taste everything.  I have never experienced that in a restaurant, where usually you would be given everything you had ordered without any care of whether or not you could finish all the food.  He also advised that he would send the food out in an appropriate flow where the dishes would accompany each other.  This was a great start and such fantastic service.

The taramasalata - white cod roe dip, came first with the pita bread.  I cannot remember if I have ever had this dip (usually pink when bought off the shelf at supermarkets, as it is normally made with salmon roe).  It was like nothing I have ever tasted, had the perfect amount of seasoning and acid to give it a slight zesty taste.  It was also the perfect consistency and went hand in hand with the pita bread.

This was followed by 'Tyri Saganaki' - kefalograviera cheese with peppered figs.  This was served on a hot plate and may sound like an odd match.  The cheese was browned and melted and was topped with baby peppered figs.  The sweetness of the figs, the spiciness of the pepper and the creaminess of the cheese was a match made in heaven.  It was so delicious I don't know how else to describe it other than say that if you go to this restaurant,  you MUST order this dish.


We were then served the 'Kipriaki Salata Dimitriakon' which was a Cypriot salad of grains, pulses and nuts.  I am not exactly sure of all the ingredients but know it had lentils, almonds, lemon juice and flat-leaf parsley.  Again, this was like nothing I had ever tasted.  I would go back to this restaurant just to have this salad again, if only to try and pick the ingredients so I could attempt to make a version of it myself.

The whole baby snapper then followed topped with cherry tomatoes and a wedge of lemon.  It was cooked to perfection and delicious in its own right.  I will be honest however and say that I wouldn't order this dish again.  Perhaps this was due to the order in which it came out but this dish was the least memorable.

The slow-roasted shoulder of lamb with garlic and oregano and the chicken from the spit was accompanied with the fried potatoes and the tzatziki made of cucumber, dill, garlic, yoghurt and olive oil.  The flavours of these dishes all complemented each other with the tzatziki adding an extra dimension the meat.  Both the lamb and chicken were incredibly tender and seasoned perfectly.

The fried potatoes with oregano salt appeared to be deep fried chips therefore resulting in us asking for tomato sauce.  The waiter advised that no diner had ever before asked for tomato sauce and went on to explain that these "chips" are cooked three times.  They are first boiled, then fried.  They are then cooled down and refrigerated until they are ordered where they are fried in olive oil again.  They were perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  The waiter did obligingly hunt down tomato sauce as well as mayonnaise to satisfy all our needs.

I ordered the moussaka named 'Mary's Moussaka' as on an episode of Masterchef, Mary - George's mum, appeared and taught the contestants how to make this well known Greek dish.  It is also a combination of everything I love: mince, eggplant, potatoes and creamy cheese sauce.  This was served in a hot plate dish and was the perfect size.  The sauce was amazingly creamy and smooth.  I have attempted to make moussaka before but this was so much better.

We were all overly satisfied with our meals however still made room for dessert!  We ordered the Hellenic donuts, Ekmek kataifi pagato, bougasta and the Hellenic mess.

The donuts called 'Loukoumathes' had local honey, walnuts and cinnamon.  They were the most disappointed of the four desserts. They were dough-y and heavy, almost like a dense bread roll.  We all agreed on this and therefore I wouldn't recommend this dessert unless you like the sound of this description.

The 'Ekmek Kataifi Pagaot' was a pastry with cherries, custard and mastic ice cream. If you have never had mastic before, which at least two of us hadn't, then the best way I can describe it is: it is an acquired taste.  Perhaps one of those things you either like or don't, such as black jelly beans or red wine.  In my opinion this dessert was great, but would have been a lot better without the mastic in the ice cream!

The Bougasta is a semolina custard pie made with filo pastry.  This is another dish that Mary taught on Masterchef.  The custard is relatively thick and holds its own, once you get through the pastry.  It is very smooth and the thickness of the custards with the lightness of the filo pastry is an interesting combination that works very successfully.  That is probably why it is such a popular and favourite Greek pastry.

Finally, the 'Hellenic Mess' was exactly that, served in a shallow bowl, the rose water meringue was crumbled in the bowl with vanilla crema, strawberry ouzo sauce and orange blossom jelly.  The jelly was extremely clear cut into perfect one-inch cubes.  We all agreed that the jelly tasted like incense!  It had a very flowery taste but once again the combination worked and provided that perfect sweet taste to finish off the overall delicious lunch.

If you love Greek food that is rustic and affordable with a friendly, comfortable ambience, Hellenic Republic is definitely a must try.

Until next post, may your taste buds be continually challenged but ultimately satisfied!

not another food blog...

I have been thinking about starting a food blog for a long time.  I often wondered what was holding me back and I guess knowing that the world is saturated with food blogs, I thought who would care about what I had to say.  But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to share with the world my passion and opinion of food.

To state the obvious, this blog is about everything to do with food.  From restaurant reviews to delicious recipes, to helpful tips and ideas.  If there is something that I think is worth sharing, I will blog about it.

So after years in the thinking, this blog is finally into the making.  I hope you will enjoy this food journey with me as I eat my way through the world.