Kouzina - Lunchtime Mezedes

Location: Level 2, Westfield Doncaster, 619 Doncaster Road, Doncaster (also one at Southgate)
Link: www.kouzina.com.au
Cuisine: Greek

The lunchtime menu at Kouzina seems to sport more mezedes (tapas style dishes) than mains, and feeling like a variety of food, we decided to order a few to nibble on.

Mini lamb kebabs with tzatziki and onions

From the 'mezedes from the land' list, we decided on the mini lamb kebabs. I assumed (and would have preferred) that this would be kebabs of threaded with gyros (Greek spit roast lamb). I was rather disappointed when the kebabs were loaded with large chunks of lamb. The meat itself was quite well flavoured and went very nicely when smothered with tzatziki, but was a little on the overcooked side (especially given the thickness of it). The onions gave a good contrasting bite.

Mixed dips with pita bread

From top: eggplant dip, feta cheese, caviar, roasted peppers, tzatziki, olives, feta and capsicum dip

J was craving the caviar dip from our last Greek feast at Stalactites so we ordered the mixed dips as the first of our 'mezedes vegetarian'. We were very surprised at the number of dips that were on the dish - especially at the extras (roasted peppers, feta cheese and olives) that accompanied the dish. The eggplant dip was a little odd tasting, and the feta and capsicum was a little too salty (due to the feta I believe) but the caviar and tzatziki were smooth, creamy and very tasty indeed. I also particularly liked the roasted peppers which were nice and sweet.

Kalamarika - Salt and pepper calamari, ouzo aioli

From the 'mezedes from the sea' list, these were very nicely flavoured, but lacked crunch. The crumbs on the outside were a little soft and tasted like the oil hadn't been properly dripped out before they served them. The lemon and dipping sauce went very well with the salt and pepper already on the crumbs.

Spanakopita - Yufka filo pastry rolls with spinach and feta, served with walnut-pepper coulis

We needed one more dish and I saw this on the 'mezedes vegetarian' list and immediately thought 'Masterchef!' One of our best choices as it came out looking exactly like a miniature version of Alex Lloyd's version on Masterchef. Cutting into it, there was plenty of the spinach and feta inside the spiral shaped pastry. Perfectly crispy on the outside and nicely flavoured on the inside. I want some more now!

~Service and Atmosphere~

We went for lunch on a Thursday and thus it was very quiet - we nearly had the whole restaurant to ourselves. There are some very nice window seats which would look very nice at night. We had one waitress serve us for the entire meal, and she was pretty helpful when we were ordering, and was very friendly. Dishes came out as they were prepared, with most out in a reasonable time, except for the spanakopita (although that was well-worth the wait!).

~Price~

A little pricier than we were expecting to spend (each mezedes was around $8 - $12) but for the experience, it was well worth it.

Overall Impression: 9/10

Kouzina

Location: Level 2, Westfield Doncaster, 619 Doncaster Road, Doncaster
Link: www.kouzina.com.au
Cuisine: Greek

Early Bird Land Mezedes for two
Clockwise from top-left: beef and lamb keftedes, chicken souvlaki, lamb lady fingers, pork souvlaki
Center: loukaniki

This was one of the early bird specials for $30. At first glance there didn't seem to be all that much food there, but once we started eating, we realised that there was more food than we had thought there was!

Beef & lamb keftedes - char grilled Greek style meatballs, tzatziki

These were quite tasty. The meatballs were juicy on the inside, and nice and crispy on the outside. The tzatziki was fresh and tangy.

Chicken souvlaki

The chicken was a little on the dry side, although the sauce it came with was quite nice.

Lamb lady fingers - filo pastry rolls filled with lamb, raisins & feta, yoghurt-sumac sauce

The lamb lady fingers were very interesting and new to me. I quite liked the mix of the savoury lamb and feta, the sweetness of the raisins and the tang of the yoghurt. Unusual combination, but it worked.

Pork souvlaki

Like the chicken, the pork was also a little on the dry side, but the caramelised onions and the sauce that went with it was brilliant.

Loukanika - char grilled spicy Greek sausages, green olive sauce

These were very tasty too - slightly spicy and bursting with flavour on the inside. The sauce was a bit odd, but it also worked well with the sausages.

Kalamaraki

We eyed the table next to us get a serving of this in their degustation, and decided we wanted some too. It turned out not as good as it looked - the crumbs on the outside weren't anywhere near crispy and it was pretty obvious that it hadn't been drained properly of the oil from the deep fryer. Other than that, there was enough flavour.

Overall Impression: 8/10

Jim's Greek Tavern

Location: Collingwood
Genre: Greek
Company: Jeanie

Decor & Atmosphere: It's meant to be authentic greek decor. Little tables, family feel, blue place mats. Very mom and pop type of thing. However, whilst the restaurant itself looked very nice, the atmosphere had a lot to be desired. There is no menu - so you have no idea what there is, or what it costs. The waiters and staff were not nice at all, and attempted to screw you out of as much money as possible by 'suggesting' food that are typically given as side dishes (like a 'SALAD WITH YOUR MEAL'), but in actual fact they sell them as separate dishes. They were not happy that i dared ask if they could serve my food onion-free, and attempted to make me feel guilty when asking for chips because "we have to hand slice them if we do that"...when it turns out that they HAND SLICE THEM ANYWAY (which we found out because the waiter was sucking up to a big family in the table behind us). By the way, don't expect 2 out of 3 of the waiters to understand much english.

The Food: 5/10
I ordered the snapper (with salad) and jeanie ordered lamb. The snapper was nice, but a little dry. The salad contained nothing but lettuce, rocket, and ONION. Jeanie's lamb was very salty, and a bit overcooked. Not what we expected at all from the rave reviews we read in the Good Food Guide.

The Price: Excessive
$30 for the snapper, $10 for the salad, and $25 for the lamb. Utter rip off. What got me was that they charged me for the salad, which they offered with my meal, without telling me that it would cost money. Quite frankly, it was overpriced, and the food wasn't even that good quality.

Fructose Friendliness: Not friendly at all. They didn't seem to understand how not to put an onion into a meal, when specifically told NO ONION. I was sick for 2 days afterward.

Overall Impression: 1/10
If i am going to order a meal, at least give it to me the way i asked. I said i had an allergy, and they not only didn't listen, they did not care. Quite frankly, i don't care if they are 'the oldest greek restauarant in Melbourne', their customer service was absolutely pathetic and there is no way in the depths of Hell that i would ever deign to eat there again, let alone recommend it to my friends.