the greek on halifax.

Never having been a great fan of Greek food, I walked into The Greek pretty tentatively despite looking at their menu online before.  The only things which used to come to my mind when I thought of Greek food was feta cheese, and I really don't like feta cheese. But I am glad to say that my mind has been changed and I can't wait to try more Greek food.

I actually went to The Greek twice within a few weeks, so I'll be combining both experiences into one.  Both times I shared the entree/s and main course/s with the rest of my friends.  As most people already know, sharing is much better than individually because you get to try out a greater variety.  And also, if you don't like one of the dishes, you can just not eat it.

First Time

The first time I went, we ordered revithopites (patties made of of chickpeas, capsicum and herb)  which came with a yoghurt dipping sauce, krokettes (zucchini and cheese croquettes) and the moussaka.

Krokettes: $15

I didn't try the krokettes as my friend, being vegetarian, wasn't sharing with us.  And it was her only meal, so I would have felt bad taking any of it anyway.

Revithopites: $15

The patties were different to what I had expected.  The chickpeas gave it a slightly grainy texture, which I wasn't too fond of, but the other ingredients mixed well and overall it was an interesting choice.  My friend and I were initially leaning towards the fried calamari or the haloumi cheese, but ended up deciding that we should get something we wouldn't normally order.  The patties were definitely tasty with its deep fried outer crunch and soft, warm inside, but I don't think I would order again.  I'm sure that a lot of people would love this dish, but personally it was a case of "it's not you, it's me."

Moussaka: $28

The moussaka was the highlight of my evening and was on my mind for a whole week.  Layers of eggplant and potato were filled together with a red wine and tomato beef mince, and a Greek white sauce topped the dish.  It also had three pieces of deep fried eggplant in the middle which were uh-may-zing. I think I could eat a hundred (maybe not a hundred...) of those and be satisfied for dinner.  Anyway, the flavour of the moussaka was incredible.  The mince sauce gave a strong tomato flavour while the eggplant and potatoes were firm but soft enough for it to melt in your mouth.  The white sauce was also beautifully creamy.  It was quite a heavy dish (the actual plate of food was heavy too..) and by the time my friend and I had finished with it I almost couldn't move or speak properly.  But it was just so good that I couldn't bear to leave any of it behind.

Second Time

The second time round I went with a few more friends, so we decided to order three entrees, a sharing platter, a salad and the moussaka.  I forgot to take photos of the entrees because we were so hungry, but I'm sure I'll come again!

Olympian Meat Platter: $100

The sharing platter is supposedly for two, but we shared it among five girls and we still had food left over!  Granted we had the salad and the moussaka, but they wouldn't have made much of a difference.  The platter contained lamb yiros, chicken souvlakia, quail, lamb cutlets, loukanika (sausages) and keftedes (meatballs).  It was served on a bed of jasmine rice, and was some of the best rice I've ever had.  That's saying a lot, since I've had my fair share of rice in my lifetime.  It was incredibly flavoursome and though it was a bit hard, it worked well with the rest of the meal.  The meat was also really well-cooked and tender.  My favourite were probably the lamb yiros and the lamb cutlets.  The loukanika were slightly too fatty for my liking, but in small pieces it was alright.

Fakes Salata: $14

The salad consisted of lentils, red onion, beetroot, baby spinach, coriander and feta cheese with a white balsamic dressing. I didn't actually have any of it because of my dislike of feta cheese, but it did get positive comments from the rest of the table.

Overall, I quite like The Greek.  It has pretty generous portions for the main meals, but the entrees are a bit small for the price.  The second time we went, the haloumi cheese entree which we ordered was only four pieces of cheese with three cherry tomatoes and lemon-olive oil drizzled over it.  For $15, I was expecting more than four pieces of cheese especially since they weren't exactly large pieces.  The salad was also very small for $14.  By the time my friends had taken their first servings of the salad, there wasn't a lot left.  Having said that, I admit that the actual food itself is extremely delicious.

Service was also not too bad.  My friends and I were generally left alone when I went for the first time, but the second time was a different story.  We had a waiter who came to our table five times asking us if we wanted to order drinks despite telling him that we were still waiting for another friend, and there was another waiter who kept forgetting to bring back our bottle of water. In general, however, there was a good atmosphere and service was friendly and helpful.