Eros Cafe

Eros Cafe
76 Boundary Street, West End



Today, my plan was to get food at West End, see Harry Potter at Southbank and purchase some art supplies from the city. Well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad... Harry missed out because I couldn't figure out how to prebook tickets on my phone and we knew we didn't have a good chance of getting a seat otherwise.



As for food, I did my usual will-bending to persuade Hien out of going to a restaurant he was really in the mood for (today it was Kafe Meze) just because I'd already blogged it. I noticed Eros which seemed to also do Mediterranean food (Turkish rather than Greek) so it was a nice compromise.


Eros used to be Ara Beeka which I LOVED and was sad to see it disappear. However, I now suspect it was just a revamp because my old favorite Turkish sweets are still there... they just have more focus on the savory menu.


We were attracted by the big sandwich board on the street showing photos of big plates with lots of food... and that's pretty much what the menu at Eros is like.

Mocha

I chose the falafel plate. Hien went for the lamb, chip and garlic plate. I requested a lady finger too (just so I could compare to Ara Beeka) and he got himself a mocha.

Lady finger

A lady finger is well, a finger-shaped baklava. I adore baklava, even when it's 'bad' (i.e. too syrupy and a bit stale). This one was top notch... crunchy, nutty, a hint of rosewater and not too sweet.

Falafel plate

I don't know why I keep choosing falafel at Turkish restaurants. I've had so many recent 'misses' that I should have learnt my lesson. These ones looked promising and I so wanted to like them but they were just too dry.

Inside of falafel

I justified that to myself as 'hmm... it must be healthy then' but honestly, who knows? That aside, the humus was good and I liked the tabouli too (normally not a fan).

Lamb, chip and garlic plate

Hien's lamb plate seemed a bit nicer though I made the mistake of trying some of what I thought was 'dip'. It WASN'T DIP... it was... hmm... best described as pure minced garlic. I'm the kind of person who can't eat garlic bread because the residual 'garlicy-ness' keeps me awake at night. So for me, this was a rude shock. I thought the lamb was lovely though, very tender. Special mention will go to the chips. They were GORGEOUS chips. I rarely see chips so golden, usually they're just pale yellow. And after Hien was mostly done, I picked at his left over chips and even though they had been sitting there for a while, they were still crunchy.

I pressed my fork down on one and the chip made this beautiful crackle.

Our waiter was super nice and though the cafe is small, it's not crammed or anything. I'd definitely go back. Nice food, big servings and affordable prices.