Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Lefkas Taverna

Lefkas Taverna
170 Hardgrave Road, West End



Living in Toowoomba has made me very deprived of Greek food. When my good mate Howl came back to Brisbane, I snagged him for a dinner appointment and decided against many other fancy, blogable places and chose Lefkas instead.



Lefkas Taverna is one of those restaurants I've always wanted to try while I was in Brisbane but never did. Though I used to dine at West End almost on a weekly basis, it's located in what I know as the 'Other Part' of West End. I rarely drive past it. I think it happened once, on the way to Caravenserai, and I remember thinking 'oh, so THAT'S Lefkas... it looks so packed!'


Indeed, when we arrived on this occasion, it was a weeknight with drizzly, miserable weather and by the time we started eating, the restaurant was full. It gets points for popularity.

There is a takeaway section to the restaurant as well as tables for dining there. We were seated in the back of their second room.


After perusing the menu, Howl and I decided to share a combination platter for 2. I also ordered a coffee and he, a soft drink. I didn't bother photographing the soft drink ;).

Coffee (possibly flat white)

The coffee (can't remember what I got; normally, I order latte but that is definitely not a latte glass so I'm guessing FW?) was intense, in a good way. I don't know if it was just the environment or if they actually do something different to the coffee but it tasted like Turkish (or, sorry, 'Greek') coffee. I know it would make sense if it was but there was also Greek coffee on the menu and I didn't order that so my coffee was supposed to be regular.

Combination hot platter for 2

The combination platter was huge. I stared working my way through with the souvlakia. The lamb and chicken were nice, though a bit cool in temperature and not too outstanding in terms of flavor. I loved the haloumi, didn't mind the octopus and hated the calamari. I also would have preferred the pita bread to be a bit crispier.

Howl was too full for dessert but with my persuasive skills (and cries of 'but I can't blog this if we just order one dish!'), we both chose a dessert item each.

Kataifi - shredded wheat filled with crushed nuts

I got the kataifi pastry filled with crushed nuts. The pastry was different to what I expected. I've had kataifi before and it was crispy. This was sort of... soggy. I wasn't a huge fan.

Galaktoboureko - filo pastry with semolina

Howl chose the galaktoboureko based on my recommendations. It's a semolina dessert layered with filo pastry. The semolina part reminds me of custard. I thought this was nicer than mine but both would have been massively improved with a simple dollop of vanilla ice-cream on the side.

Honestly, I wasn't overly impressed by the food at Lefkas. Service was good and the atmosphere was buzzing. I feel like I'm missing something because everyone seems to be in love with this place. To me, it was overpriced and I've had better Greek food at many other locations.

2 comments:

  1. Lefka's is better utilised for the takeaway in the hot warmers at the register. Super cheap and instant takeaway greek food!

    It looks like they've had a reno though, not sure if they still have this.

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  2. Hi SkekTek...

    The takeaway section is definitely still there! I did notice that the items were much cheaper than dine-in options. Thanks for the tip!

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