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.