Greek on Cav Restaurant

Greek on Cav Restaurant

Post
Subscribe

Posted 2013-10-23 by Jenn Jayfollow
With over 100,000 honey puffs consumed at Brisbane's Paniyiri Festival over one week-end, it seems Brisbane-ites harbour an annual love affair with the Greek delicacy.

Now there's no need to wait for the once a year Greek Festival for your fix of those delicious Greek delicacies. Greek on Cav in Coorparoo, are serving (six days a week) the best tasting honey puffs (loukoumades) to be found in Brisbane. Only one month after opening, their honey puffs were awarded Urban List's best Dessert for 2013.


Greek on Cav is not just about the honey puffs, though. This south-side Greek taverna, which opened in June 2013, has quickly acquired a reputation for good quality, affordable Greek food in a fun and relaxing atmosphere.



Owner Mary Lean Kalatzis, talks openly about the love, care and attention to detail she has poured into her restaurant. So what is the secret behind her success? Why choose Greek and why Coorparoo?

At the end of Mary's 17 year catering contract at the Carina Leagues Club she decided it was time to follow a childhood fantasy held as a young girl growing up in the small town of Mytilini, on the Greek Island of Lesvos. "I always dreamed of owning a little Greek restaurant," Mary says. "After so many years living in the Camp Hill and Holland Park area, I knew if I ever left Carina, I wanted to open a business around here."

When local Asian Restaurant Sing's re-located to larger premises, Mary had the perfect location - Coorparoo's popular shopping and restaurant precinct - to create her very own slice of Greece. As the majority of Brsibane's Greek restaurants are located in and around West End, Mary's choice of Coorparoo was also a strategic one, even though she said it was for the sense of "community."

Not wanting "just another Greek taverna," Mary invested much planning into the design of the place, with the help of long time friend and popular Brisbane interior designer, James Robertson. They came up with a "warm, inviting and very Mediterranean interior design."

Her three chefs from the Carina Leagues Club, Darren, Brendan and Costa, whom Mary considers "family" (Costa is a brother), joined Mary's venture. Together they experimented with "possible" Greek recipes for six months before the official opening. They searched the internet for food ideas and visited some renowned Greek restaurants in Melbourne for menu inspiration.

Mary created a unique menu, different from what other Greek restaurants were offering. "I wanted to add some modern-ness in the mains, like the sour cherry sauce with the roast lamb and the egg and lemon sauce with the pork," she says. "We found items that looked interesting and then we moulded them into our own version."



To perfect their honey puffs, Mary and her team of chefs played with the recipe for two months until they felt they were "just right". When Mary's 76 year old mother (Dena) tried their honey puffs for the first time, "she had tears in her eyes, exclaiming these are better than mine."



Mary said customers also rave about their baklava ice-cream, so I had to try this on my next visit. Knowing how much I love their award winning honey puffs though, my fellow diner and I opted to share the combination. I have to agree with another diner's comment, " these two desserts are a match made in heaven."



Greek on Cav, offers a relaxed atmosphere, engaging wait staff and a variety of delicious and different plates to share. A word of warning though: try not to fill up on the befores, because to not "do" dessert would be an injustice.

Especially as you don't need to wait 364 days.





Facts:
Greek on Cav is BYO and open for dine-in and takeaway meals six nights: Tuesday to Friday 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Wednesday - Sunday open for lunch from 12:00pm.

#brisbane_city
#coorparoo
#restaurants
%wnbrisbane
150571 - 2023-06-14 04:24:29

Tags

Free
Outdoor
Festivals
Music
Markets
Nightlife
Fundraisers
Family_friendly
Community
Arts_culture
Food_drink
Educational
Shopping_markets
Theatre_shows
Holiday
Copyright 2022 OatLabs ABN 18113479226