Fruit

Mesa Greek Cuisine

Fresh Bread with Home-made Dips (tsatziki, melizanosalata, tarama)

The bread was surprisingly outstanding! Crispy on the outside, warm and fluffy on the inside. Perfect with the tasty dips.

★★★★☆

Smyrneika Soutzoukakia

(baked beef rissoles in a fresh tomato saltsa)

★★★☆☆

Gigandes

(lima beans baked with tomatoes, onion herbs)

Hearty and full of flavour.

★★★☆☆

Chicken Wings with Olives and Tomatoes

Delicious fall-off-the-bone chicken.

★★★☆☆

Saganaki

(grilled Dodoni kefalograviera cheese)

★★★★☆

Fried Calamari

★★☆☆☆

Chargrilled Prawns

These were fabulously smoky.

★★★★☆

Fish Of The Day

Soggy and extremely salty.

★☆☆☆☆

Horiatiki Salad

(tomato, cucumber, peppers, feta, olives, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic)

★★☆☆☆

Lamb Cutlets, Gyros, Chicken Skewers

Although the presentation could have been better, the meats were tender and quite tasty.

★★★☆☆

Galaktobouriko (custard in filo pastry), Baklava (filo pastry layered with nuts syrup) and Seasonal Fruit

★★★☆☆

Overall:

Talk about being well fed! As delicious as everything was, we struggled getting through this seven-course banquet and ended up having to take some of it home. We dined with a Groupon voucher so the total was only $55 for 2 people, making this a bargain. The service was prompt and friendly, and the atmosphere warm and inviting.

Mesa Greek Cuisine

265 Johnston St, Abbotsford, VIC

(03) 9419 3388

http://www.mesagreekcuisine.com.au/

Smith and Daughters

Non Alcoholic Cocktails

(No Way Rosé, Coco No Vod-co with Watermelon, Coco No Vod-co with Pineapple, Chill Niño)

Each were deliciously refreshing!

★★★★☆

Nachos Cargados

(slow cooked jackfruit carnitas, chipotle salsa, molten spicy cheddar sauce, pickled jalapeños, guacamole, coriander cream, blue and white corn chips)

Nearly every table around us had a plate of these nachos so we knew straight away that we had to order some. The blue corn chips turned out to be a lot crispier than the regular ones, while the jackfruit carnitas provided a nice meaty texture. This was good for vegan nachos but I couldn’t help but think how much better this could have been with cheese!

★★★☆☆

Quesadilla

(spiced black bean and cheese quesadilla served with chipotle salsa and avocado cream)

Delicious quesadilla served with AMAZING avocado cream!

★★★★☆

Champiñones Al Ajillo

(button mushrooms simmered in a creamy Spanish sauce of Pedro Ximenéz, garlic and smoked paprika, served with toasted bread)

This flavoursome dish was wonderfully rich yet light, making these mushrooms very addictive.

★★★★☆

Dulce De Leche Doughnuts

(Spanish doughnuts filled with dulce de leche cream)

The dulce de leche cream didn’t exactly fill these sugar dusted doughnuts but rather sat on top of them.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

What a fantastic vibe this place has! The dark stone walls, vintage prints and tattooed staff gave this place a definite punk rock feel. Service was friendly and the food pretty tasty considering that everything here is vegan.

Smith and Daughters

175 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, VIC

(03) 9939 3293

http://www.smithanddaughters.com/

Fruit “Cake”

It was my mum’s birthday and as she is quite health conscious, she requested “no birthday cake please!” (Which was very sad because I LOVE birthday cake) So instead I made her this alternative “cake” made entirely out of fruit. No need to feel guilty about having another slice of this birthday “cake”!