Greek Feast {Mesa Greek Cuisine Review}

I first heard about Mesa Greek Cuisine from a fella I used to work with. "The best Greek food outside of my mother's kitchen" were his exact words.
Big words.
Being an honorary Greek, I made a mental note to go there. Fast forward a few months and it popped up as Urbanspoon's weekly special,* so off we went.

It was a frosty old Melbourne night so the heaters were welcomed . The restaurant is very pretty with a nice balance of old world charm and modern touches.

We started with some Saganaki. It's cheese and it's fried. I'm not sure there are many more perfect foods in the world.

This was served perfectly crisp, bubbling hot, and with a small loaf of their delicious, chewy-on-the-inside-crispy-on-the-outside house-baked bread. When the waiter offered us more bread we had to be restrained and say no because we knew we were in for a feast.

Lamb Gyros

I can hear you saying "Really? You went to a restaurant and effectively ordered a kebab on a plate!?!" But guys, this is my benchmark food. For me it is the perfect dish; salty charcoaled lamb, a side of potatoes and tzatziki. Mesa hit the mark. Nicely salty tender meat with crunchy charcoaled edges, lemon baked potatoes and creamy moreish tzatziki.

The Bookworm ordered Ouzo Saganaki- Tasanian scallops and prawns cooked in a tomato and capsicum sauce with a splash of ouzo.

I need to remind you at this point that we had booked a 50% off deal. The kitchen knew we were paying not much for these dishes, yet this bowl contained four scallops and four enormous king prawns. I generally understand if a place skimps on a special deal but am particularly impressed when they don't. This time we said yes to the offer of more bread to mop up all that gorgeous sauce.

Horiatiki Salad

Topped with a delicious herby dressing and yup, a huge chunk of fetta.

Loukoumades for desssert

This is my other benchmark food. They are essentially doughnut holes topped with honey syrup and nuts. It doesn't sound like a complicated thing but there are plenty of examples of dense, gluggy, almost inedible loukoumades out there. These were light and fluffy, perfectly crunchy and elicited many happy noises (mostly from me).

We were delighted with our meal at Mesa Greek Cuisine and will definitely return. The service was excellent- attentive and friendly. It would be perfect for larger gatherings or family dinners too and has a range of options for vegetarians.

*If you aren't already on the mailing list for Urbanspoon you may want to sign up. Each week a local restaurant runs a special where, if you book for within a specified time period you get 50% off your food bill.