Little Greek Taverna

I’ve never been to Greece. But I’ve lived in West End which, by Brisbane’s standards, is probably the next best thing.

Haloumi hath no other spiritual home in this town; tables draped in blue and white checks no greater number.

Which why I was keen to try the Little Greek Taverna, new kid on an old Grecian block once dominated by local Hellenic icon, Kafe Meze (just down the street).

This newish instalment – it opened last December – doesn’t do Mediterranean to the same extent as its neighbourhood cousins. It does Makedonian instead.

Its interiors are green, its logo is a bright red chilli and for all its welcoming ‘home-cooked’ approach, Little Greek asks you leave the islands behind and head inland, to the north and into cooler, less familiar plains of Greece’s border country.

Here, the fare is traditionally spicier, a little simpler, more robust and ‘warming’ – it’s a little bit Balkan, a little bit Ottoman but still quintessentially Greek; you’ll find tzatziki and souvlaki alongside specialities kolokithakia and piperyes florinas.

It’s a mix that seems to be working. Rarely would I book a table on Tuesday night. On this occasion, I’m glad I did – Little Greek is almost as busy when we arrive at 7pm as when we depart at 9pm, packed with groups of families and couples.

We’re welcomed and promptly seated at our table on the street outside. The night still and muggy, heavy with a storm, so we’re glad to dine alfresco - albeit alongside Boundary Street traffic.

Having stashed our drinks in the fridge (nearby boutique bottle shop Nectar proves fertile grounds for BYO’ers, corkage $2 a head), our friendly waitress guides us through the ample menu over the happy babble of our fellow diners and what I take to be hip Greek pop music.

We’re grateful for her help as we soon realise the extensiveness of the menu is deceptive - many dishes from the list of main meals were unavailable, already devoured by earlier diners or simply not part of the kitchen's plan that night.

Still, there’s plenty to choose from and after some quick revision, we order Yiayia Domna’s (the family's grandmother) 'special cheese bread' ($7) and beef keftedes ($13.50 with salad). Lamb cutlets ($4 each) are also thrown in, together with horiatiko loukaniko, traditional village-style pork sausages ($5).

Wafts of barbequing seafood make chargilled octopus tentacles a must ($15, with or without salad), and finding that their signature lemonates potatoes ($8) are among the unavailable sides, we order a bowl of chips ($5) at the insistence of our waitress (they’re a hit in the kitchen, apparently).

A haloumi pita ($7), the Little Greek’s 'special edition wrap', rounds out our order which we ask to be brought out at the same time as the rest of the dishes, along with some more of our ciders from the fridge.

Unfortunately, Yiayia’s bread, with feta cheese and roasted sweet red peppers, arrives as an entrée, sitting lonely and growing cold before our other dishes arrive haphazardly, one by one.

But the food is delicious and great value for money: spicy, well-balanced and with all the heartiness you’d expect from descendants of hardworking rural folk.

Our octopus is tender, served in chunks and wonderfully smoky, while the meats and cheese are all flavour, no greasy fat.

Happily, the salad has none of the limp, thrown-together thoughtlessness common to many budget Greek eateries, with robust chunks of feta cheese, flavoursome fresh vegetables, herbs and good oil.

We leave satisfied, pondering a trip to Greece - perhaps mooring the yacht for a trek through the northern mountains.

To indulge in that extra helping of haloumi, if nothing else.

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