Civic Hotel, CBD Sydney (25 Nov 2016)

388 Pitt St, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.universalhotels.com.au/civic-hotel/
https://www.instagram.com/civichotelsydney/

Tasty eats to share

In need of a casual post work drink and eat with the Mrs we headed to Civic Hotel. Gin & Tonic ($7.50) for me uses Beefeater gin as their house stock and the house Sauvignon Blanc ($8) is from Stonefish. Dip Board ($22) comes with a nice selection of tarama, tzatziki, eggplant dip, warmed olives, marinated feta, dolmades, served with toasted pita bread. It's a good sharing board. A generous serve of nice soft pita bread although a bit more would have helped to finish the plentiful amount of dips. The eggplant dip had a pleasant smokiness. Olives were decent in size and tasty. I like it when they're served warm. Dolmades were good. I probably would have preferred some halloumi instead of the feta though as I found the feta a little awkward to eat due to being a little crumbly. Bar service was friendly and efficient and the place had a happening casual vibe.

Xanthi Restaurant & Bar: Greek, Westfield Sydney CBD (25 Oct 2011)

Level 6 Dining Precinct, Westfield Sydney
Cnr Pitt St Mall and Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9232 8535
http://xanthi.com.au

Sharing the spirit of ouzo

It was probably a brave move by Chef Owner David Tsirekas to close his successful and much-loved Perama restaurant in Petersham to start Xanthi in the dining precinct in Westfield Sydney but it seems Petersham’s loss is a successful gain to the CBD. There’s lots of tempting choices on the Ouzomezedakia menu (small sharing plates) which were reasonably price. If you order a 200ml bottle of ouza you’ll get 3 ouzomezedakia chosen by the chef to match making it quite a bargain. I first ordered the cheapest ouza of Barbayianni Green ($34, 200ml) to see what the kitchen would include and then ordered more dishes after. BBQ Haloumi, BBQ smoked lamb cutlets and Sheftalies were provided to match the ouza. Nicely cooked haloumi was tender flavoursome lamb cutlets were a treat I’d happily order again.

Our friendly and informative waiter Spyros recommended the Herbed skordalia croquettes ($7.50) which we thought were quite light on flavour but we preferred the Fried School prawns ($9) which were crispy and flavoursome and tossed in a honey making them slightly sweet. I still prefer the ones at District Dining, maybe because they’re kept more savoury than sweet. We found the Zucchini fritters ($8) a little disappointing. Not as fresh tasting and crispy as hoped and perhaps a bit cluggy inside but the Vine Dolmades ($9) were flavoursome and moist. We then had a particularly long wait of over 25 minutes for the Fried Calamari ($9) due to a busy kitchen we were told after asking about our order. It had nice flavours with a light batter I prefer but not as tender as hoped. I’d probably order it again though in the hope it would be more tender next time.

Due to the lateness of the calamari dish our waiter kindly offered us a glass of Samos Nectar dessert wine to try which was very nice and not overly sweet which went well with the Caramel Baklava ice cream ($13.50). Overall it was a nice meal which only came to $99 for four people which we thought was good value for the quality of dishes received and included a bottle of ouzo easy enough to share. I’d probably opt for a table in the middle next time as I found the booth seating a bit too squashed for leg room, especially when sharing with three other guys. Hopefully the kitchen can turnaround the dishes quickly under busy times so the restaurant can be a suitable lunch option for those with only limited time.

Other visits to Xanthi:
• 12 Apr 2012 – Lunchtime Express Menu $30
• 25 Oct 2011 – Ouzomezedakia

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Flavoursome dishes, Quality ingredients, 3 complimentary dishes come with 200ml ouzo, Reasonably priced if you can share with a small group

CONS: Booth seating was a little hard to sit on and slightly cramped, Toilets are located outside the restaurant

MUST TRY: BBQ Haloumi, BBQ smoked lamb cutlets

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Ouzo Barbayianni Green ($34, 200ml) includes 3 ouzomezedakia to match selected by the chef

Ouzo goes milky when you add ice — apparently if you want to dilute ouzo you should just add water according to About.com

Ouzo trolley and menu

BBQ Haloumi: Locally produced Cypriot style haloumi cheese ($10, included as dish 1 with Ouzo)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Sheftalies: BBQ Cypriot style spiced pork meatballs wrapped in caul fat ($11, included as dish 2 with Ouzo)

BBQ smoked lamb cutlets - BBQ smoked and cured spiced cutlets ($12, included as dish 3 with Ouzo)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Herbed skordalia croquettes: Creamy mint, dill and celery leaf skordalia crumbed in polenta and breadcrumbs ($7.50)

Loukanika: BBQ sliced Northern Greece village style loukanika ($9)

Fried School Prawns: Tossed in a honey, fish sauce, sesame seed and flaked almond dressing ($9)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Zucchini fritters: A mixture of shredded zucchini and haloumi with dill, mint and parsley ($8)

Vine Dolmades ($9)

Fried Calamari ($9)

Caramel Baklava ice cream: Sliced layers of vanilla bean ice cream, caramel sauce and baklava ($13.50)

Samos Nectar complimentary glasses due to lateness of dishes

WORTH TRYING :-)

Dessert wine menu

Menus

Seating

Booth seating actually quite awkward and a bit uncomfortable for four people. Seating was quite stiff and felt squashed in.

Athena inscribed on the knife

Tiny forks

Lamb in the kitchen

Outside seating

Bill $99 for four people - good value for quality of dishes

Outside entrance with window into kitchen


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