PPP: Little Greek Taverna

I have an awesome story to tell about how we got to this PPP, but that would be revealing too much about one of my friend's alibis hahaha. Anyway, we had a hard day of studying for a work related exam so we decided to pack it in and head to Little Greek Taverna in West End for a quick meal. V., suggested Little Greek Taverna because she has always gotten a good meal from here, the service is good, its always bustling with people too and I had never tried it. The other girls, V., Lu., and L., and guy, my Boyfriend who was dragged along, heartily agreed.

It was not the first choice, Trangs was, and it, like all my other first choices was closed. The curse strikes again! Since none of us are particularly used to driving in West End, I'm a car license-less hobo for those of you not aware, although I do own a car. It was a bit hectic navigating from work to West End, we ended up travelling along the M1, along Vulture Street and to my erratic memory, "that street that goes all the way up to West End past South Bank and Brisbane State High."

I was getting yelled at the entire way because one of the girls at work S, had given me some very fragrant garam masala and fenugreek seeds for a planned butter chicken later on. V., who drive us there, was frantically cranking up her air con powered air freshener to chase out the smell but just succeeded in spreading it around more. To this day, she still grizzles at me about it, like I regularly carry around freshly ground spices.

Minus the thumb and people, this looks a lot like the picture on their website

We spent quite a while chatting before we ordered and I ordered some pita bread and taramasalata for the table, V., ordered a large Greek salad and Lu., got barbecued octopus. Everyone ordered mains besides my Boyfriend who wasn't feeling hungry and just picked at random foods that day.

This is their Greek salad. I'm not sure if V., would've still ordered one if she knew that everything seemed to come with a Greek salad. I didn't particularly like it, the feta was very strange, it was in huge chunks and very thinly sliced. There was also a weird off putting smell with it, like when forget about feta in the fridge and it gets that really gym sock like smell. It tasted very strong. The olives were very good, and the tomatoes were as well. I didn't really care for the peppers though, I think we just threw them off to one side.

Bleh

The pita bread was okay. I remember thinking we should've gone with the bread on the day but for the life of me I can't remember why. I think I was also disappointed with how little we got considering it was extra for the pita bread instead of the complimentary bread. Or maybe that's how it seems when four other people are tearing at your pita bread. It was actually soft and easy to tear considering its golden brown shade.

Taramasalataaaaa

The taramasalata was amazing. Commercially produced taramasalata is a lurid pink concoction of salted fish roe and then some mystifying combination of potato/bread, vinegar and other things I'm not quite sure of. Whatever it is, its tasty. Lu., had it for the first time and once the pita was all gone, happily sat there eating it off her fork for the rest of the meal.

The barbecued octopus was a bit rubbery. That's all I have to say about it. It doesn't look particularly appetising either.

Not a fan.

V., and Lu., got chicken pita wraps which I didn't take a photo of because paper bags aren't particularly attractive. They were picking at their food and they both didn't finish the final third of their meals. I had a nibble of one of the chicken pieces and found it to be bouncy, tender and a good piece of chicken although I didn't particularly like the seasoning used.

I chose garlic prawns, I don't know why since I don't like prawns. I just felt like seafood that day and had no idea why. These prawns were very good though, take one look at them and see. They had that bright pink translucency that perfectly cooked prawns have, they popped nicely in your mouth once bitten, were deliciously juicy and covered in a garlicky sauce. That sauce was overly rich by my standards, very garlicky and buttery in an almost oddly cheesy/creamy sort of fashion. I didn't eat my Greek salad, my Boyfriend ate the vegetables ignoring the feta and the pepper.

Delicious garlic breath

L., chose the feta stuffed field mushrooms. I had a nibble and didn't find them very tasty although L., really enjoyed them. For some reason whenever I see cooked mushrooms that large, I always feel very impressed.

Average

Little Greek Taverna
Atmosphere: 9. I really liked the atmosphere, it was a lovely afternoon. There were large groups everywhere, and we were seated outside in a cool breezy spot. You could tell every other person there was a local who frequented the restaurant all the time from the greetings to other patrons and staff.
Service: 9. Probably the best service I've ever had. The waitress was attentive, friendly, could offer recommendations, got us water instantly, asked about when we wanted our entrees, they went around checking if we were okay 2-3 times during the meal and cleared the table rapidly.
Food: 4. I liked the taramasalata and the garlic prawns and that was it.

I feel like I'm going to get slammed for this review but I liked everything about Little Greek Taverna but the actual food. I've already been hassled at work already when I disagreed with someone's plans to go to Little Greek Taverna, with the person in question stating I was too picky and that they had always had good food there.

I would go here again, but I don't know if I would eat anything.