March 18, 2012

Xanthi, Sydney CBD

The funny thing that I discovered about Xanthi is that you can have a completely different dining experience from your friends despite the fact that you are all sitting at the same table.

My experience was one of dining in a nice restaurant with a view of the open kitchen and other patrons. Every now and then, I could see flames shooting up from the pans while the chefs cooked in the background and admired the fabric draped from the ceiling which created a Moroccan tent atmosphere.

On the other hand, being seated opposite me meant that the view of my friends consisted of the glass windows of Westfield and the grey buildings across the road. No other patrons in their line of sight (because we were at table closest to the window) and no draped ceilings. When they told me that they didn’t feel like they were in a restaurant, I turned around to check out their view and had to concede their point.

In the spirit of Greek dining, we ordered a bunch of dishes to share and left feeling absolutely stuffed. The service was very attentive and could not be flawed.

Vine dolmathes ($9.00)

Complimentary bread

Greek slaw salad

Fried School Prawns ($9.00)

Tossed in a honey, fish sauce, sesame seed and flaked almond dressing

You have to be careful when eating fried school prawns because the sharp bits will jab you in the mouth. Remember – chew slowly!

Seafood Saganaki ($35.00)

Prawns, mussels and calamari cooked in a fish tomato coriander sauce. Served with a currant and pistachio pilaf and melted kasseri cheese

Lamb skaras ($30.50)

Perama’s famous slow braised shoulder lean lamb with paprika, olive oil, garlic, then barbecued with a lemon, olive oil baste and served with baked oregano lemon potatoes and string beans

Caramel Baklava ice cream ($13.50)

Sliced layers of vanilla bean ice cream, caramel sauce and baklava

Choc nut kataifi roll ($14)

Choc and hazelnut filling wrapped in crisp kataifi pastry drizzled in spiced syrup and clotted cream

Out of these two desserts, the caramel baklava ice cream was definitely the winner. We found the choc nut kataifi roll to be dry with a dense filling that was extremely heavy on the nuts without enough moisture. It was a bit hard to swallow and we left most of this dessert untouched.

All in all, it was a pleasant meal but nothing had the wow-factor for me.