Florina’s Greek Tavern

With the biggest Greek community outside of Greece, Melbourne definitely has its fair share of Greek Taverns. Located in the heart of Glenferrie Road in Malvern, Florina’s Greek Tavern makes you feel as though you have stepped foot in an idyllic oasis.

Its décor is rustic; prints of Greek islands adorn the restaurant walls; tables are furnished with crisp white tablecloths and white plates - the kind that are thrown at Greek weddings.

In order to sample the many traditional items on the menu including dolmades and saganaki, it is best to opt for the special set menu ($39 per person) that will leave you far from hungry. All four courses are great to share between a minimum of two people or even for a large party.

Course one – prepare yourself to taste a selection of mixed dips including taramasalata (the exceptional caviar dip), saganaki (fried Kefalograviera cheese), dolmades (marinated vine leaves stuffed with rice) and whitebait (tiny fish in light batter) all served with crisp hot bread.

Take a five minute break and the waitresses are already bringing course number two – seafood. At what looks like curly fries, the calamari strips are lightly battered and served together with a platter of grilled blue eye fish and chargrilled barbeque prawns which are definitely mouth-watering. A bowl of Greek salad with its specialty ingredient of salty feta cheese was sublime.

And if all that wasn’t enough, the third course was especially dedicated to all the meat lovers. The chef’s selection of chargrilled meats including beef rissoles, tender lamb skewers and succulent chicken was served with roast potatoes that were cooked to perfection in the oven, in a tomato and eggplant-based sauce.

For dessert (the final course), homemade Baklava (chopped nuts on filo pastry) and Bougatsa (a warm custard cake with filo pastry) accompanied the mud-like Greek coffee. What a way to finish off a traditional Greek feast than to burn off all those calories by dancing the Zorba!

Review by Monica