With Greek being well established in Australia as a cuisine, places are going to have to do well when they pop up to distinguish themselves from the long-running classics. Zeus had one thing in mind, and that was to make it a grand opening. From having a dip into there, what can be said is that they have definitely tried. With a collaboration between the heads behind Pony Dining, and the Crust pizza chain, the reception of them should say good things; I can't speak having not been to either place yet.
As usual, I was having a usual catch up and meeting with my friend near the cinema. One day that he proposed, I happened to be working nearby and he suggested the usual arrangements - lunch and a movie - which boded well with me. After my shift ended, it was here as quick as I could make it. First, as always, it was to arrange lunch.
He was feeling like something more cheap than usual, and I had a few possibilities in mind. After showing him a couple of them, it was this one (the first one that I showed him) which tickled his fancy the most. This is one of the more recent (as of reviewing) additions to South Bank's dining precinct, so it naturally has a bit of hype going for it for now. It also does delivery, as you can see the bike when walking in from one of the entrances.
This is one of the few places along the stretch of restaurants (bar those lucky to be on a corner or curve) in which their is an entrance from both Grey and Little Stanley streets. Great use is made of the space, with half of it being the counter and kitchen; looking inside, you can see the big bits of meat being cooked slowly, creating an appetising appearance and filling the restaurant with a distinct smokiness. It has that distinct style of interior often associated with Greek architecture. At the back, there is a station for hygiene, getting your water and all of the condiments needed (the table we chose happened to be right next to it). The internal seating has one long, continuous booth. Go out the back (Little Stanley side), and there are a lot of al fresco tables. It at least has the atmosphere down pat.
Service is basically the same as usual to what is expected. They have counter service, where you order your meals (preferably in one go), pay, then find a seat. It is friendly, and is overall a casual affair. Nothing out of the ordinary to be stated, but for fairness they knew how to space out an order I had - dessert was on the agenda from the forefront.
The selection of the menu at Zeus is kept very simple. Mainly, it is a selection of different pita wraps, salads and barbecued meats with a few other extras. Each wrap comes on a bread board which is just big enough to fit it. That's about it, plus a whole lot of wines and beers for beverages. One last thing with the menu, most of the pitas have a code name for them, usually going for something Greek themed such as a God.
The wrap that I got was their soft shell crab. It was lightly crumbed and served with an Aegean slaw, drizzled with a preserved lemon mayonnaise, and a sweet chili sauce, plus served with caramalised onion, and sprinkled off with coriander. Soft shell crab has never disappointed me beforehand, and that continued to be the case here. Looks can be deceiving, as the wraps don't look awfully big at first, but they are filled almost to the brim with their ingredients. The crab, as per usual, was delicious, soft and very sweet - it is just heavenly on the palate. Adding onto that was fresh coleslaw, making a good crunch with the seafood and infusing well with the coriander, the chill and mayonnaise. Rounding off the balanced tastes was the sweetness of the well cooked onions. As a wrap, it is pretty solid and rare to find a good quality seafood one for such a price. One last aspect about it to address is that I found it odd that they didn't give this one a code name; Poseidon would have been the perfect name for it. Ah well, just gripes.
On the side, I got an order of their spankaopita - this is a favourite from my childhood. The classic spinach and feta pie encased in buttery, flaky pastry is pretty hard to pass up. Upon trying it again after a few years, it still holds up. It was fresh, tasty, filled to the brim with spinach and the pastry was simply fantastic. Something simple which adds up so much in relativity.
My friend decided to go "Nude", and ordered the chicken with some pita. There was a lot of it, and maybe a bit too much for him, so he offered me to nick some; it was tender, delicious and moist - done really well from the slow-cooking over the charcoal for so long.
To finish off the meal, I had decided to order some of their "Loukoumades". Put it this way, when it come to selling me a dessert, one of the buzzwords which gets me immediately is "doughnuts". That was the case here with the Loukoumades - they came in either the original, honey-based variety or a chocolate one. I chose the former, which as well as having honey was also dusted in cinnamon and sprinkled with walnuts. Again, these were also quite good. There was about six or eight of them, and they were round little balls, hot and fresh from the fryer thus soaking up the sweet honey really well. The walnuts sprinkled around them were needed to cut the down and offset sweetness a bit. What a great way to finish off, pity there was no coffee to accompany dessert.
Look here, the food is decent enough. Compared to competition that is near by - and I am talking about only Greek cuisine here - a few glaring problems do appear against it. Portion sizes are a bit on the modest side, and not the absolute best if you have an empty stomach. Overall, I would say that it is decent enough as an entry and it has a few aesthetic charms. Hopefully, with the effort they are putting in it gets enough of a following over the years. It will need some luck with West End just down the road; the family focus they have is a good advantage so far.
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