Ouzeri

Love this place been here 3 times now love the food always a good night out and always leave the table with a full belly, the dips and bread are great I thought the meat and potatoes were amazing 🥰🥰🥰

TL;DR: While it is not the best Greek restaurant by a country mile, Ouzeri does make up for it quite a lot by having a fine look and atmosphere to it. Not many places are as dolled up as well as here, from the big wine bar in the middle of it all, to the way that each table is presented nicely for any potential patrons to walk through the door, down to how they plate up some of the food. Preferences will always lie in the opinions and critiques, and in saying that giving an objective view about here there is certainly a good case for why it is so well liked. How it is centralised does good business for it, the customer service - while this time around might have needed a bit more energy - has likely contributed to the long run, and having to walk through in on this side of the street might be the best trick they have pulled out of the hat.

Right at the heart of one of the most vibrant, and diverse range of eateries that could ever be found almost anywhere in Brisbane, Ouzeri straddles the rounded corner between the main road and one of the lesser known side roads in West End. This puts it right at the center of the culture, and being behind the famous lizard statue would also do wonders for it. Until now, I can't believe this has gone unmolested on my list - but that was to end one of these days. The whole presentation of the restaurant is only the first draw card - having a vibrant atmosphere and a lot of good food only gives it a better recommendation.

Just out of the blue, I had realised that it had been a long while since I had gone onto the website Dimmi to book in a meal. What really aroused the idea was getting an email through for half-price for a couple of places around town, specifically at this place. With a couple of weeks already booked ahead, and to give it some lee-way I went ahead as a small surprise and booked a lunch for two on a Sunday. Also, it is good for something a bit different - all need that occasionally. Purely upon a bit of impulse and taking an opportunity, off it was to what once was a fairly common outing - proved why it was so as well, getting all good quality places within an achievable price range.

While it is noticeably younger than many of the established favourites in town, Ouzeri has been around long enough to feather their own nest as well as learning many of the characteristic aspects that have helped give such longevity on their part. That is a combination of being the place you can easily waltz into with a crew for a table, being the place that would have people want to do that, an extensive menu of all sorts of mouth watering options, and essentially coming across as the sort of place one would want to go to during the mid-week. That is a difficult combination to pull off, but when they do it you know full well they did it.

What really sets this place apart is you don't walk past it if on the right side of the street. Instead, you walk through it; and this adds even more to the communal image that it is going for. Using the colours of the Greek flag, it effectively has a calming aesthetic that contrasts well having the paintings of the Greek shore on the wall. Each table, big or small, is set up wonderfully in advance - knowing full well that they can get some good money at any time - complete with the wine glasses, the cutlery and everything. The lot of greenery between the sidewalk and the curb adds some freshness to the atmosphere, and the open bar all ties this place together as the place you would want to be. So definite credit goes to design, something that often is not all there in West End.

If this were grading like a report card, the service would possibly be straddling itself between a B+ and an A-. The service had a lot of competence to it, and they definitely had learned the customer presence - though here and there, checking up on the meals and possibly getting the waters a bit more would lift the game a bit more. As it is always mentioned, the little things accumulate up over the course of the meal. That is not to wholly dismiss their effort either. When it was asked to have all the food brought out roughly the same time, that was done pretty well. They did clear the tables in an efficient manner, and they were doing quite well with timing up all the fare getting delivered. However, it is hard to not have reservations when there has been multiple examples with much fuller restaurants (some filled to the brim) perform to a higher level. This was almost a bit too relaxed with full honesty.  

Well, don't we have a bit of a treat with the menu. This is one huge sucker. As much as this place comes across as Greek - and that certainly is the brunt of it - the menu essentially is Mediterranean in spirit. Among lots of Greek delights, they also have a small section for pasta, and a few of the breads they start out with hail from old Italy. Getting back to it, following the breads section is the small range of dips they have possibly as a compliment to one another.

After all that, they go onto the mezes. Depending on which one is being ordered, it can be upgraded to either an entree or a main, and they have all manner of mezes here up to souvlakis and kebabs plus seafood pops it head up here.

Getting onto the mains, there is a quite the variety to chose from. They have a whole lot of lamb, some beef, plenty of seafood, and a bit of chicken for good measure. These often come with a bit of something on the side, and they can be spruced up even more with the sides options. Vegetarians haven't been forgotten either - never fret about that. But if it really is too much hard work picking out what to get, that is essentially what their platters are for - and the best thing about them is that the minimum number of clients for them is two.

That is only about the food though. When it comes to the beverages, the range that they got here is pretty generous. From all around the country and the world, they have a selection of wines, plus cocktails, and spirits, ciders, beers, and all the general cold beverages for the non-drinkers: juices, sodas, milkshakes et al. Last and certainly not least for them all are the teas and coffees. You can bet from there that several desserts - some simple biscuits and cakes, others more elaborate - can round the whole meal off.

Starting off the lunch, a few bits and pieces were gotten to whet the appetite. The dining buddy went ahead and got some haloumi, dolamdies, spanakopita, and calamari as beginning mezes. Each was pretty good, the haloumi was delicious as always, the dolmadie was also good with its strong vinegar flavour, the spanakopita proved to be a treat especially with buttery pastry and a solid spinach filling, plus the calamari was perfect - the right seasoning, the right texture that was smooth, and pipping hot.

Getting onto the mains, my dining buddy went with the usual mousakka - being a massive fan of it for years, and with me it was in a few ways the general maxim of there being so many to chose form. That was, for the most part. When something on the menu stands out as different to what can either be cooked at home, or is often available on most menus - that is when I go in for the strike. Especially so since it was half price, it was hard not to opt for the quail and haloumi stack. This had a default side of Greek salad, some lemon potatoes, and I requested some fries on the side.

All of this was delicious, and solid. Starting off with the fries, this is usually a good indication for the general level of quality in a place. They are easy enough to present, quite easy to go wrong, and therefore the attention to detail can be readily apparent. Well, breath easy because this is how you do them. It was to the texture both inside and out, a nice seasoning covering them, and that they are pipping hot straight from the fryer - good, fresh, high-heat oil does a universe of difference.

The big meals were both very tasty, and had an aesthetically-pleasing presence on the plate. The quail was tender, and had some crispy skin, and there is not any such thing as too much haloumi. Solid, soft and flavoursome - those lemon potatoes are like something that you would want to know how to cook at home. When that happens, you know they have done well. Coming through to the mousakka - always a great treat. The hot meat sauce, the soft potatoes that absorb that and the bechamel sauce, and creamy eggplant to blend into it all. Like the Greek version of lasagne, just all around a good, warming meal that is tasty and comforting. As for the Greek salad on the side, it is more or less salad. Some of the components have a good strong taste like olives and feta - for me, I am always one to take or leave a salad.

If there is one thing that I can somehow weasel into a place if they have it, it is coffee. And the whole "when in Rome" mentality came in, making me for the Greek coffee. After the substantial amount of food, a sweet wasn't quite on the agenda though at the same time I reckoned it needed a small something on the side. Enter the trusty Turkish delight.

As per the norm, this ended up being an effective way to finish off the meal. The size of the Greek coffee is possibly smaller than a doll's tea party cup, yet the sheer strength of brew will put hairs on your chest. This sucker cannot be drunk in a single go, and that is not just because of how strong the coffee is either. There is a bit of sediment in it, and the flavour is one that is hard to describe. A combination of high heat, bitterness, and a soothing texture maketh one delicious cup of coffee. As for the Turkish delight, it is certainly sweet but just the right amount for those lacking the sweet tooth; it is juicy, slightly fruity in flavour, and the icing sugar is a good compliment to the jelly-like texture.

I'll put it this way first of all, somehow I had not managed to come here until now after all these years of Ouzeri being right on West End's main street. For a few reasons, that it had been consistently up the top as one of the finer places in the area, that it was Greek food (and this is the Greek part of town if anything), and working not that far from it for a while - the thought had been in my head on the odd occasion as well. Many places in this stretch go for a quick pace, and this compliments it a lot by giving a more relaxed vibe in looking at the world go by.

Secondly, on a whole the dining experience was quite a good one. Most of the aspects needed for a memorable meal out were present, some to good extents and others to extents that still showed quality but weren't quite at that "it" level yet. The aesthetics are lovely and will remind many patrons of the wonderful architecture on the Greek coast, plus it looks great from walking along the main street. While the portions are possibly a bit on the small side for some people (I always could eat a little more), the quality and presentation are certainly there and should get some good points, and by the looks of the sharing platters they definitely would go down a treat.

Overall, I did like this place and it was definitely worthwhile coming here after all this time. My heart is still solidly elsewhere when thinking definitively about Greek fare in town, but in putting that aside the crew here definitely contribute to yet another fine eatery in West End that lets both quality and affordability meet in the middle, and gets the whole social aspect with dining out quite effectively. To all the effort that it has managed to put into these years, the reasons are definitely apparent for why Ouzeri is still standing. For all of that, it has earned it.

Came here on Friday night to celebrate my friend's birthday. There were 12 of us and the restaurant was packed, so I kinda tolerated the slow service.

Ordered Ouzeri Platter, Seafood Platter, and Vegetarian Platter. The seafood platter was my favourite. Filled with white fish, calamari rings, scallops along with a very tasty, pink-coloured dip. I did not like the deep fried anchovy, but most of my friends enjoyed it.

Was definitely a good opportunity to come to Ouzeri together with my friends. I may come back here again to try the a la carte menu.

Made a reservation on a Sunday night for Monday dinner via their website, and was pleasantly surprised to hear a return phone call shortly after to confirm the booking.
For entrees we shared the dolmades, which were alright however a bit too soft. For mains, we had the grilled lamb souvlaki and fettuccine ouzeri. The lamb was a little dry and tough, and my partner made a comment how it was a little impractical to try and wrap the meat, potato and salad altogether in the small triangles of pita bread given. The fettuccine was deliciously creamy and there was a good mix of nicely cooked seafood.
Most dishes came out with a side Greek's salad, which was average.
Service was friendly and attentive. Prices were a little on the pricey end for the quantity and quality.
Overall, a safe Greek restaurant but nothing amazing.

I highly recommend this greek restaurent, big and generous portions are offered , you can feel the greek ambiance bt sitting in a relaxing greek setting plus the shubby waiter is so funny and helpful.