The third one in the line from the company's brain-child, this one finds itself just a bit shy of the South Bank IMAX and a short distance from the TAFE campus and stations. Well situated for a quick walk in, it looks like it will become another favourite of many. This place is not aiming to be rustic, nor is it aiming to be "Australian" Greek. What is aims to do is carry on a multi-generational recipe that still resonates to this day.
Just after knocking off work, I was bound to go down to the Gold Coast to stay with my parents for the weekend. Since it was around lunch-time, I felt that getting a bite to eat before getting on that train was needed. With a few ideas in mind to meet the better choices - quick, fairly cheap and whatnot. Finger food was definitely a preference in this regard. It was down to a couple of ideas, and what it ended up being was this place.
They have streamlined the entire process down to accomodate the lunch-time rush. Service comes in from the left, where you place the order, pay and they go down the line, adding on the salad items and topping the meal up where asked. It is then paid for down the end, and you take the order to where you want to sit. It is quick and no-nonsense: a perfect modelĀ and for once, nearby workers might not have to succumb to anything resembling "fast food" as a result. In other words, don't expect service with frills. As for how it looks, the shop is fairly plainĀ and has a typical takeaway aesthetic. Some seating is facing the window, in one long bench, and there are a number of al fresco tables.
Most of what is on this menu is yiros: that is some tender rotisserie meat in a pita wrap. Tomatoes, red onion, parsley, fries and tzatziki are added on, making this one substantial meal in and of itself. You can choose from chicken, pork, lamb or halloumi. Or have a plate without the pita, or have it with the pita and make it a meal by adding a Greek salad or fries plus a drink to the side. A bunch of sides are also available (including the usual pita breadĀ and dip), plus for the sweettooth some loukoumades (Greek doughnuts) and baklava are on offer at this post. They also have a breakfast menu where it offers some rustic fare plus a few familiar favourites.
When I went here, it was a pork yiros combination with Greek salad, and I got a bottled water to drink. Hey, I am trying to be healthy here. What I got was quite good, and it is served on a serving platter. There was so much filling in it, that it was difficult to pick up by hand without all of the items spilling everywhere. That is a sign of some generosity with filling, and I always like to see it.
The meat was succulent, and so it should have been after so long cooking slowly on the spit. I got really lucky and managed to get some of the pork skin, delicious and shimmering as it is. That delivered a good crispiness on top of the tender meat that was also accompanying. As well as good quality meat, the feta cheese and tzatziki added on were creamy and had some sharp flavours, plus it got some dimension of flavour and aroma with the salad items. Being one who cannot resist putting the fries on my burger when I get the two together, that is no different when the fries are with something like this. Adding those suckers onto an item is always worthy of bonus points, especially for no extra cost. These were hot and fresh, plus well seasoned. And it was one good handful, probably from something with a big hand to stuff them in.
Onto the salad, this was a generous portion as well. It was a mixture of tomatoes, cucumber and red onion. All of these items were plump and fresh, particularly the tomatoes in which made up the majority of the salad. They were juicy and sweet, the onions added a little bit of crunch and there was an olive-oil based dressing poured over the mixture. And how could I be foolish to not mention black olives, because there were quite a few black olives in here, plus crumbled feta. All this to make a colourful, rounded salad.
All of this made for one meal that more than satiated for the next few hours. Yiros is certainly welcome hereĀ and has found a niche not quite matched from the seemingly endless options along this strip of an eatery buffet. It is not the best Greek, not by a long shot. What it is is wholesome, quick and tasty. It has a simple menu for a simple meal.
I have mentioned it, if not alluded to it many times before, but ever since I started to review there has been a bit of a turn-around for eateries that combine budget with quality. This is, yet again, one example of that. Not only is it affordable and half-decent, but it also is really filling for a cheap enough price. By any stretch of the imagination, this is not fine dining or something to go to for a quality, full sit-down meal. However, whether it is sole dining, or getting some folk together and have it a la tapas, they cater well to that. As a quick bite to eat (like it was for me) the Yiros Shop is far more than a satisfying feed. For that, it deserves credit (hence a 4.0 to show it has given a working effort).
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