Weets Eats: Great Greek dishes at Alati
There is a spread of international cuisine in Singapore, but Greek food seems to be among the elusive ones.
A quick check with restaurant-booking site Chope and food site Burpple uncovered about a dozen. In comparison, there are at least 10 Italian restaurants around Raffles Place alone.
Alati, one of the bigger Greek names, has been at its Amoy Street address since 2015 and has recently refreshed its menu.
Athens native and executive chef Ioannis Stefanopoulos has designed a menu of sharing plates, with seafood sourced directly from Greece.
Greek food is, well, Greek to me. My exposure to it is minimal, so I ate with a friend who has spent time in Athens and she said the food is authentic enough.
For those new to this cuisine, expect lots of olive oil, lemon, olives and eggplants.
Everything tastes tangy and fresh.
For visual impact, order the Greek Octopus ($39). It retains its juiciness and has a nice char, but this is not revolutionary in flavours or presentation.
VISUALLY APPEALING
Still, it's great to look at and elicits "oohs" and "aahs" upon arrival, which is basically the function of some dishes anyway.
Less pretty but way tastier is the Taramosalata ($16) (below).
It's a lump of beige, but this dish of cured cod eggs, shallots and kalamata olives, eaten with baked pita crisp, is packed with flavours.
Each mouthful is salty, briny and creamy. It is an absolute pleasure to finish this up.
The Dolmadakia ($19, below) is a common Greek dish with rice and pine nuts wrapped in grape leaves, like Grecian bak zhang. But I found this to be bland and I doubt I'll order it again.
The Fyllo-wrapped Feta ($18)
arrived like a golden parcel, waiting to be unwrapped. (below).
A feta made from goat's and sheep's milk is wrapped in layers of flaky pastry.
It is then flash-fried till golden brown and served with Greek honey and sesame seeds.
The crunch of the wrap is a nice contrast to the cheese. Drizzle lots of honey over it for a sweet and salty dish.
The Greek Fried Donuts ($20, above) is another photogenic dish. You can ditch the honey and dark chocolate, and just bite into it.
It is crispy but light. Still, if you just had a big meal, I would suggest you go with the yoghurt ($17) instead.
Alati
Address: 73 Amoy Street
Opening hours: Weekdays — noon to 2.30pm, Monday to Saturday — 6pm to midnight
Tel: 6221-6124
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now