Xanthi Greek Restaurant – Westfield Sydney
Thursday, September 1st, 2011The surprises just keep on coming at Westfield Sydney. Opening to much fanfare in April with Zara and a brand new foodcourt on Level 5, and then the second stage opening up just recently, I thought they were done! But they are STILL going! Just opened were a new Italian restaurant and the relocation of Perama at Petersham to new digs and new name Xanthi on level 6 of Westfield. The entrance evokes a mysterious aladdin’s cave – with beautiful decorative tiles and stained glass lamps. A bit more Moroccan than Greek, but adding to the cosy atmosphere contributed to by the sweeping draped curtains.
Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Living once put out a list of fine dining features that make a nice restaurant more welcoming. Those added touches that make you feel at home without looking for every opportunity to make a few more dollars. Xanthi scored immeditely on two of these as you sit down – tap water offered (most fine diners offer you sparkling or still ie not free); and soon after – crusty bread and olive oil for dipping as you peruse the carefully planned menu.
All the dishes were beautiful earthenware tapas style plates. I would love some of these at home!
The waiter suggested we order something from each section of the menu to share. Dips/mezze, flat breads, mains and desserts. Well with just two of us we thought we would order it Aussie style and treat it like one entree one main each. We tried firstly the eggplant – two baby chargrilled lebanese eggplants (whole) and served with tomato sauce and some tzatziki.
When I went to Greece a year and half ago, there was one restaurant in Oia, Santorini that we kept going back to – fond memories – and one thing we tried there were zucchini fritters. So for nostalgic reasons, this is what I had to order. The pattie was great, but the oil wasn’t hot enough, so they were very very oily. Three fritters came on top of a chickpea dip. Yum though, but not good on the waistline!
Next, our selection from the Apo tin plastira – which means ‘From the wooden board’. Xanthi’s site notes:
A plastira is the board that the women of the village use to stretch and roll out filo. The wood is made from pine trees and its properties make it the best surface to stop the pastry from sticking and tearing as it’s carefully stretched and thinned.
Our pastry is handrolled and made fresh. Baked fresh and served straight from the oven. Please be patient. Waits can be up to 30 minutes depending on demand.
Luckily, we didn’t have to wait so long, but intrigued we were by the rabbit stifatho – rabbit braised in tomato, honey, cinnammon, clove and red wine sauce and then shredded. Hmmm….. eat bugs bunny?? Never tried it! But gosh, they sure harped on it enough on Masterchef for me to be curious! What came on our plate did not resemble bugs at all – but in fact looked like slow cooked chicken, or indeed pulled pork. The pastry wasn’t light like the filo we get in the supermarkets – but it was definitely savoury and substantial. As for bugs…. I would describe it like eating fishy chicken. Maybe my palate is unsophisticated but it was definitely a bit seafoody. Not in a delightful way, but interesting way. I think I will leave elmer fud to eat dat wabbit! I thought it was extremely pretty and good value for $16 though! I did like it more than i like escargot though.
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Kicking off a very long 3 days of various birthday celebrations – and the highlight – was this calzone from La Grotta in Haberfield. Being another of Sydney’s “Little Italies”, Haberfield’s Ramsay Street is lined with delis, pizza shops, bakeries, and bread and pasta suppliers, so the competition is tough. I actually wanted to try La Disfida, (which was said by Luciana of Cucina Italiana to be her favourite over rival Napoli Im Bocca), but alas it was closed. So then Dolcissimo looked quite packed, but also didn’t seem to have more than pasta and pizza on offer, we walked to next door La Grotta, which seemed alot quieter but had a more diverse menu. GREAT choice, because not only was the service an outstanding differentiator from its Haberfield cousins, but this calzone was wood fired perfection. The waiters had no problem whatsover turning any of the other pizzas on the menu into the calzone, so I chose the Special, with ham, salami, mushrooms, olives (and hold the pineapple). This gigantic crescent arrived which was bigger than the plate – crust was risen to perfection, and cooked the way I like it – crunchy as it can be without burning. It was not oily at all, and well I could have stopped eating after 4 slices, but hey since I’m there…. let the pants loose. It was $19.90 which is around the same as all the other shops in the area – but go there also for the outstanding attentive service that really aims to please in a really genuine way. The place is also HUGE, so also consider it for functions!
