ESTIA RESTAURANT
255 Seaview Road
Henley Beach South Australia 5022
T +61 8 8353 2875
F +61 8 8355 5355
E enq@estia.com.au
W www.estia.com.au
OPEN Lunch and Dinner Tuesday to Sunday

FOOD For anyone who thinks they have been doing it tough during the recent unprecedented heat wave in Adelaide, spare a thought for Estia’s take–away chef Periklis Karaliamis. Not quite the usual sharp banter that cheekily taunts tight muscled footballers back from a run, hot chicks and other mockable sorts coming from the beach. God knows how, but they are still managing to smile although for almost two weeks they have worked long shifts in temperatures exceeding 46°C, facing endless queues of people determined not to further heat their homes by cooking there. Parking was three blocks back, and by the time we arrived at the restaurant we were dripping (just like everyone else). Jess our waitress immediately delivered ice–cold water and within minutes our ordered wine was on the table in a cooler. Impressive! To clarify our wonder at Jess’ efficiency Estia was jam packed inside and out with at least 130 covers in various stages of their meal. It did occur to us that the Mavridis family should be running a hospitality school because they have the formula just right. We could have forgiven any of their staff for being grumpy, it was hot at the table (not their fault, what air–conditioning has managed to cope) and working the way they were must have been unbearable.
Our posh friend from London rummaged in her handbag to bring out a nifty little battery operated fan and after giving us each of us a breath of cool air, stood it on the table facing her! We calculated how much money we could make selling the fans on the beach. And liked the sound of a day’s work reckoning with 10,000 sales at just $10 each they would be an easy sell. Literally hundreds of people crammed the Henley Square, and standing on the Henley Beach jetty there was a thick snake of massed bodies as far as the eye could see, well past Glenelg, all trying to avoid the heat.
We like Estia. It is simple fresh Greek food that doesn’t pretend to be more than it is and doesn’t charge more than it should, $55 each including the tip for food and wine. Food and the wine, including their vintage wines, are all extremely good value for money. We started with a pile of mezzez the Greek appetisers. Pitta, tzatziki, the cucumber, yoghurt and garlic dip, a simple, chick pea salad with lots of celery, onion and herb, a couple of Batzaria, beetroot salads made from the tasty big beetroot instead of the silly little beetroot that never have the same flavour. The zucchini and feta croquettes were so good we immediately ordered a second serve. Crispy edges, cooked in clean oil, they were soft centered perfectly seasoned and utterly delicious. From the mains we had their grilled whole squid, usually on their specials board. The chickpea accompaniment was the same as the salad, but for $16.90 who’s complaining? Another had the fried squid, which cut from whole cleaned squid was also good. The only down side of the meal, bad enough that it should be avoided was the vegetarian moussaka. Basically a tomato skin hot pot it was very disappointing. Our grilled quail were utterly splendid, plain, succulent perfectly cooked (unlike Greece where everything is cooked to the point of incineration) and the prawn with tomato and feta were generous and tasty with a lovely back hint of cinnamon and mint.
When you start winging about the desserts it is important to remember the price; $6.50 for kataiffi, the Greek custard and straw pastry dessert and just $12 for a huge bowl of loukamathes. The lukemathes were tough and oversweet, but gave us the opportunity to relive a memory of the best loukamathes in the world found at Kpivos, situated right behind the Athens meat market. Their dough has been added to since 1923, it is sour and soft centered, crispy edged, dripping with the bitter honey from Crete and dusted with cinnamon. Athenians and (others in the know like us) queue patiently for their portion/s.
Coffee is Griffiths and better than one can usually expect for that brand, but we were touched by the answer when we queried the brand. “You can’t dump someone. They have been with us since the beginning, they are our friends!” Loyalty is an all too rare, and honourable tradition! Anyway does anyone expect the best coffee in a Greek restaurant?
It is also worth noting iced filtered water arrives (at every table) without request and there is no heavy handed pestering buy water. We understand the motivation for selling water because water frequently delivers more profit than a bottle of wine but appreciate that complete lack of hard sell. Estia is an honest restaurant and we think their owners and staff, really understand the meaning of the word hospitality; after all they have been genuinely smiling for years! Kali Orexi!

WINE There are many up-market restaurants that show so little respect for their diners there is no mention of vintages on their wine list. For the informal setting Estia Restaurant pays particular attention to their wine list. Vintages and varietals are listed and there is a cellar reserve list that includes some jewels but there are ample modestly priced but good choices on their list. The diversity of choice and price structure of their wine list shows their commitment to keeping Estia both affordable and interesting. Glassware is old fashioned but adequate for the prices charged and they properly have Riedels that are used for their cellar reserve wines.

OWNERS/MANAGERS — Jack, Nick and Anesti Mavridis
CHEFS — restaurant Arthur Lotsos — take-away Periklis Karaliamis

new review 5/2/09 always included since 2006 — top image by kind permission Kate Elmes, Adelaide Indeopendent