Philhellene Provincial Greek Cuisine

I’m a bit of a fan of good Greek food, and something about Philhelene is (what I imagine) it’s like eating proper home-​cooked Greek food. Everything is so well cooked and it all feels like it’s been cooked by someone’s mum. It’s filling and hearty and OH EM GEE the vegetarian moussaka is beyond.
The staff are all super friendly, and helpful. A definite must if you’re up this side of the city.

This place was recommended to me by a Greek colleague when I was looking for authentic Greek food. This place didn’t disappoint. From the welcome on arrival, through to paying the bill. Service was attentive without being intrusive. I assume the owner/​manager at front of house, she gives a welcome like you’re family. The domades are the best — clearly home made and so tasty. Lamb was well cooked, tender and seasoned. Salad was crisp and fresh. Dips were divine, we had the taramasalata. When we ran out of bread, more arrived. Overall one of my favourite restaurants.

Beautiful looking restaurant and most of the food was nice however the lamb was very dry and extremely salty. More of a braised lamb rather than roasted. Not sure how I felt about the service either; it was hit and miss. The experience was still somewhat pleasant but not fantastic. I am not sure it was worth the money.

Over rated and over priced. Service was also rude. Not sure what the others are on about, but it sure wasn’t what i was expecting going by the reviews.

You know when you put something off for a long time and then when you finally do it you kick yourself for not having done it sooner? Well this is my experience with Philhellene! When we first moved to the area way back in 2009 we walked around (as you do) collecting all the take away menus and sussing out what the area had to offer. We noticed Philhellene then but we just never seemed to get around to going there… until last weekend.
Well, the bruises from kicking myself may be fading however the memory of how wonderful the experience was is still bright as a daisy!
Reading other reviews I convinced myself, and my dining partners, that we HAD to have the kid goat. And now, I am telling you, that you HAVE to have the kid goat! The meat melted in our little mouths like butter. Our waiter was wonderful and gave us his recommendations (the kid goat was one) and we took quite a few of them on board. When we had made our decisions he was quick to compliment us on making a great choice.
I can confidently recommend everything that we had — the chicken souvlaki (with zesty fresh cous cous), the feta prawns (we mopped up the rice and sauce like we hadn’t eaten in months) and the spicy chorizo entrée. One of the waiters other recommendations was a salad special made with pulses and raisins. This dish was my second favorite of them all and unfortunately I didn’t catch the name and the bill only read «salad». I have tried, to no avail, asking all my Greek friends what it may have been called but the trail is cold. I guess I will just have to go back and hope that they have it available again!
After we had finished our mains our waiter helped us find our second stomachs so that we could try some of the mouth watering doughnuts served with ice cream — no complaints here!

I love my mum’s cooking. I also love John and Susie Rerakis’ mums’ cooking.
These grandmothers are the powerhouses out the back of Philhellene, spending all day roasting kids, stuffing eggplants and generally cooking up the kind of rustic fare you’d hope to find in the Greek hinterlands.
And after a meal here you’ll be wishing you’d spent the day in those hinterlands chasing down the rabbit you’re about to have for your dinner, because if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it properly: entrées, mains and dessert, with Greek and Cretan wines as an accompaniment and ouzo to chase it all down after.
Unless you speak Greek or frequent the restaurants of Hellas, you’re going to need assistance with the menu. But never fear, the wait staff are well used to explaining what kalitsounia is (pastry parcels with mizithra cheese and a mint filling) or yemista (mum’s favourite — veges with herb and rice stuffing and mint yoghurt).
And take your second stomach — the one that saves room for dessert.