Athenian Greek, CBD

A couple of days ago, I met up with a few of my high school friends. It was exciting because I haven't seen A for god knows how long because she's off studying in Queensland and I miss her tonnes. So it was definitely great to catch up. We met up at 6 at Town Hall with no plans really. We were tossing up between Assembly Bar, Jamie's Italian, Stitch Bar, and Athenian Greek (the order of which ones we were keen on going to). Unfortunately, being a Friday night, it was completely full when we rocked up at Assembly. Extremely disappointing as I was looking forward to coming here. And there were private events happening at most of the tables which made the bar incredibly packed. So off we trekked, hoping to find our luck at Jamie's Italian though hopes were low. We were using the reasoning 'it's been open for some time now so it shouldn't be THAT long a wait right??' Upon arrival, there was a long line snaked outside already and when we asked how long a wait it would be for a table of 5, they replied that it would be a 3 hour wait... LIKE WHAT? Since we were already close to Wynyard, our group of 5 decided to try our luck at Stitch Bar. There was already a line waiting and we were sort of like "Is it worth it?" The people in the line heard us and eagerly chimed "It's definitely worth it" while nodding. So we shrugged our shoulders and joined the queue. We waited for almost 20 minutes before finally getting inside. It was already 7:30 by now and we were excited that we had FINALLY gotten inside and automatically assumed we would be seated and would be able to order dinner. But turns out there was a 40 MINUTE WAITING LIST TO GET A TABLE. We threw up our hands in exasperation before relenting and making a call to Athenian Greek to see if they had tables. Confirming that there were, we left Stitch and walked to Barracks St to Athenian Greek. Thank goodness they had tables! We were promptly seated and left to our own devices to order. At this stage, I think we were all starving enough to eat a cow haha. My eyes were immediately drawn to the 'Athenian Special' as it sounded like there was a bit of everything on the plate! Our waiter was Asian and unfortunately couldn't speak English properly, let alone have knowledge about the menu when we asked for opinions on the various dishes on the menu.

Athenian Special: a combination of greek lamb, papoutsakia, stuffed capsicum, cabbage roll & mixed vegetables, $22.50

When the dish arrived (along with complimentary bread), I was in shock! It was huuuuge. To give you an idea of size, that red thing in the foreground is a capsicum. That's right, a capsicum. And we all know how large they are. I loved the vegetables on this dish - particularly the grilled zucchini on the right. There are also various types of beans hidden behind that giant piece of lamb that all tasted fantastic. The let down of the dish would have to be that piece of lamb. Though fall apart tender, probably from hours of braising, it was a pity that there wasn't the depth of flavour I was expecting. I felt as though it wasn't marinated at all. All the vegetables were very flavoursome though.

We were presented with mint Turkish Delight upon our request for the bill. It was like a soft, chewy Minty which was strange but enjoyable.

To end our night, we sat inside Tom n' Toms for some coffee and late night chatting. A wonderful end to our night despite our chaotic beginning.

Athenian Greek
11 Barrack St
Sydney, NSW, 2000
9262 2624

Trading Hours

Lunch
Monday - Saturday: 12:00 -3:30pm

Dinner
Monday - Thursday: 5:30 - 9:30pm
Friday - Saturday: 5:30 - 10:00pm