Eleni’s Kitchen – Family Owned & Authentically Greek!

Menu:

I hadn’t heard anything about Eleni’s Kitchen prior to visiting Yarraville – but boy am I glad I did find this gem of a restaurant! Eleni’s Kitchen is a family owned restaurant and not only has so much cultural richness and history attached to it, but an plenty of love and passion.

Eleni’s Kitchen pays homage to the owner, Thierry’s grandmother – affectionately termed YiaYia in Greek – who owned Yarraville lounge all the way back in 1971 – literally down the road from where Eleni’s Kitchen is located.  Opening Eleni’s Kitchen literally down the road was Thierry’s inspiration to keep the family history alive and continue the legacy her grandmother started.

The venue itself is fantastic – lined with pictures of the past – they can run you through what each of the pictures represent – it is cosy and homely – complete with a huge upstairs area; that is big enough to host functions!

The menu is made up of smaller dishes “Mezethes” followed by some Home Favourites, From the Sea, “Chef Hristos” Signature dishes, From the Field, From the Garden and Desserts. There is also the options of Eleni’s Banquet or Dimitris’ Banquet (which is the smaller banquet option out of the two). So there is a lot to select from – from smaller bites to larger mains and the menu is flexible enough to be enjoyed as a sharing style dinner or an ordering your own dish – either way you will find it hard to decide what you want – trust me!

We started with traditional Greek coffee which is brewed via the Briki. I have never had this type of coffee before and it was actually really delicious! The taste was strong and vibrant with a hint of sweetness at the end – I devoured the cup! It is similar to an espresso for those who love this type of coffee. For food we started with a few Mezethes which included the Fig Saganaki and Pontian Pipperies followed by the Prawn Saganaki and Lamb Gyros.

The Fig Saganaki – Grilled Greek Kefalograviera cheese served with house-made Fig Jam. The Saganaki was amazingly cooked – the saltiness of the cheese was balanced perfectly by the house made fig jam. I could have this dish throughout the whole day – it was that good! Next up was the Pontian Pipperies – Marinated mild peppers in a feta tomato based sauce. I am usually not a fan of peppers AT ALL – however this dish definitely changed my mind. The combination of the fresh tomato and the saltiness of the feta really brought out the smokiness of the peppers. A really great tasting dish!

For “mains” I had the Prawn Saganaki : King prawns in a feta tomato based sauce  – which comes cooked in an oven baked pan. The prawns were perfectly cooked and coupled with the tomato base brought out the richness of the seafoody taste. A dish I would recommend. The other dish we ordered was the Lamb Gyros – Lamb from the spit served with lemon potato, salad, tzatziki and pita bread. This dish is quite substantial as it comes with many accompaniments all of which added to the experience of the dish. The lamb itself was tender and succulently cooked!

Both quality and quantity here isn’t compromised here with meat being locally sourced (just down the road in fact – ensuring the best cuts are selected). If you want to experience an authentic Greek experience with service that truly feels like you are part of the family – you should definitely check out Eleni’s Kitchen. There are so many dishes to try out that this is one place that you will definitely be coming back again and again!

Rating : 4.5 Pandas
Price: $$$
Menu – Refer to picture above
Fullness: 100%
Atmosphere / Ambience: Cosy, Homely, Great for functions!
Standout Dish: Fig Saganaki
Service: Friendly, Welcoming and Helpful!
Online Booking: Yes via 
Restaurant Details and Location:
http://www.eleniskitchen.com.au/
28 Anderson St, Yarraville

Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Sunday: 12:00pm to 10:00pm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eleniskitchenbar/

Instagram: @eleniskitchenandbar

Halal Snack Pack – HSPs – Learn what the Fuss is all about!

Halal Snack Pack or HSPs as they are affectionately known as are the latest food craze to trend in the foodie world – this has further been promoted thanks to the federal elections where NSW Labor senator Sam Dastyari offered to meet Pauline Hanson and get her to try this delicious dish; much to her offense and disgust (?!).

So what exactly is a HSP?
It is a dish containing meat – typically beef, chicken or lamb – together with chips and one or more sauces – especially Chilli, Garlic and Barbeque. It traditionally comes served in a styrofoam container. Some kebab stores refer to it as a Snack Box or Mixed Plate.

This infamous dish has contributed to the flourishing success of many kebab stores around the country. There is also the creation of the Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society (HSPAS) on Facebook which began in December 2015 by a couple of good mates- with the group having over  159K members! It started off in a small scale with a few thousand people sharing their favourite styrofoam encased meals and engulfed into what it is today being an international phenomenon.
The main aim of this group is to identify some of the best HSPs around the country and eventually identify the World’s BEST HSP!The group also raises funds to support the Australian Relief Organisation, an organization that assists underprivileged people to attain cataract surgery and assists orphanages with matters regarding water supplies.

A typical post on the page involves a picture of a recently-purchased halal snack pack, along with an informal review that scores the dish on various criteria; including meat, chips and sauce quality, clarity of halal signage, packaging, price and greeting.

Below is the marking scheme taken from the page.
1. The greeting: Anything Less than good day brother or sister is Haram.
2. The Sign: There needs to be some sort of Halal sign visible, or, you guessed it, Haram!
3. The chips: You nailed this, they need to be a good Ratio to the meat and chips
4. Cheese: Cheese would be a layer on the chips and then a layer on the meat with sauce on top. You may get roasted you for this…
5. The meat: Mixed meat is a winner with the crowd, marking it on quantity/ratio and juiciness.
6. Now… The Sauce: Anything less than the HOLY TRINITY  – GARLIC, CHILLI, BBQ – may get a good roasting from the crowd. BBQ is second selection but you have to have the KEY garlic in there
7. Packaging: anything less than styrofoam container is haram and marked 0/10

As you can see HSPs are serious business! By the way to get you down with the lingo here are some of the terms explained:

• Expressing approval of a snack pack can be described by using the term “Halal”
• Expressing disapproval of a snack pack can be described by using the term “Haram”
• A member/customer who requests tomato sauce, salad, rice or anything that is not meant to be part of the HSP – with their snack pack is referred to as a “Haram Dingo”

There are many claims to having created this exceptional dish including the Kapsalon – which is a Dutch food item consisting of fries, topped with shawarma meat, grilled with a layer of Gouda cheese until melted and then covered with a layer of dressed salad greens. The dish is often served with garlic sauce and sambal. The key difference here is the use of salad. This dish was conceived in 2003 by Nathaniël Gomes, a Cape Verdian hairdresser in Rotterdam; who in collaboration with the neighboring shawarma store “El Aviva” combined all his favorite ingredients into one dish.

Another similar dish is the AB from Adelaide who claims to have invented this dish between 1969 and  1989. An AB is prepared using gyro meat, chips, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, barbeque sauce and garlic sauce. Two restaurants in Adelaide have claimed to have invented the dish – The North Adelaide Burger Bar and the Blue & White ; with the key difference here being the addition of tomato sauce (haram!)

There has even been the creation of the world’s biggest snack pack which was covered by Sunrise – you can check out the video here – https://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/watch/31864783/the-worlds-biggest-halal-snack-pack/#page1

I myself was quite late to jump on the HSP bandwagon as well – but ever since trying this calorie, carb-filled dish I must admit I am in love (as is my husband!) We have a kebab store just down the road from us where we get our HSPs (although they call is a Snack Pack – so that’s haram already!) which is simply delicious and is shown in the pictures above.

Since I am quite “new” to the world of HSPs – I am not too sure about where the BEST HSP is in Melbourne – however there is a website – http://getmehsp.com.au/- which helps you locate where you can get a HSP from. Of course there is the HSPAS which has been created for this very reason to find that perfect 10/10 HSP. If you have any recommendations please comment below and I will add them to the list.

Happy HSPing!!

Here are some of the special mentions of Kebab stores around Australia that you could check out (in no particular order):

Melbourne
Melbourne Kebab Station, Coburg
Clayton Kebab House, Clayton
Little Bad Wolf, Noble Park
Yozzy Kebab and Carwash, Doveton
Hot Kebabs, Doncaster East

Sydney
King Kebab House, Campbelltown
Oz Turks Jnr, Redfern
Metro One Kebab, Ashfield

Western Australia
Perth Kebab Station, Subiaco

Queensland
Kebab Shack & Takeaway, Caboolture