Zampelis Cafe Greco Melbourne

A backlogged post from yours truly. There's gonna be a few of that coming up I think, as I have been bugged by the all-horrible EXAMS and also the flu bug. In fact I have had the flu for about a month now, time to ease up, you stupid virus.

Anyway. :D

Maggie, a friend of mine from Hong Kong was visiting and we met up to go for dinner together with my sister, Chez and Jen. We decided on Cafe Greco simply cos Maggie didn't feel like Chinese food. Cafe Greco is supposedly a Greek restaurant (I think) but if they are supposed to be (someone please kick me if I am wrong), they're not very greeklike. :P

Photos are taken in quite a hurry as everyone was starving and wanting to eat like immediately, so I do apologise for dodgy angles. Also, I've forgotten the exact names and prices of the food - but they range from $20 (that's my pizza) to $32 (sis's Spanish Paella).

Maggie had an entree style dish of Beef stuffed in Eggplant.

Nice and stuffeeed.

She liked it, and said that the beef and eggplant went well together. She was also satisfied that it was actually big enough a portion to fill her up despite being an entree.

Sis had the Chicken and Seafood Spanish Paella.

The pan is a cute touch, 'cept that the handles burn.

I had that the last time I was at Greco (which was last year) and I thought it was so-so - nothing really special about it despite the impressive name. It was just risotto rice with seafood, chicken and lots of onions. Taste-wise was okay, but it wasn't oustanding or special. Sis thought it was all right, but probably wouldn't have it again.

Chez had the Seafood Linguine.

Pasta Smasta.

She would rate that as average and she definitely had better pasta than that. It wasn't bad but nothing spectacular either.

Jenn had the Whole Roasted Baby Snapper.

Fish's up on a dish.

I just want to say that I do like the roast potatoes that came with Jenn's dish although she didn't like potatoes in general, so no comments from her on that. The fish was slightly overcooked, she thinks, but it was a generous portion and the taste and seasoning of the fish was quite good.

I had the San Cristina pizza, which was pizza with smoked ham, anchovies, artichokes, mushrooms and olives.

I can seeee the anchoviessss.

My pizza probably would be the most successful of the lot. The toppings were plentiful and generous and they all went very well together. The artichokes were tasty with the ham and the olives a great complement to them. Mushrooms just rounded out everything nicely. I would've preferred more cheese, but that would be nit-picking. :D

And dessert!! Because we had to give up the table at 8.45PM, we decided to buy cakes to take back to my apartment and eat those while hanging out. We didn't manage to take nice pictures of the cakes we did buy cos we were gorging on them before we remembered to take pictures - but here's the selection of cakes at Greco. I think they are well-known for their cakes - but the cakes are very pricey in my humble opinion, ranging form $7.50 to $10.00 per slice.

Cakes!!

And more cakes!!

And more more more cakes!!

Anddd...you get what I am about to say...CAKES.

You really don't want to read "cakes" again, do you?

Their cheesecakes are good, I recommend those. Among our cakes we got the American Baked Cheesecake and the Chocolate Cheesecake.

To be honest, I don't think the food at Greco's is all that great. Service was good, but then semi-fine dining service is always good. It's a nice place to hang out and have nice desserts, the environment is not bad, except when it's weekends/Friday night, then you really have to shout over everyone else to be heard. :D

- Mouse

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Zampelis Cafe Greco Melbourne
Crown Casino Complex
Shop 18, 8 Whiteman Street
Southbank 3006
Phone: (03) 9686 9733