Reader recommendations often inspire the reviews you see here. Asking people what they love to eat, and where to go about finding it, is my favourite way to uncover suburban gems. My visit to Greek Door came about through a conversation with an Italian pizza chef on the island of Efate in Vanuatu. He spoke very highly of Matina Spetsiosis’ restaurant, which is located toward the pointy end of the Balmain peninsula in a stately sandstone dwelling fronted by three shapely arches. Golden under-bar lighting gives the monochrome interior some warmth and there’s a convivial atmosphere that sees us engage in conversation with neighbouring guests.
Smearing warm fava ($12) — a Greek dip made of yellow split peas topped with pine nuts and caramelised onions — onto grilled pita bread ($4/piece) quickly took the edge off both our hunger and the cold night. While most diners are necking Greek margaritas made using mastiha, we settle in with the straw-coloured 2021 Ktima Gerovassiliou Chardonnay ($120) from Macedonia. It was just the ticket with a shared platter of tender char-grilled calamari ($42) presented nude and lightly battered over ospiriada salad. This colourful and lemony mixed bean salad is a good way to get your legume count up, though not quite as delicious as the braised lima bean we ate one course later. Served hot with green olives, garlic, herbs and dill sauce, chef Spetsiosis’ gigandes ($15) were the best lima beans I’ve ever eaten. Char-grilled lamb kopsidia ($36) drizzled with chimmichurri made the most of not-so-fancy cut of meat and rounded out a simple, beautifully cooked meal that will be front of mind the next time I want to eat Greek.
