Triakosia

The ancient Greeks had a way with numbers, and words, but some of the best of Greek culture has come down to us via their glorious, sun-kissed, Mediterranean food. Triakosia, meaning 300 in Greek, doubles as a restaurant specialising in Athenian street food and a bar serving both drinks and specialty coffee. Unfolding this stylish geometrical puzzle of space down Fitzroy North’s Queens Parade is a real pleasure, revealing a chic venue ideal for functions and celebrations, a bar loaded with local Melbourne beer, fine international wines (including a number of Greek varieties), and a restaurant that matches liquid refreshment with simple mezedes, epic platters, salads, and souvlaki. Leave room for glika!

The canny folks at Melbourne’s Triakosia have been kind enough to supply us with a glossary to a houfta (a handful) of key terms relevant to Greek culture and cuisine. Triakosia is, after all, a preeminent Fitzroy North ouzeri, a Greek eating and drinking establishment serving up small-plates (mezedes) alongside a selection of fine wine, ouzo, beer and more. Of these dishes, our favourites are the kolokithokeftedes (zucchini fritters fried until crispy in herbed butter and served with halloumi – quite a mouthful), the chargrilled Mediterranean-style beef and leek sausage, and that omnipresent Greek coastal dish of simple octopus either pickled in a herb, garlic, wine vinegar and olive oil marinade and served as it is or chargrilled with an extra dose of lemon, garlic and herb sauce. Dine here and you’re getting well fed and an properly Classical culinary education.

Melbourne denizens will undoubtedly be familiar with Greek souvlaki, skewers of marinated and seasoned meats and vegetables chargrilled to perfection. Here at Triakosia, with a prevailing emphasis on Athenian cuisine and even more specifically the streetfood that you can find in the ancient polis, souvlaki comes in the form of kalamaki a regional variety whose name means little reed and consists of one-inch-cubed meat marinated overnight, served as is or wrapped in pita. The souvlaki that launched a thousand ships, all bound for Triakosia’s Queens Parade premises, no doubt, is the simple Helen, a wrap of chicken gyros, tomatoes, fried potatoes, onion and cocktail sauce. The more lavish Andromache is served open-style, with lamb or chicken, tzatziki, mesegeios salad and chips, while the legendary Calypso lures you in with lightly fried calamari and tartare sauce. The feast intensifies in Fitzroy North when you order the epic Odyssey platter, a firm favourite featuring chargrilled local seafood that can easily feed an army of two. Kali orexi!