Blu Kouzina
I've just realised that I don't like Greek food. And there goes my dream of retiring in Santorini , because how am I going to eat Greek food everyday right?! I'd be miserable.
We recently had dinner at Blu Kouzina, possibly Singapore's most prolific Greek restaurant, and that was when I made the sad discovery. Mind you, it wasn't that the food at Blu Kouzina was bad. In fact, it was more than decent, even if it was a little inconsistent. It's just that Greek fare is so not my cup of tea. Herbs like dill and mint, and standard everyday ingredients such as feta, yoghurt and eggplant most oft used in Greek cooking are so not flavours I fancy. But, if you like Greek cuisine, you'd probably love this place.
And, despite my dislike of Greek cuisine, we still had a pretty enjoyable time at Blu Kouzina. Mostly because service was quite exceptional. The attentive staff topped up our waters regularly, were responsive to our feedback and surprisingly generous in comping our dessert.
We shared a starter, the Kolokithokeftedes ($14.80) a mashed patty of zucchini, herbs and feta cheese pan-fried to a golden brown, with a yoghurt dip served alongside. I usually love zucchini, but I really disliked this. I could hardly make out the zucchini in this because the delicate sweetness of zucchini was overwhelmed by the sharp celery bits. Then there was the dill overload. I felt like I was eating the dill plant.
I'm not a huge fan of lamb, and usually wouldn't order it off most menus, but lamb chops, done Mediterranean-style are an exception. The typical Mediterranean herb seasoning somehow makes mutton come alive. Blu Kouzina's rendition of Paidakia Stin Sxara ($28.80) was pretty damn good. The lamb chops were grilled to a beautiful medium-well, juicy and flavoursome. That said, the salting was uneven. 2 of the 3 chops were salted perfectly, whereas 1 was, unfortunately, over-salted. And, of course, I got that salty one. That lamb chop alone made for my entire sodium intake for the day. The water-retention-averse Hubs took a bite of this and immediately spat it out.
The Marinated Red Peppers were nice, with a subtle smoky sweetness made refreshing due to the chilling.
The Bifteki Stin Sxara ($19.80), beef patties served on a sizzling plate with roasted potatoes, onions, tomatoes and lemon, was incredibly moist but tended to the salty sphere. Still, it was nice. Especially if you like your burger patty stuffed with a million herbs that it was verging on becoming a vegetarian version. Me, on the other hand, am a purist. I prefer my beef patties plain, seasoned with salt and pepper.
The Psari Stin Sxara ($39.80), a grilled 400g seabream, was my favourite main, likely because it utilised the least Greek herbs. An impossibly fresh fish was grilled to a moist perfection and seasoned simply with really good olive oil, salt and pepper. If you like, a lemon wedge lends some bright acidity to the fish. I didn't really think the lemon was necessary. That said, this was a fairly generic dish not particularly exclusive to Greek cuisine. A barbecued fish at Jimbaran Bay in Bali would have cost about half of this.
An accompaniment of grilled peppers, eggplant and yellow squash, served chilled as a mezze of sorts. I would have preferred this piping hot straight off the grill.
The roasted potatoes with dill and onions, served chilled was a side dish I really couldn't appreciate. Mostly because I found the dill and sharp onions overpowering the potatoes.
We'd earlier commented to the manager, when he came round to check in on us, that 1 of the lamb chops was waaaaaay too salty, and he'd insisted on comping our dessert, the Galaktoboureko ($13.80). It was totally unexpected, and such a wonderfully generous gesture. The filo pastry rolls of semolina cream with icing sugar and cinnamon was the highlight of dinner. It was sweet but nuanced, and balanced the bitter but aromatic cinnamon well.
Blu Kouzina
893 Bukit Timah Road
Tel: 6875 0872
Open for lunch only on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays from 12 noon to 2.30pm;
Dinners daily from 6pm to 10pm
Website: www.blukouzina.com
We recently had dinner at Blu Kouzina, possibly Singapore's most prolific Greek restaurant, and that was when I made the sad discovery. Mind you, it wasn't that the food at Blu Kouzina was bad. In fact, it was more than decent, even if it was a little inconsistent. It's just that Greek fare is so not my cup of tea. Herbs like dill and mint, and standard everyday ingredients such as feta, yoghurt and eggplant most oft used in Greek cooking are so not flavours I fancy. But, if you like Greek cuisine, you'd probably love this place.
And, despite my dislike of Greek cuisine, we still had a pretty enjoyable time at Blu Kouzina. Mostly because service was quite exceptional. The attentive staff topped up our waters regularly, were responsive to our feedback and surprisingly generous in comping our dessert.
We shared a starter, the Kolokithokeftedes ($14.80) a mashed patty of zucchini, herbs and feta cheese pan-fried to a golden brown, with a yoghurt dip served alongside. I usually love zucchini, but I really disliked this. I could hardly make out the zucchini in this because the delicate sweetness of zucchini was overwhelmed by the sharp celery bits. Then there was the dill overload. I felt like I was eating the dill plant.
I'm not a huge fan of lamb, and usually wouldn't order it off most menus, but lamb chops, done Mediterranean-style are an exception. The typical Mediterranean herb seasoning somehow makes mutton come alive. Blu Kouzina's rendition of Paidakia Stin Sxara ($28.80) was pretty damn good. The lamb chops were grilled to a beautiful medium-well, juicy and flavoursome. That said, the salting was uneven. 2 of the 3 chops were salted perfectly, whereas 1 was, unfortunately, over-salted. And, of course, I got that salty one. That lamb chop alone made for my entire sodium intake for the day. The water-retention-averse Hubs took a bite of this and immediately spat it out.
The Marinated Red Peppers were nice, with a subtle smoky sweetness made refreshing due to the chilling.
The Bifteki Stin Sxara ($19.80), beef patties served on a sizzling plate with roasted potatoes, onions, tomatoes and lemon, was incredibly moist but tended to the salty sphere. Still, it was nice. Especially if you like your burger patty stuffed with a million herbs that it was verging on becoming a vegetarian version. Me, on the other hand, am a purist. I prefer my beef patties plain, seasoned with salt and pepper.
The Psari Stin Sxara ($39.80), a grilled 400g seabream, was my favourite main, likely because it utilised the least Greek herbs. An impossibly fresh fish was grilled to a moist perfection and seasoned simply with really good olive oil, salt and pepper. If you like, a lemon wedge lends some bright acidity to the fish. I didn't really think the lemon was necessary. That said, this was a fairly generic dish not particularly exclusive to Greek cuisine. A barbecued fish at Jimbaran Bay in Bali would have cost about half of this.
An accompaniment of grilled peppers, eggplant and yellow squash, served chilled as a mezze of sorts. I would have preferred this piping hot straight off the grill.
The roasted potatoes with dill and onions, served chilled was a side dish I really couldn't appreciate. Mostly because I found the dill and sharp onions overpowering the potatoes.
We'd earlier commented to the manager, when he came round to check in on us, that 1 of the lamb chops was waaaaaay too salty, and he'd insisted on comping our dessert, the Galaktoboureko ($13.80). It was totally unexpected, and such a wonderfully generous gesture. The filo pastry rolls of semolina cream with icing sugar and cinnamon was the highlight of dinner. It was sweet but nuanced, and balanced the bitter but aromatic cinnamon well.
Blu Kouzina
893 Bukit Timah Road
Tel: 6875 0872
Open for lunch only on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays from 12 noon to 2.30pm;
Dinners daily from 6pm to 10pm
Website: www.blukouzina.com
Comments
@FoodieFC: the resto is indeed very pretty. looks like it's carved straight out of the santorini cliffs. everything's shaded in royal blue and crisp white. very nautical. very charming.
glad you came here though - it's been on my list for AGES and I could never convince someone to come with me.