Corfu Greek Restaurant is on Parliament Street in Dublin quite close to the Temple Bar area South of the river Liffey. Siggy and I went there for an evening meal on a Saturday. We booked the night before and it was a good job as the place was packed.
The staff are very friendly, taking the time to properly welcome us and have a brief chat despite how busy they were. The restaurant is compact and cosy and depending on who is dining had the potential to get quite noisy as people talk over the traditional Greek music playing through the sound system.
We had hummus for a starter and a couple of bottles of Mythos. The Mythos was only available in the smaller size bottles which was a bit of a disappointment, but the taste took me right back to our summer holidays in Greece.
There was slightly too small an amount of hummus compared to the amount of pitta bread it came with. The pitta bread was the same as you get in the UK and doesn’t compare well to the real McCoy you get in Greece. For me the hummus didn’t have enough garlic or lemon in it, but Siggy enjoyed it.
Siggy ordered pastitsio for her main and I ordered a mixed grill as I was ravenous after a lot of walking around in the cold weather.
The patitsio came in the usual reheated rectangular chunk – the portion was well sized but a little bit hard around the edges. Siggy said that it was nice to have salad with it instead of just potatoes. She let me have a nibble and I tasted nutmeg subtly flavouring the sauce. The pasta tubes were larger than we’ve experienced in restaurants in Greece and a little squashed so it was almost like a lasagne in the end.
The mixed grill was okay. Not as great as I have had elsewhere but adequate. I think a big pork chop instead of the scrawny lamb chop would have improved it. The lamb chop had an odd gamey flavour and aroma which led me to push it to one side of the wooden dish the meal was served in. The kebabs were excellent and so too were the chips so I mustn’t complain too much – it’s just I’m a bit of maniac when it comes to Greek mixed grills.
Various members of staff kept apologising that the table wasn’t ready when we arrived, which we felt was totally uneccessary as it was quickly sorted out and was only not available because the previous diners had lingered a little too long. I received a little glass of amaretto with the bill which was a nice touch and I moaned at Siggy for declining a glass – which I could have surreptitiously necked.
The restaurant was authentic enough for me to expect mosquitoes and a sign saying don’t flush paper when I went downstairs to the toilet, and if we ever visit Dublin again, we’ll probably make a return visit to the Corfu.
Here is their website: http://www.corfugreekrestaurant.ie/
couchmagpie 