Restaurant: The Star of Greece Cafe
1 The Esplanade
Port Willunga
Overlooking the stunning waters at Port Willunga sits the iconic restaurant, The Star of Greece. A very popular leisurely lunch spot, this would have to be one of my favourite restaurants of all time. I have been lucky enough to not once have a bad meal here. A credit to the management and the chefs they choose.
The name can confuse, as this is NOT a Greek restaurant. It is named after a ship of the same name that hit bottom here in 1888. The ship was a solid, three masted iron ship, that couldn't fight the "once in a hundred year storm". It is hard to imagine that 18 men died as the remains of the ship lie not too far off shore. She ran aground at 3am however, and it wasn't until dawn that she was spotted. A rescue attempt didn't even get started until late afternoon. Over a hundred years have passed, and the wreck is now a popular dive site, being one of the easiest wrecks to access in the state. Check out this web site for photos of the wreck: http://www.staugustinelighthouse.com/blog/lamposts/diving_on_the_star_of_greece.php
A beautiful summer day and a visit from my Grandma from Canada brought us to The Star of Greece for lunch. The scenery was breath taking. It was a perfect summer day with the sun sparkling on the different hues of the ocean. Like a postcard. The restaurant itself doesn't look anything spectacular, almost like a shack on the edge of the cliffs. Inside is quaint and cosy. Wine bottles from various special occasions line the the perimeter shelving and tables are crammed in as tight as they can be! Mismatched chairs and crockery set the scene for a casual feeling lunch.
We were lucky enough to be there the first day of their new menu. I haven't found the new menu online, but trust me... its amazing. I had a very hard time to choose what to eat. After having some bread to start with the most amazing olive oil (so fresh and no rancid after taste at all), we had the Poached Prawn, salmon roe, avocado mousse, tomato jelly and dandelion leaves ($19).
What a pretty dish! The flavours were so delicate and subtle. Just wonderful particularly on a hot summer day. The textures were spot-on. The chewy prawns, crunchy lettuce, the smooth jelly and avocado...perfect. The bowl they came in was really neat, very shallow, almost like a plate with a really wide rim that sloped downwards. Have to get me some of those!
At this point we were entirely happy with our lunch. Everything was perfect. The staff were great, view fantastic, food amazing. We were served our drinks, bread and entre relatively quickly, and then to our disappointment, our main took a very long time to come out. Fair enough a large Xmas party table was seated in that time, but it got to the point where I had to ask about our next course. Despite this .... what eventually DID come was just amazing.
You know when you have one of those dishes that you reflect on, and remember forever as the "perfect" this or that.... well this is it. The perfect salad. Hands down the BEST salad I have EVER had. Ruby Red Salad- beeroot, watermelon,raspberry,red cabbage, goats curd and maple dressing ($17). I don't even know were to begin with this..... first of all if you have read my other posts, you would know I LOVE goats curd. I also love beetroot and the combination of the two is a match made in heaven. Watermelon in salad is the surprise ingredient of all my favourite summer salads and raspberries are my all-time favourite fruit. It was like chef Harley Ireland made this salad just for me! Again, the textures were varied with the crunchy cabbage to the smooth goats curd. The tart raspberries cut through the sweetness of the maple dressing perfectly. I can't find one thing wrong with this salad.
The new menu at the Star of Greece is one of the best menus I have seen. There is a strong focus on South Australian food from KI Haloumi, to Port Willunga Squid, Coffin Bay Oysters, King George Whiting....it goes on.
Our food was amazing. I don't know the chef's history (however google is going to get a work-out on that) but the attention to detail in colours, flavours and textures is incredible. I can't wait to go back.
Thank you for this great information of this lovely food and salad, you write very well which i like very much. I am really impressed by your post. Pizza Brisbane Cbd Thanks Once again.
ReplyDelete