Holy cow did I like this restaurant. In a lovely airy and bright space, Alpha serves up Modern Greek food. Years ago, some friends had the opportunity to live in Athens for a while, and said that while the food was great, it was all the same. They were bound by tradition to make the same delicious dishes in the same ways. So, I get a kick out of Greek food, which wasn’t associated with fine dining in my first memories of it.
There seem to be a number of restaurants in Sydney that use the flavours and ingredients and create wonderful, fresh, elegant dishes. We liked everything we had. The smoked eggplant dish with caramelised tomatoes ($15) doesn’t look quite as appealing as I remember, but the flavour was delicious (with perfectly grilled light pita bread).
I can never pass up a dumpling, so we also had a baccaliaro fritters (smoked fish), which were served amidst bonito flakes, almost hidden ($18). Very nice. Also cauliflower with pomegranate seeds and almonds as a side ($15).
For mains, I had heard about the scallop moussaka ($32). It surprised me, not like the casserole I’m used to, but two pieces of the most perfectly fried eggplant, topped with a tomato salad, in between juicy scallops, smothered in creamy taramasalata.
My pal had the pan-roasted kingfish with lobster dolmades ($38) which he said were as good as it sounded, and hmm… I think I should have stolen a bit of those dolmades. Very modern interpretations indeed. I’d like to go back with more people so we can try more dishes, or get their special Yiayia’s table offering (four people minimum).
