Hellenic Republic Revisited

434 Lygon St, Brunswick East
Date visited: 23rd March 2013

Our first visit to Hellenic Republic was a great experience.  Six months down the line and MerlinFan and I were craving the pita bread and saganaki so here we were again, this time bringing AJ for the first time.

Service was impeccable as before.  We already knew we wanted to order from the A La Carte menu so we didn't bother looking at the set menus.

We had the Pita Bread again.

Pita

We loved the tzatziki last time, so we wanted to try the other two dips.  The waiter let us do smaller serves of the two dips.

Pita, Taramosalata (front), Melitzanosalata (back)

The Taramosalata was white cod roe dip - it was smooth and silky and the saltiness and fishiness (in a good way) of the roe was delicious.  The Melitzanosalata was more subtle, with the smokiness from the eggplant complemented by the texture from the pine nuts.  The warm, crispy and fluffy pita was perfect for shovelling dip into your mouth.  At Hellenic Republic, there was a risk of filling up your stomach space with the pita, but it was just so so good.  And even with the small serves of the dip, we still had plenty leftover after finishing our pita.

I think our Saganaki was so much smaller and thinner today than it was on our first visit :(  Still tasted just as amazing, though.

Saganaki

For our mains, we decided to have the whole Baby Snapper.  

Baby snapper

Lemon butter sauce on ice

The fish was perfectly done, fall-of-the bone and juicy.  The skin was yum - MerlinFan and I agreed we would happily eat it even without the sauce.  AJ loved the lemon butter sauce.

MerlinFan also wanted to try the Mary's Moussaka.

Moussaka

Underneath the layer of bechamel were layers of potato slices, eggplant and meat.  It was rich, creamy and delicious.

We finished every bite on our plate but leaving without dessert wasn't even an option.  I saw they had changed the dessert portion of the menu just slightly. 

I had a Greek coffee - a must have.

Greek coffee

As much as I would have loved to share two desserts between the three of us like before, AJ couldn't stomach any more, so MerlinFan and I agreed on the rice pudding.

Risogalo

It came smaller than I had expected in a little jug.  MerlinFan thought this was the best dessert she had had here.  Dig through the top layer of pistachios and shortbread crumble you sink into gooey salted caramel and soft rice pudding right at the bottom.

My stomach's rumbling and my mouth watering after writing this review.  I have no doubt we will be back.  Highly recommended.