Kamari Greek Kitchen, Brighton le Sands

Kamari Greek Kitchen is a Greek restaurant along busy The Grand Parade in Brighton le Sands. With live music on Friday and Saturday nights and a menu of classic Greek hits, it’s a popular restaurant. Find out why and why you need to book ahead of time.

It’s Friday night and I’m meeting Kristie at Kamari who is a local that lives a couple of streets away. Kamari was her suggestion as it is one of her favourite restaurants in the area. The restaurant is busy and booked up this Friday night but as she is a regular they squeeze us in. This evening there’s a band playing and we are right next to them so it is quite loud.

There’s a drinks menu but as I’m driving I just stick to something soft. The menu has several options apart from a la carte and you do need a bit of time to try and ascertain what to order as there are platters and tasting menus. We settle on the 7 course taste of the favourites from the menu for $55 a person. Service is super lovely (but then again Kristie is a regular and friend of the owner).

We start with a trio of dips: tzatziki, tarama and tyrokafteri the spicy feta dip. I love the tarama made with cod roe and olive oil and that’s my clear favourite although they’re all solid offerings. The triangles of village bread are plentiful and served warm.

The saganaki comes out dusted with oregano, sizzling and bubbling away. The hard Greek cheese on hot cast iron melts, caramelises and sticks to the edge of the pan while the centre is easy to scrape up.

“They’re all yours,” says Kristie pointing to the oysters as she doesn’t eat them. These large oysters are served fresh with a wedge of lemon and I’m delighted to get half a dozen to myself.

The Greek Salad is fresh and crunchy with a large slice of feta on top.

The horta or wilted greens have a slightly bitter edge to them but are tasty. It’s also good to have something like this with the rest of the protein heavy meal.

The next plate to arrive is the barbecued seafood plate with a smear of fava bean paste, some barbecue octopus and king prawns, served shelled with the head on. They’re good, served simply barbecued with lemon on the side.

We did order an extra dish just to try it as I haven’t really seen it on a Greek menu before. It’s chicken breast served with slices of halloumi on top and a creamy, lemony sauce. Although we are sitting at a table of four, ordering the extra dish means that it’s a tight squeeze. It’s an interesting dish and the creamy sauce really blankets the chicken so that’s all you really taste although I don’t know if I would order it again. The lemon potatoes however are stellar.

By now I am getting quite full but the meat platter comes out next and it’s my favourite course of the night so I make room for it.The pork souvlakia is tender, the lamb shoulder absolutely meltingly soft in texture while the lamb rissoles or Keftedes are perfectly seasoned and moreish. They go well with the garlicky skordalia dip and hand cut chips dusted in grated cheese. This is also a lot of food for $55 a person but if I were to come back I’d get this dish, the dips, lemon potatoes and chips and be a very happy gal.

The last course is of course dessert and the dessert has a piece of baklava and a piece of galaktobureko. I have an absolute weakness for galaktobureko because I love the combination of pastry and custard. This is soaked in a sweet pastry and is very good. The Greek coffee is strong and bitter to counter the sweetness of the desserts.

By now everyone is getting up to dance and this evening it’s mostly the teens and younger. One guy gets up and takes centre stage showing his moves off while everyone cheers him on and the parents and friends film it all.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you get up and dance at restaurants or are you more of an observer?

This meal was independently paid for.

Kamari

82 The Grand Parade, Brighton-Le-Sands NSW 2216

Phone: (02) 8590 1189

Open 7 days 11:30 am–3 pm, 5:30–9:30 pm

https://www.kamarirestaurant.com.au/