If you are wondering about the word Alati, it means salt and is from the Greek word ἅλας. If you are wondering about the location of the restaurant, it is actually located on the same stretch as Sugarhall and Burlamacco. Exit from Telok Ayer MRT, walk along Telok Ayer Street towards Boon Tat Street and if you see the likes of porridge shop, fish head noodles and some Korean restaurant, then that is about right.
Not only Amoy Street is an unfamiliar territory for me, so is Greek cuisine. Had only experienced Mediterranean cuisine once, and Turkish cuisine about thrice in my lifetime thus far.
Perhaps you are a seasoned traveller and had been to Greece, or perhaps you are just curious about this relatively new cuisine in Singapore. Whichever reason it is, the good news is that Alati, with chefs from Greece, offers diners a viable option to experience foods and wine imported from Greece, without having to travel too far.
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| interior |
This invited session saw us seated in the Santorini'esque restaurant with its white-washed walls and blue colour scheme. Heard that the place gets quite crowded on Fridays, hence do make your
reservation if you intend to visit during the weekends.
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| bread basket with olive oil dip flavoured by aged balsamic, basil, sea salt, tomato flakes |
The crusty bread in the basket was baked in-house and with a soft chewy texture. Enjoyable with the dip but wished for more of that aged balsamic.
Ever tried a Greek Sauvignon Blanc? Here, we had the Amethytos Blanc from Kostas Lazaridis. The wine is a blend of 85% Sauvignon blanc and remaining
Assyrtiko. Very light yellow hue, fruity, very drinkable with medium body.
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| Amethytos Blanc @$78++ per bottle |
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| cheers |
For starters, how about a hearty plate of Greek salad, Horiatiki. Cucumber, tomatoes, red onions, pitted olives, bell peppers and whole square of feta cheese topped with capers. Not forgetting, the lovely drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
The feta has a strong flavour so probably not a good idea to have too much of the feta in one mouthful. Yummy to have a sip of the Amethytos after a bite.
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| Horiatiki χωριάτικη σαλάτα @$22++ |
Next, we sampled the Dolmadakia from the Meze (small dish) section. Dolmas
ντολμάς refers to stuffed vegetable dishes that is common in the Middle East. Vine(grape) leaves stuffed with rice and pine nuts. Something new to try. Small parcel and very light flavour-wise. The pine nuts were prominent in this dish.
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| Dolmadakia ντολμάς @$19++ |
One meze is not enough. Would you like to have Fyllo-wrapped feta with crisp skin that breaks with a crunch, generously sweetened with honey and topped with sesame? Enjoyed this dish quite a bit and was left wondering if the same combination would work for a slightly more melty type of cheese?
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| Fyllo-wrapped feta @$15++ |
Next, was a dish that made the most impression on my taste buds that night. Pita bread served with 4 types of dips. The bread is a separate order from the dips. The portion of the dips that we sampled is said to be half the portion each. Normal portion of one dip is $15++.
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| Special platter of 4 dips @$32++ , one portion of bread @$4++ |
Bread was served warm, it was so fun to use it to scoop up the dips. Mainly because I didn't notice the service spoon (teaspoon!).
Liked the Fava which is the Santorini’s bean puree with onions, as it had a very classic taste to it. Pureed bean texture and sweetness from the beans.
The one that made the most impression? To me, that would be the Taramosalata, or also known as the cod roe cream. Just one bite of this and the taste just jumps out at you. A little bit fishy, salty and definitely tasty!
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| Dips (top anti-clockwise) Fava, Taramosalata, Tzatziki and Melitzanosalata |
For those that prefer light refreshing taste, then Tzatziki would be ideal for you. This dip is all Greek yoghurt, cucumber, dill and garlic. Whets the appetite, so go for more! The smoked eggplant with walnuts dip (Melitzanosalata) turned out milder in flavour than expected.
Be careful though. One just can't help, but to keep on scooping up those delicious dips. One by one, these wonderful triangles of bread just kept disappearing!
For those of us that must have our meats, don't worry. Greek cuisine is not just about vegetables, olive oil, basil and feta cheese.
For a light snack to go along with the wonderful wines, we had the deep fried shrimp and this dish is called Garides. Smallish in size, adequately crispy and seasoned. Highly addictive.
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| Garides @$7.80++ per 100 grams |
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| Mousaka @$26++ |
One of the more traditional Greek dishes, would be the Mousaka. A dish of minced beef with eggplant, potatoes and belchamel sauce. The version here is not as soft as I thought it would be. The texture is almost similar to a pan-fried radish/carrot cake squares.
The grilled fish was nice with slightly flaky meat. Served with three dips and plenty of grilled root vegetables. The fish was good on its own, lifted with just a light squeeze of lemon and a few drops of those sea-salt.
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| Lavraki (grilled seabass) @$9.80++ per 100 grams |
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| grilled seabass, deboned |
Let's drink a red wine. How about a bottle of Tsantali Maronia Kanenas Mavroudi Syrah? A medium bodied red, aromas of berries and dark cherries with slight spice.
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| Tsantali Maronia Kanenas Mavroudi Syrah @$80++ |
The red seemed popular as I noticed there were quite a few tables were having that on our day of visit.
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| Kotopoulo Souvlaki @$24++ |
The Kotopoulo Souvlaki, is a skewer of grilled chicken, served with potatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, onions, yoghurt and some pieces of flat bread. The potatoes were flavourful and the yoghurt sauce was appetising. The chicken were a tad too tough for me but the bread was wonderful as it had soaked up the sauces.
Tried another fish dish. The seabream baked in salt. Just add $10++ for the fish to be done salt-baked style. Cooking time for salt-baked is about 45 minutes. The fish would be brought ala-trolley to the table and it will be cracked open and served, deboned. Served with two different mayo dips. The texture of the squid ink mayo dip was rather unusual. Well, as long as it tasted good! Lovely fish done salt baked style. Felt that it was much more moist as compared to grilled.
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| Salt baked Tsipoura (seabream) @$10.20++ per 100 grams |
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| salt baked seabream deboned and served with squid ink mayo and basil mayo |
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| grilled root vegetables, served with salt baked fish |
By this course, I was already having food coma. The wine was kicking in and basically the stomach was saying no more. But, desserts would be served soon. And, by desserts, we had some more wine. This time, a digestif wine named Mastiha, a type of Greek spirit.
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| Mastiha @$150++ per bottle |
The digestif was described quite aptly to us, and that it tasted like ginseng. Sampled a shot, and indeed, one could recognise the aroma similar to ginseng. Potent and very sweet. To be sipped slowly and carefully.
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| Mastiha shot @$10++ |
Speaking of sweets and desserts, ever wondered how a Greek desserts would be like? Haven't a clue prior to this and so, was awaiting to be surprised.
For the adventurous, there is this desserts that I have no knowledge of its name. Made of custard and topped with Mastiha cream (yes, the Mastiha liquer) and an unusual fillings of...wait, vermicelli? Hmm. Interesting indeed.
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| interesting fillings, unusual taste |
Next, we sampled some Greek fried donuts known as
Loukomades λουκουμάς. Small golden balls of fried crispiness, drizzled with honey, and sprinkling of cinnamon and walnuts. Additional $4 for vanilla ice-cream for added cold creamy sweetness. Most of us Asians would definitely be able to identify with the familiar taste of loukomades. A bit like the butterly fritters but with ultra thin dough and well-fried to heavenly crispiness.
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| Loukomades @$16++ |
Had an enjoyable evening and learnt that bit more about Greek cuisine and wines. All thanks to Alati and Khai Git for hosting the dinner, and HGW for the invitation.
If you are around the area during lunch time, do drop by Alati to check out their good-value weekday lunch set.
Alati Divine Greek Cuisine
Address: 73 Amoy Street, Singapore
Contact: +65 62216124
Website:
http://www.alati.sg
Operating Hours
Lunch
: Mon-Fri, 12:00pm to 2.30pm (Last order 2:00pm)
Dinner
: Mon-Sat, 6:00pm to 12:00am (Last order 10:00pm)
Sunday Closed
Public Holidays/Eves open as usual.
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