Category: Mediterranean Restaurants

Elia Greek Restaurant (Glasgow) : Review

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24 George Square
Glasgow G2 1EG
UK

T : 0141-221-9988
W : eliagreekrestaurant.com

Enjoy fresh, homemade, Greek food in beautiful, relaxed surroundings in the 
very heart of Glasgow, looking out onto the City Chambers in George Square. 
As well as the extensive choice of dishes we have on offer, we also have daily specials from the kitchen and a wide range of meze dishes to share with friends.

I have passed this restaurant a few times, and always looked in the window and thought one day I should try here. I have never really had Greek food, I had it many years ago and thought it was nice so it was time to try it again.

Visit Date : 18th March 2017

On entering we were shown to the table, and looking around the restaurant was really nicely decorated and looked very clean.

Starter :

Taramosolata £4.25
Seafood dip

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I recently had a nice seafood dip at Mezze, so I thought I would use that as a comparison.

Presentation-wise, it was ok. Not really sure the one olive was needed, but yeah it was ok.

Taste…for a seafood dip I didn’t find it that fishy. The one from Mezze was full of flavour and had a nice aftertaste. This one didn’t have much flavour for me, and the aftertaste was nothing.

Tonight wasn’t really getting off to a good start.

Portion Size : 5
Flavour : 1.5
Presentation : 2

Main :

Mousakka £12.00
made of layers of minced beef, courgette, aubergine and potato, all topped off with a creamy béchamel sauce. 

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I like my lasagna and I know this is like a Greek version of it, so I thought let’s give it a go and see what it’s like. Tonight I went for the meat version, as they also had a vegetarian version.

Visually this looked really nice, and I was looking forward to trying this.

After my first few mouthfuls, I was disappointed again.

This really had zero taste for me! my friends started laughing thinking I was just being super critical but my girlfriend had the vegetarian version and tried this and she agreed there was literally zero taste.

I tried hers and that was nicer, as you could taste the peppers etc.

This was meant to be made with courgettes, but I really couldn’t see or taste them.

I didn’t finish the dish which is very strange for me.

Portion Size : 5
Flavour : 1
Presentation : 3

Overall :

Tonight was very very disappointing, and I don’t like doing bad reviews as I normally try and type the good things but I can’t as I didn’t have any good experiences here from start to finish.

The service was just ok, the staff all looked very bored and didn’t really smile much. We waited in my opinion too long to get the credit card machine, as the waiter that night seemed to have forgotten to come back and continue serving the other tables.

The only good thing I can say is the atmosphere was nice, and other people dining did seem to be having a nice meal and time but for me, I can’t say the same.

I won’t be back.

  • Child Friendly : Yes (only if they are well behaved)
  • Cash/Credit Card : Both
  • Service : 2
  • The portion sizes : 5
  • Taste of dishes :  2
  • Atmosphere : 2.5
  • Overall : 1.5

Mezze Pre Launch Blogger Night (Glasgow) : Review

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28A Tunnel Street
Finnieston, Glasgow
G3 8HL

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Website : glasgowrotunda.com/mezze-glasgow/
Twitter : @MezzeGlasgow

Event Date : 16th March 2017

I was very lucky recently to be invited to the pre launch night at Mezze, this was held on the 16th March and the official opening was on the 17th.

Mezze is a relaxed Mediterranean rooftop restaurant and bar set on the top floor of the iconic Rotunda complex with the most spectacular views of the River Clyde and Glasgow.

Open from 12 noon until late expect casual dining with exciting mezze-style small plates cooked on our chargrill.

Mezze is situated on the top floor of the Glasgow Rotunda, I have only ever walked passed this building ash this was my first time going inside.

First Impressions :

On entering you see the centre which has been set up with seats, and above this is a beautiful starry centre area.

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To the left of this is the reception, followed by the bar and eating area.

I was a little early so I saw it without anyone, and it had a very relaxing and welcoming feel and look.

The Event :

Once we were in we were shown to the table, we were seated and it was time to look around and take some photos.

After a few minutes we were invited to go back to the centre and get a welcome Gin.

To my surprise it was Makar Gin, I was introduced to this gin at the recent Blythswood Hotel Gin Festival.

The girl that was here was Clair, who was also doing the main presentation at the Gin Festival so it was nice to see her again and have a chat.

My Gin and tonic used the Makar Gin “Old Tom” as I liked this at the previous event.

We then moved to the next table, this one had a selection of jars filled with dips and to learn about them. The jars were in two groups of three and consisted of the following :

Greek Sampler

  • tzatziki
  • tarama
  • melanzana

Turkish Sampler

  • houmous
  • muhhamara
  • pancar ezmesi

I tried a few but not all as I didn’t want to come over as a pig, but the Greek dips were more my favourite. From the Turkish dips I really loved the muhhamara, this was a really good.

Next we had to choose a sampler that was sent back to our table, the Greek was selected.

After enjoying the samples we headed back to our seats, to enjoy the dips at the table. After a short time the food started to come out.

The Food :

Chicken Souvlaki
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This was like a greek chicken kabab, the chicken was cooked perfectly and had a lot of nice flavours.

Seafood Saganaki
Seafood Stew, Tomato and feta

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WOW!!!! this was my favourite dish of the night, this was packed with flavours and the sauce with feta was amazing. A solid 10/10 for me.

Greek Potato Salad

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I am not that much of a fan of potatoes, but its was nice for what it was.

Orzo Pilaf
A rice shaped pasta

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Not much flavour for me for this dish, but it was very pleasant and very light.

Overall I was very impressed with the food tonight, my favourites were the dips and the Seafood Saganaki.

On my return I would like to try the seafood dish again, but I would like to also try a few different dished.

Drinks

After the meal we were asked to go and try some beer and wines, so we moved to the drinking area and started the next part of the event.

The Beer : 

I only tried the one beer tonight, the Volkan beer. This was a light beer with a nice caramel after taste.

I would like to try the others on my next visit.

The Wine : 

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I am not much of a wine drinker, if I do I tend to go for Rose.

I tried two wines tonight, Paranga and Akakies one was white and the other Rose.

Both wines were very nice, the Paranga was a nice light and easy to drink wine. The Akakies was my favourite of the night, as it was very light and sweet which I really like.

Overall :

This was a bloggers event and the food and drinks were free, so I can’t comment on cost but I will do on my next visit.

I have to say that I have been to a few blogger events, but this one I felt the most relaxed and the staff were very friendly which helped me really enjoy the evening.

I will definitely be coming back here, everything tonight was really good. I loved the food, and felt very relaxed it was a perfect evening for me.

A big thanks to Mezze for tonight, and the food and drinks.

At the time of posting this Mezze are now open, so do check them out.

  • Child Friendly : Yes (only if they are well behaved)
  • Cash/Credit Card : Both
  • Service : 5
  • The portion sizes & taste : 4
  • Atmosphere : 5
  • Overall : 4
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