Alpha, Sydney CBD

Miss Piggy dinned as a guest of Alpha and Wasamedia.

Long before I used to daydream about begin adopted by a Malaysian or Japanese family I longed to part of a Greek family. A family that would feed me delicious Greek food til I burst.

I absolutely adore the flavours of Greek food - the salty dips, freshly grilled seafood, charred meats and the cheese, oh the cheese! To me a salad is not a salad unless it has a liberal hunk of feta cheese lurking in the bowl.

Luckily for me Sydney has a few really great Greek restaurants and I'd say the newly opened Alpha on Castlereagh Street is one of the best. The dining room can be found on the ground floor of the Hellenic Club and it's truly a lovely space. Big, open with plenty of room between tables so you do feel like you're sitting on your neighbours lap.

Alpha have recently started serving Saturday lunches and this is what I'm hear to enjoy. We are lucky enough to try all the items from the Yia Yia fixed $55 menu (marked with an *) plus a few extras thrown in for good measure.

Mezes - the menu starts with a selection of Meze, or small plates if you will.  I'm pleased to see that some of my firm favourites appear here, salty Taramosolato (cod roe dip), olives served warm and of course falafel. The plate of haloumi that is set down before us is so glorious that I almost lose my breath (lucky for me I have my trusty Ventolin close at hand)!

• Pita Bread*
• Taramosolato – White Cod’s roe dip*
• Melitzanosalata – Smoked Eggplant Dip*
• Marinated Greek and Local Olives with Citrus Zest, Garlic and Oregano*
• Chickpea Falafel with Coriander Yoghurt*

• Ouzo Cured Ocean Trout with a Fennel, Orange, Watercress and Sumac Onion Salad

• Halloumi Saganaka with Ouzo, Lemon & Oregano*

From the Kitchen - next is a series of larger dishes "from the kitchen". The flavoursome meat on the lamb ribs literally falls from the bone and it is lush, fatty (in the way that all lamb should be) and perfectly tender.  A plate piled high with Greek spiced slow roasted lamb shoulder comes served with lemon roast potatoes (the best potatoes ever I have to say) and tzatziki - this, along with a salad would a perfect lunch for a hungry couple.

• Spanakopita – a spinach pie rich with leeks, fetta and dill*
• Slow Roasted Lamb Spare Ribs with Thyme, Honey and Ouzo Glaze
• Greek Spiced Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder with Lemon Roast Potatoes and Tzatziki*
• Eggplant Stack with Taramosolato and grilled scallops

Dishes from the Grill and Rotisserie - the Grill and Rotisserie sit behind in the bar in the restaurant and it's here that dishes such as this tender octopus served atop of bed of white beans are cooked.

• Octopus Twice Cooked with spinach, white beans and red wine vinaigrette *

Sides - like I said before it's not a salad unless there's a pile of feta cheese in the bowl...which makes this fine specimen one pretty perfect salad!

• Horiatiki Salad*...which is another way of saying Greek Salad – a plate of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, red onions, Kalamata Olives and the most glorious slab of Feta cheese ($14.00).

Dessert - I'm full to bursting by this stage (all my dreams have come true clearly) but at the sight of dessert I'm suddenly hungry again! The loukoumi delight icecream slice really blew me away.  I loved the delicate rosewater flavour...and there were little pieces of Turkish Greek Delight dotted throughout. YUM..

• Loukoumi Delight Ice Cream Slice – Strawberry, Raspberry, Filo Cigar.

• Loukoumades* – Greek doughnut balls with a spiced honey syrup and candied walnut ice-cream

Alpha Restaurant is at 238 Castlereagh Street, Sydney. Phone them on 9089 1111.