Rating: ★★★★☆

Address: 1/F, Ho Lee Comm Bld ,40 D’aguilar Street, Central 中環德己笠街40號好利商業大廈1樓

Telephone: 2522 1823

https://conceptcreations.hk/souvla/souvla-lan-kwai-fong/

香港現時的希臘餐廳還不算多，所以飲食傳媒界對新開業的Souvla 都十分關注。Souvla 是Concept Creations 集團旗下的新餐廳，主要供應經改良的傳統希臘菜式。多款菜式的烹調方法都很簡單，但完全能夠帶出食材原有的鲜味，其中我認為烤章魚，豬肉pita bread wrap及烤齒魚最美味。晚餐價錢每位大約$600，​​服務員很友善，但週末期間餐廳會比較吵。Souvla應是香港目前最出色的希臘餐廳，喜歡地中海美食的話實在要來試試!

Concept Creations, the group that runs Chicha, Frites and Tapeo, has brought us a new haunt in the heart of Lan Kwai Fong called Souvla. Named after the popular Greek dish of open-spit grilled meats, Souvla is a pioneering restaurant which serves Greek food with a modern twist. As there are only a few Greek restaurants in Hong Kong, this hip eatery caused a bit of a buzz amongst the media when it opened.

The restaurant has taken over the large space that used to be Harrington’s. Honeycomb-shaped lattices and golden honey timber is used in the restaurant, as the design was inspired by Greek honey, which is considered by some to be the best in the world thanks to the unlimited summer suns. The restaurant had a lively, upbeat ambiance, but my friends found the thumping music from the downstairs club, 7th Heaven, slightly distracting.

Service at the restaurant was friendly, responsive and hardworking, and when our dessert took a long time to be served, the chef came to our table to personally apologise to us, which was a very kind gesture.

(1) It was a Friday night gathering with my friends, but all three of them were over half an hour late! Fortunately, there was a very lovely waiter who chatted with me for some time, and I also had a glass of Super Paradise Punch ($100) to cheer me up. Made with Metaxa 7 and pineapple, peach, orange, lime and rose hip juices, the drink was a bright and fruity concoction with just the right level of alcoholic kick.

(3) The Cypriot Salata ($95) was beautifully done, with the grains pulses, nuts and pomegranate adding a range of lovely textures.

(5) The octopus with thyme, rosemary, parsley and lemon ($225) was sheer happiness on a plate. The octopus was magnificently crispy and surprisingly flavourful – in fact, it was so umami-rich that a friend who took a bite without looking at it asked if it was a piece of pork!

(7) I have tried different versions of pita bread all over the world, and the grilled pita ($30) at Souvla was one of the best I have ever eaten. Lightly grilled and buttered, the pita bread was decadently fluffy and soft and was truly impressive!

A portion of hummus ($75) was ordered. It was an accomplished work from the kitchen, and the amount of lemon juice, tahini and garlic was spot on.

(8) Our pork souvas ($65) arrived in a cute takeaway box.

These mini pita wraps were almost addictive – the pork, potato chips, tomato, parsley and some lahanosalata formed a mouthwatering combination of flavours, and it is a must-try dish if you ever come here!

(9) The glacier 51 toothfish ($395) which followed was unforgettable. It seemed a bit expensive to us at first for its portion, but the taste completely justified the price tag. Each bite of the fish was exquisitely juicy and tender, and the light seasoning accentuated the fish’s naturally delicious taste.

(10) The spit roasted pork with honey mustard skordalia ($255) was juicy and full of meaty flavours. I wished there was more tang in the mustard skordalia though!

(11) A photo of this medium rare rib eye steak with anchovy parsley butter ($385) was very well received when I posted it on Instagram (@stephs852diary) and Twitter (@stephs852diary), and everyone commented on how beautifully pink-middled, char grilled and evenly sliced it looked. However, while the flavour of the steak was marvellous, its texture was a tad too stringy.

(12) Our dessert was called loukoumades, which were little fried cinnamon-flavoured balls dipped in syrup and yoghurt. These puffs were certainly tasty, but were perhaps not as mind-blowing as how our waiter described them to be.

The bill for our Greek feast was around $600 per head, which included a 10% tip as the restaurant doesn’t impose a service charge. Souvla offers a set dinner menu for four persons or above at $455 per head, and also offers set lunches during the week and a Sunday champagne brunch. I will probably come back to try the set lunch or weekend brunch, but may not write a full review – stay tuned on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Stephs852Diary), Instagram (@stephs852diary) and Twitter (@stephs852diary)!