Manoli’s Greek Taverna Overview
Manoli’s Greek Taverna is a family run Greek and Mediterranean restaurant located in the heart of the Darwin CBD. Their menu is mezze style (tapas) so you can order many things to try and share with everyone at the table. From the street it looks like a takeaway shop, but once you get inside, you will see that it has minimalist décor reflecting their Greek and Mediterranean heritage with paintings from Greece. With the blue and white checkered table cloths, this Darwin Greek restaurant is ideal for groups, celebrations, families and even a nice night out with your partner. Friday and Saturday nights can get very busy, especially with live music to enjoy, so be sure to make a reservation in advance.
Darwin Hub Review of Manoli’s Greek Taverna
Visit date: 5th of September, 2010
Ambiance
Manoli’s has a very relaxed feel inside with simple Greek and Mediterranean décor. The front part of the restaurant has a large window where you can look out to the street and at busy times can get a little cramped with tables very close together. We were sitting in the front which was fine until it got busy. Every time somebody would walk to their table in the back of the restaurant, they would hit our table and that got a bit annoying after a while. However, I think this Darwin restaurant has a nice feel to it where you can relax with friends and family and enjoy your meal.
Service
We were squeezed in because we did not have a booking. Luckily we were eating at the early bird time of 6:30pm but were told we had to be out of there no later than 7:30 for the next booking at our table. We were baffled at first because we were the only people in the restaurant, but they had to turn quite a few people away because they were booked out solid for the whole night. We were thankful they got us in and were promptly served water, given a drink and food menu. Once we finally decided what to order, our food came out very quickly. I was very pleased with the service we received as everybody was happy to help with a smile on their face, but I did notice once it got busier they were not as attentive and we finally had to ask for our bill because it was getting close to the time we had to get out of there for the next booking. I don’t think they were not good waiters/waitresses like most people in Darwin restaurants, I just think they were a bit understaffed for how busy it was.
Food
The entire menu is in Greek with English translations for those of us not in the know of the Greek language! They offer an array of meat options, salads, seafood and even pasta. We were initially disappointed that they were out of the Mini Spanikopita (spinach and feta wrapped in filo pastry) as it sounded very delicious, but will definitely be on the list of things to try for our next visit.
Between two of us, we got 5 dishes and my ratings vary quite a bit; there were a few things that I thought were OK and a few that I loved.
The Loukanika (traditional spicy Greek sausages) was nice. I have never had Greek sausage so I had no idea what to expect, but the taste was definitely distinct. The quality of the sausage was very good and the serving was abundant.
The kolokithakia (pan-fried zucchini with garlic potato dip) was good, but nothing to call home about.
Lastly, the hallomi cheese (which is something that I generally love) felt a bit rubbery and was way too salty.
My loves were the saganaki balls (Greek cheese rolled in bread crumbs then shallow fried) and the skorthalia (fluffy garlic and potato dip with fresh made pita bread). These were incredibly amazing and cooked to perfection, oh and the pita bread was so good I could have eaten it all night long.
Vegetarian’s Note
For all of you vegetarians out there, there are many options to choose from such as the tzatziki (garlic yogurt and cucumber dip), skorthalia (fluffy garlic and potato dip), ftazimo (homemade bread), horta vrasta (spinach with a touch of lemon and olive oil), bumyes (okra cooked in Greek style salsa), melinzanes (pan fried eggplant), rovithia (Greek style chickpeas), gigantes (Greek style baked beans), mini spanikopita (spinach and feta wrapped filo pastry), salads and more!
