lefkas taverna

why so rude, lefkas?. my friends and i went to lefkas taverna last night and we were all really excited. it was some of our first times trying this restaurant and we heard it was byo, so we were all really pumped about it.

we were late for half an hour, we did feel bad, but accidents do happen. the guys didn't even say anything, or call and ask whether if we are okay. (i used to work in hospitality, and we understand that some customers can be late due to traffic and other reasons.) as we soon as we walked in the guy was like "you only have an hour and half to dine here" we were really confused and wondering why. he then said "it is only two hour dining time, so your booking was at six so you need to finish at eight; and you are half an hour late" then he add "it is normal on friday and saturday, to have 2 hours dining time"

what kind of attitude was that? nobody told us there is only two hours dining time when we made the booking, and he talked to us like we should have known. well, we didn't

as mentioned we heard it was byo, so we have a bottle with us. when we sat down, the guy said immediately "sorry, we are not byo." because one of our friends came here before so she said she went there many time and it was byo. he gave us the most ridiculous answer "we are only byo on tuesday, wednesday and thursdays only." then my friend mentioned again she went there before and it wasn't those days. he answeredbackwith "yes, we have changed it, and it says on the website too."

so what could we have said? it has already ruined happy mood towards it. we didn't have our wine, we ended up ordering a bottle. thankfully the food wasn't bad. however, it still didn't make up the rudeness and the uninformative service.

we don't have time to check your website, every time, we might have to go in. we do not know that on friday and saturday, there's only 2 hours of dining time. your restaurant is either byo, or not byo. that night we saw three other tables that had the same problem! so is it, really that the customers didn't check the website? you as the staff need to inform your customers when they make the booking!

so overall, i wouldn't gobackunless i have to. did the food make up for the service, no. did the atmosphere in the restaurant make up the fact that they were uninformative, no.

my birthday is coming up and we decided to go out last night to have a date night. we chose lefkas and made a booking two weeks prior after having a look at their menus and reviews and it was absolutely a great decision. we had a wonderful night dining at lefkas, from their service to their food and drinks. as shown in the pics, we ordered a combination platter, which had a bit of everything, chicken, lamb, seafood, pitas and a big chunk of halloumi. the lamb was grilled medium rare and was quite flavorful and juicy. i really loved how they seasoned the meat. the chicken was tender and tasted different than the lamb but still quite delicious. we especially loved their baby octopuses and deep fried calamari. they were so well done and we couldn’t figure out how they cooked the octopuses but they were yummy. and the halloumi, best grilled halloumi i have ever had. we reckon it was pre-marinated. so tender and easy to cut through and the cheesy flavor was well maintained despite of the saltiness that comes with it. the tzatziki dip was so creamy and rich and we loved every bit of it. we were a bit surprised at the portion of the platter when it was brought out as it didn’t look as much in pictures we had seen previously. it was def enough for two people. as for the drinks i got a moscato and for someone who only drinks a few times a year, i must say i really enjoyed it. it had this distinctive fruity flavor to it and was easy on the throat when swallowing it. my boyfriend grabbed their vilana vidiano, which is greek and i must say even i liked it and i don’t even like red wine that much. the service was quite good. the staff were friendly and attentive. the whole place was radiating a young and vibrant vibe and was so full of energy. it does get busy and you may have to wait for a bit if you show up without a booking. all in all, it was a quite a pleasant and high standard experience and we will def gobackagain.

have loved this place for years! i feel with the ownership change a whilebackand the new fit out they’ve taken it to a whole new level. brilliant food and fantastic environment. plus the servings are huge! love it

yummy greek food in west end. the platter is huge and everything was yum. will gobackagain to try the gyro and home cooked dishes like mossaka.

this was the last meal i had before i got my teeth extracted pre adult brace life, so i remember it with immense fondness and longing for the time i had fully functioning teeth. i went with my hubby kate and a second time later in that week when we had will's birthday and i badgered him into going here over all other greek spots in west end. spoiler alert, i think it's one of the best greek places in west end! 

the parking is a bit shoddy, since its on the corner of dornoch terrace and hardgrave road. good luck finding a side road with parking, or get good at parallel parks fam. i'm not sure what the solution is here, really? the restaurant itself is simply done, and also super cold in winter due to their giant glass doors. it has a casual takeaway bain marie setup, run in and get some takeaway food!

we got the combination platter for two, it had baby octopus, lamb souvlaki, chicken souvlaki, calamari, haloumi, a stack of pita bread and some hommus. originally the option was tzatziki but the whole lactose intolerance thing for me y'know. we also got the option to get a greek salad and chips cause we fatties. 

this entire platter was freaking fantastic and too much for two girls, i still had a huge serve for breakfast the next day.in the order of what we got, here are my thoughts! baby octopus are pretty good, super tender but the seasoning is better at the greek club. the souvlaki both lamb and chicken were freaking fantastic, so tender, juicy with a great garlic and oregano seasoning, not in the least bit dry! they gave us a huge generous serve of calamari with salt and pepper coating and a tender crumb, i was still able to eat this when i got my teeth removed! the haloumi is the biggest, goddamn serve you'd find in brisbane, like a giant mattress of a serve! we got two big slabs that were as thick as solid paperback book, let's say a good 5cm or so, look at that solid char! pita bread wasn't bad but wasn't as fluffy as the greek club. 

we also got the taramasalata and pita bread, by we, i mean i got it solely for myself. i love taramasalata, smooth, creamy, fishy salty but not overpowering. solid. 

chips were good! 

the greek salad had leaves, and i am strongly against improving on the classic greek salad in any way. i also dislike rocket.

the second time i went here, i stole pieces of the this chicken yiros. it was not able to be closed on first attempt, they gave you a super generous serve of chicken and you had to slowly deflate the pile before attempting closing! 

the lamb cutlets were amazing, so juicy and i stole people's bones to nibble that caramelised fat off. its honestly the best part of the cutlets i think. 

definitely would get again. 100% would comebackhere again!

great food, great atmosphere! my family's staple restaurant in brisbane for years! we love it here and will always comeback😄 the food is always fresh, tasty, staff are always friendly and helpful and the live music makes you want to dance!

i love lefkas! it's just tasty food! we returned for a saturday night booking and although we arrived a bit early, were promptly seated. the restaurant was full and this was the first time sitting off in the side room which was quite noisy but no complaints! i'm here to eat! we ordered a trio of dips, not because we needed more food with our main but to try. we also ordered the combination platter for 2, however we swapped out the octopus for my non-seafood eating partner and subbed in some souvlaki (i kept the calamari for myself!). drinks and food came out very quickly, especially considering how busy they were. i noticed around me tables receiving their food at the same time as their guests which is something i appreciate. the bread i find addictive - warm and chewy soft and i know i shouldn't fill up but it's just there!! i can't recall the names of our 3 dips but we had a tzatziki, a potato garlic one (like a cold mashed potato really, different but nice) and an eggplant and feta one. all decent. the combo platter comes with (more!) bread, calamari, lamb and chicken souvlaki, haloumi, and in our case mixed yiros meat, with some lemon and tzatziki. the calamari is lightly battered and very tasty. i am certain some may say too salty - i like salty flavours and it may have been a bit too much even for me but still loved it. the souvlakis are also beautifully marinated and there are 2 skewers of each. there are 2 thick portions of the softest haloumi and the yiros in place of the octopus was a great swap and nice with the lemon and bread. we bit off more than we could chew ordering an entree and had to box up our leftovers to take home. a delicious filling meal. friendly and attentive service. we always get the platter but must comebackto try some of their meals, they look huge and prices very reasonable.

really well priced, with huge portions and great interior. staff are a bit sparse and quite busy, but it's a popular joint and well worth the money. it was the first time i had ever had moussaka and i really don't think i'll ever gobackto eating lasagne! also, they have the option of having roast vegetables with your main instead of salad, which is really quite a thoughtful option to have.

had the combination platter for 2 ( lamb & chicken souvlaki, octopus , calamari, haloumi, tzatziki & pita). i was very disappointed because i was expecting a lot after reading good reviews from zomato. taste was very average. the calamari and octopus were not fresh, looks like they were cooked much before as they weren't even hot when served. they looked soggy and didn't taste fresh. the lamb was okay. they didn't serve tzatziki as mentioned in the menu, instead served skord alia. they didn't bother to mention the swap. only when i ordered the skord alia as a separate dip i realised it was the same thing. i would never gobackthere.

had a craving for greek salad and popped in for lunch - desperately want to comebackasap and try a platter though as they looked amazing! little pricey but the food was fresh and tasty. perfect thing for a muggy hot brisbane day.

yum, yum, yum, yum, did i say yum? boy did i get my craving for greek food fixed. glad to stumble across this place food was awesome. loved the tarama dip so much i bought a container to take home lol,also ordered a mixed platter for two every element was cooked perfectly tender. will bebacksoon

didn't comebackfor a long time, shame that they charge us $1 per sauce, well at least i didn't get to know before i ordered it. other than that food was beautiful as before. (sep 2017)love it, all the food there, but usually we ordered the seafood platter to share...more than enough....if you have it before dinner time (the peak time) i still won't be hungry until the next day. and don't miss out the dessert before you leave. (aug, 2015)

lefkas is one of my favourite greek restaurants in brisbane.  when i first discovered the place a few years back, it was all about simple but well cooked meals, generous in size and cheap in price.  back in ye ole days, you had to go next door to the bottle shop to get your drinks, it was that pared back.   flash forward to today, lefkas has undergone some changes.  the restaurant itself is two to three times bigger post renovations and has a more up-market feel.  the meals are half the size and twice as much as it was yester year but fortunately the taste is still the same.   fried calamari on this occasion we had the grilled baby octopus and the calamari lightly floured and fried for the entree. they were about $20 each. grilled octopus i normally also order the home made dips in the past - well worth a try as well. for mains, we ordered a mixed yiros with a combination of chicken, lamb and pork - the holy trinity of meats!  it was approx $22 for the combo.  the meat was tender and garlic-y good.  it melted in your mouth.   verdict:  we liked it.   overall  despite leftkas going up market, the integrity of the food is still the same.  i am still a loyal customer.  you can now pay by credit card - proving the convenience of the modern age!

very nice!!!!!!!!!!. if the owner is looking after you himself on a busy saturday night, it has to be good. loved the flavours, good quantities and although service a bit slow after you finish, but, still very good and laid back. the flavours very remarkable, whether the dips or lemon chicken or even the vegetarian...would certainly gobackand recommend it to friends as well!!!!!!!!!!!

could not fault our lunch. really great atmosphere, and pretty good coffee too. nice and fresh with welcoming staff, will be comingbackandbackagain.


-----04 oct, 2014-----

perfect lunch. great atmosphere with fantastic fresh food. will return.