tl;dr: the long and short of it here is that lefka's simply is one the classic places in brisbane, for all the right reasons. it has some great food that is high quality, and good value, and with all the busy buzzing that goes about, it is a real delight to have service that is as personable, and attentive as they have here. just those two things, and a long-standing good reputation, and the place ought to be pretty set.
there is little point in mincing words about this place. if any place stands as a testament to being a favourite, to showcasing the greek community in brisbane's west end. the fact that it is still standing after all of these years, and even in the middle of the week during dinner-time, that it is buzzing loudly and continuously, that is even more of a testament to the quality of the food, and everything. that is none other than lefka's, and without any doubt i have visited this several times in the many years i have lived in brisbane. bringing the consensus home early, it is really just as good as it always was.
through so many years of being between here and urbanspoon, somehow right here had evaded getting reviewed by me. well, that was no more and i saw a great opportunity for it one week. my parents were in town for a meeting, and were going to stay overnight at my place; with that aspect set in motion, leading up to that week, my dad and i had a conversation about getting a meal out for my mum with her birthday having been sometimeback. what this involved was finding a place to eat somewhere in the inner city area, and west end seemed the best bet.
then it hit me all of a sudden. in spite of what might have been implied, there was no build up to booking here but more everything falling into line. all that needed to be done was to put in a booking, and getting that done online in between times was easy as pie. before long, a table for four was booked - with the fourth member being my house mate/dining buddy. so it was him and i of to here to meet the parents.
one of the things that was noted about here, is that there has been a big extension to the place. it used to only take up one room with a few more tables on the sidewalk, but now there is two or three rooms taken up with such a giant, open floor plan, with a couple of special rooms off to the side.
it would be pretty difficult to ask for better service, particularly from one young woman to attended to us throughout the night. she was pleasant, chirpy and very efficient bringing things to and from the table throughout the night. also, what makes that even better was that there was no shortage of clientele to attend to, and even with hundreds of errands big and small to do, everyone is made to feel equally welcome. this is something which would take a hell of a lot of effort to achieve, and a whole lot more to make it seem just as effortless as it appears.
the fare that they serve is a good melding of the origins of greek cuisine and the adaptations to australian. this is possibly what we have been eating in town for the past 30-40 years, and this fare is something which ain't going away anytimesoon. like any place around here that is highly popular and a surefire winner of an option, the majority of the menu represents it really well with a lot of the fare readily sharable. in other words, the menu starts off with quite the selection of mezze that ranges from various dips with bread, to different bits of seafood - with its own section and everything - to a good enough variety to satisfy vegetarian diets. if making a choice proves to be a bit hard, they have hot platters for two people to entice trying a whole array of nibbles.
after all that, it is the grilled meats that are on offer, as well as several classic greek dishes. lamb rules the roost here for the most part, and everything is cooked slowly on the spit releasing all the flavours and aromas through the juices and sweat from cooking. adding onto all these are various sides including several salads. really big groups get the honour to be able to order some banquets, which will guarantee that they try a whole range of the great treats that are on offer here.
and that is before mentioning the sweets and drinks they have. for the eating part, just think of a big range of the classic pastries from the mediterranean and there you go. to go with them is tea and coffee, and jumping from there with the drinks adds on the general range of sodas, plus a range of wines, beers, cocktail and the ilk. all this makes for the ideal night out.
after all of that, it is hightimeto get onto the eating. to start the whole night off, a couple of nibbles plus some bread and dips. the nibbles came in the form of some saganaki cheese - almost a tough choice from haloumi ... almost - and an order of some white bait. the white bait was piping hot and delicious, mostly from the combination of a substantial batter, and an exciting seasoning mixture than included plenty of salt. the saganaki cheese is like haloumi on steroids; that is with the taste and how it is cooked. a small piece of it is very strong, and the sheer bite of the aroma makes it melt in the mouth once it goes in. hot and freshly sizzling, this sucker must definitely be tried out.
as for getting the three dips, those dips were the tarama (or cod roe), the eggplant dip known as melitzanosalata, and the garlic-potato mixture skordalia. alongside them was plenty of piping hot flat bread, which was tender and delicious, plus the ratio of dips to bread was pretty adequate. if more food were not being ordered already, a top up of bread would have been a done deal. the skordalia was brilliant in all of its garlic-based goodness, the tarama was smooth, slightly salty and went down a treat, and the eggplant also did its job. all of this was just the beginning.
after that good lot of starters it was onto the main meals. the meals here are pretty substantial. the lot included some mousaka, stifado, half a kilogram of lamb souvla, and baked lemon chicken with sides of fries and greek salad being ordered. with exception to the salad, i managed to sneak a try of each item. from the small try of the mousaka i had - which went home as a doggy bag - it was all-round delicious with soft potato, tender lamb mince, and creamy eggplant. that is a greek classic, and it is for a very good reason.
going onto the souvla, that is one of major reasons for coming here. a choice of either lamb or chicken, this meat is slowly cooked on the spit, and carved up in big bits onto the plate which then has the option of a side to spruce up the meal. the meat here is some of the most tender, most juicy, and most substantial that will be found in any part of town here. this is not a meal for one, but a platter to be shared around - and you would be wanting to do so. next was the baked lemon chicken, which the meat was super tender and fell off the bone easily, and the skin infused the lemon flavour effectively and was deliciously crispy. onto mine, the stifado - which is slowly-cooked beef in a red wine sauce served with onions and rice. just like the rest, the meat was tender and delicious being simply moreish. the onions added a sweetness to it, and the well-cooked rice soaked up all the delicious sauce effectively.
with a place goes from decent to really great, sometimes it is in something as simple and straightforward as fries. right here, from the first bite of them, my dining buddy reckoned that they were perfect and he would not be wrong there. such a generous serving size, the seasoning was heavy and really made the dish, and the mixture between the crispy coating and soft-cooked potato was spot on. and the meal would have easily ended here and still being one of the best that had been done all year.
when there is a chance for a shot at the 5.0 score, a trial is proposed and put into place. that is to try some dessert to sweeten the deal. of course, the way to get that into motion was going for a coffee. with it being a greek place, it was none other than the classic greek coffee, and one thing leads to another which culminates in pairing the coffee with a sweet. not going for anything too heavy or big, one of the absolute reliable classics was chosen in the form of a galaktoboureko. ultimately though, the coffee came with a turkish delight so it was not really necessary to get the sweet for a critique - but i ain't complaining here.
first with the coffee, the size of the cup they give might be equivalent to one in a doll's tea party set, however the small lot that is brewed into that cup may well be stronger than three espressos alone. the force is akin to a short punch to the gut, and it will take a few sips from even a seasoned drinker to finish it. also, it is piping hot and has a slight under-taste of cardamon in it. the turkish delight was tasty as per usual, a tad sweeter than normal plus it was almost entirely encased in icing sugar. the galaktoboureko was also delicious, with the sweetness merely coming from the honey and the pastry being substantially crunchy. only a few dollars, this managed to do the trick many desserts twice its price can't quite cover.
without any kind of hyperbole intended, this is pretty much as good as it can get in town. everything here is right on point, going from the aesthetics to the service, to some of the most generous, best quality fare that could be found on any side of town. everything here is in order, and it makes for the ideal place for a good night out whether it be special occasion for something that is completely on the fly.
there is a good reason that after all these years, that if lefka's somehow finds itself open on any day of the week, that it will be buzzing with heaps of business. the welcoming service among so many clientele really helps the case, and the glue that sticks it all together is the sheer quality and value of the fare that they dish out. that is the main reason that they have stuck around for all these years, and a great bet is that they will still be doing this many more years down the line.