On Friday, Hubby and I had the pleasure of dining at the new Mythos Greek restaurant at Suncoast Casino. I’m sure if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that we’ve eaten at the Hillcrest branch and enjoyed the food immensely.
If you DIDN’T already know, in 2007 (many many years ago), my family took a 3-week long trip to Greece. That year we were celebrating so many big things – my 21st, my sister’s 18th, my dad’s 60th and my parent’s 25th wedding anniversary – so my folks decided to really celebrate this in style. For 2 weeks, we were on board a yacht, sailing around the Ionian, and for the final week we divided our time between Olympia and Athens. It was truly the holiday of a lifetime! We ate so many delicious taverna meals, and saw so many beautiful sights.
Eating out at a Greek restaurant really needs to make me feel like I’m back at a taverna on the waterfront somewhere, feasting on different plates of food and listening to the local music. And – at Mythos Suncoast, it did exactly that.
We were exceptionally lucky that the night we visited, the restaurant was holding one of their traditional Greek nights – something they do on the first Friday of each month. Let me just tell you – these are well worth a visit, but you need to book in advance, as they are SUPER popular. The traditional nights involve plenty of ouzo (the aniseed flavoured Greek spirit), lots of traditional music, dancing and the infamous plate throwing. The staff were absolutely wonderful at including everyone in the festivities, and our evening was so much fun that we’re still talking about it (and plan on taking my folks with to the next one).
Other than the ouzo, we shared a bottle of Villiera Merlot (R195) which was lovely and easy drinking, a fabulous table wine.
On the food side of things, we really enjoy eating meze-style, so sharing food this way was our best bet. Being the carnivores that we are, we selected the Meat Meze Platter for 2 (R298), which included Keftethes (traditional Greek meatballs), fillet and chicken Souvlaki (marinated skewer of meat), prawns, calamari, Yiro (lean strips of schwarma beef), peri-peri chicken livers, Tzatziki (Greek yoghurt, cucumber and garlic dip), Taramosalata (whipped cod fish roe dip) and fresh pita bread.
Every bit of this dish was superb – even the calamari after it cooled slightly, remained soft and tender. We demolished the whole plate! Beautifully prepared, presented and absolutely delicious. The peri-peri chicken livers were our favourite part though, as they were super soft, and the spice level was just right.
We also ordered the Spanakopita (R48), the traditional spinach and feta pie, at the recommendation of a few of my readers, and it was so moreish that I could totally have ordered more.
However, there was no way that we were visiting a Greek restaurant and NOT ordering Halloumi cheese. We decided to mix things up and order it Santorini-style (R65), baked in a sesame crust and drizzled with honey – and let me tell you, make this one of your orders next time you’re near a Mythos. Just squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over the top, and dig in. It was absolutely sublime.
You’d assume that after all this food we’d be satisfied, and we probably were. However, all the Greek dancing had led to an almighty appetite, and I was not leaving the restaurant without sampling their infamous Baklava Cheesecake (R65), a baked cheesecake with cream and topped with a generous amount of the beautiful phyllo pastry, nut and honey dessert. My darling Hubby, whom I adore, even distracted me and scooped the last bite – that’s how good this was. Even if you just order this to go, make sure you order some. It’s a must for any cheesecake lover!
Overall
Our meal was nothing short of perfect. We glanced around at all the tables dotted around us, and each customer was getting the same great service and big smiles from the staff. Every single plate of food that went out looked exactly like the dishes in the menus, and the food was melt-in-your-mouth good.
There was a minor hiccup with our booking when we arrived, but it’s the way a restaurant bounces back from an error that will always leave an impression. And Mythos – you’re burned into our hearts now, and we’ll be back many, MANY times. Thank you for a wonderful evening!
