The food offering at the art deco style Civic Hotel behind World Square at Town Hall has had a revamp, with strong Greek influences on the menu thanks to new chef David Tsirekas.
We sampled the highlights from the new menu as part of a chef’s table tasting, starting off with a Meze Board that paired fluffy pita with a delicious smoky eggplant dip and a zesty taramasalata (cured fish roe dip), to get our appetites going. Other Mediterranean elements on the Meze Board included thin slivers of bresaola, marinated olives, dolmathes (rice covered with vine leaves – described as “Greek sushi”) and a tasty mini spinach pie encased in flaky filo pastry.
Meze Plate
Next up, we had the Civic Signature Mini Yeeros which were served up slider style, with the airy pita bread topped with 3 different proteins, which were all incredible in their own way. My favourite was the soft Athenian Duck (a fun twist on Peking Duck) with hoisin sauce, though the Pork Belly was also cooked to perfection, and the Soft Shell Crab with mayo was also a hit.
Civic Signature Mini Yeeros
Moving onto the main courses, we had the slow cooked Lamb Shoulder which fell apart nicely, but was a bit drier than we were expecting and was best eaten together with the saucier Mushroom Truffle Moussaka for some traditional Greek comfort food.
Lamb Shoulder
Mushroom Truffle Moussaka
The Civic Hotel has done a great job weaving in traditional and fusion Greek dishes into their menu, especially the Mini Yeeros which are fantastically flavoursome bar snacks that are sure to be a hit. Worth coming in just to have a few of them with some Greek wines from their wine selection.
Excuse Me Waiter dined as guests of The Civic Hotel
The Civic Hotel
388 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 8080 7000
