Aesop's

Preamble:

I have greek relatives, have been to Athen's twice yearly as long as I can remember and have been in love with Greek cuisine for the last twenty years of my life. I consider To Koutouki as the epitome of Greek cooking.

End of Preamble.

While attending lca2007 in Sydney, I stayed in one of the large hotels in the CBD. While the hotel itself is a wonderful experience, the dining options are limited if you're looking for 'down to earth' cooking. Being a great fan of Greek cuisine, I was delighted to see a restaurant just around my hotel advertising 'traditional Greek cuisine'.

'Yeah' was my first impulse, and I quickly walked the ten minutes from my hotel to 131 Macquarie Street to indulge myself in the food I love: Horta, Tzatziki, Kolokithakia, Melitzanosalata, Avgolemono, Keftedes and Souvlaki. Unfortunately, very few of these were available, so I chose grilled Halloumi as a starter and Souvlaki as a main course. In the process I had two Tsantali ouzo, and one Heineken. The Halloumi turned out to be four slices of cheese on watery tomatoes, and the Souvlaki was just that: three chicken/lamb skewers with some fries. No Tzatziki in sight. No additional salad.

Bill? 52 Australian Dollars (31 Euros, 40 US dollars, 59 NZ dollars).

While I was having my Dinner, a large party of office mates, egged on by the proprietor, started to do the 'Zorbas the Greek' dancing (twenty years in Greece, and I have never seen people doing this in a Taverna outside downtown Athens) and started throwing porcelain around.

Quintessence: If you and your workmates want to spend a generous amount of money to listen to Mikis Theodorakis and hop around like a greek person during five minutes of their wedding, then this restaurant is the right place for you.

Otherwise:

Avoid.