An afternoon of Greek-inspired flavours
Mitera
Where: Shop 2 Lighthouse Mall, Lighthouse Road, uMhlanga
Open: Daily noon to 10pm, 9pm Sundays
Call: 031 109 1458
We had a meeting of our little Sunday lunch club and food writer Ingrid Shevlin wanted to try Mitera in uMhlanga. Billed as a Mediterranean restaurant, the menu is basically Greek inspired.
The restaurant replaces the Mythos chain which opened on this site some years ago. It shares an owner with four other restaurants in the neighbourhood ‒ the Steak and Oyster, 14 on Chartwell, Big Fish and Mary & Jo’s ‒ all of which have been dechained, if that’s the right way to describe it.
It’s an inviting space that’s had a complete makeover since I was last here. It’s more Moroccan sands than Agean seas, but it’s comfortable and inviting. We’re shown to a table. After Ingrid and Jenny have a fight with an over-abundance of cushions on the banquettes, we’re soon comfortable and catching up over a glass of chilled chardonnay.
We decided to order a number of mezze for starters and share them, always a good way to eat. We ordered lamb kofta (R85) and zucchini kofta (R80). The lamb kofta were good and came with a beetroot slaw, the zucchini was more a croquette with zucchini and spring onion and green chilli. These tasted good but could have been crisper and somehow the chilli got lost. It was accompanied by a delicious and very powerful tzatziki. Loads of garlic there. A selection of dips come with a fresh flat bread. Red pepper, brinjal, tzatziki, hummus, and whipped feta are all available. We opted for skordalia, the famed garlic and potato dip (R57), which was very good, and topped with almonds. We also enjoyed the flat bread. This was accompanied by a bowl of olives (R45), a nice mix of green and black.
Ingrid wanted to try the starter portion of stuffed calamari (R115), which had been filled with a feta ricotta and herb stuffing and served in a creamy sauce. It was enjoyable. Trevor ordered a starter portion of skinny lamb chops (R215). These were enjoyable although could have been crisper, but for three skinny chops, I thought this was expensive.
We might have tried falafels or spanakopita or dolmades. There’s zucchini fries and halloumi sticks, so plenty of interest for a starter platter.
Mains were more limited. There’s yiros, with lamb, chicken beef or falafels. This can be had as a flatbread wrap or as a platter where you can do it yourself. Jenny chose the latter with lamb (R130) which she enjoyed. The lamb was succulently tender, with a decent serving of hummus and tahini, grilled brinjal and more of those good flat breads.
From the grill you can order a steak ‒ although at R340 the rib-eye is exorbitant ‒ and half a chicken and there’s a burger. There’s also a selection of pizzas, with a proper woodfired pizza oven in the establishment. There are some salad options, and a small seafood menu that takes in grilled prawns, calamari, and kob. Ingrid went for the latter (R192), finished in the pizza oven with lemon oregano and olive oil and served tzatziki and lemon potatoes. The fish was lovely and a sizable portion. The potatoes could have done with longer in the oven.
Under oven bakes, Trevor went for the mousaka (R150) which was enjoyable although someone had a very heavy hand with the nutmeg. There’s a lamb shank, which at R350 I thought was a shade over the top. I tried the lamb pie, topped with mashed potato, so basically a shepherd’s pie (R215) which was enjoyable. It came with a refreshing bowl of cucumber salad in dill and yoghurt.
Desserts include Greek specialities like walnut cake, baklava, custard pies and doughnuts in cinnamon syrup. We shared the panna cotta with lemon, honey and pistachios (R50). Made with Greek yoghurt, it gave this milky pudding wonderful depth with the simple fresh ingredients on top. And we tried a baklava cheesecake (R90), basically a cheesecake topped with nuts and phyllo, baklava style. Nice cheesecake, lovely flavours, but the phyllo had gone past soggy when it got to the table.
Food: 3 ½
Service: 3
Ambience: 3
The Bill: R1 917 for four
Independent on Saturday