Where: 268 High Street
Windsor, 9529 7894
Prices: Breakfasts, $8-18 lunch/dinner, $10-29,
Cards MC V eftpos
Licensed
Open: Weekdays 7am-11pm (Closed Mon 4pm)
Sat-Sundays open 8.30am-11pm
Website: www.zimari.com.au
(under construction)
Cuisine: Cafe restaurant – contemporary Cretan
There’s a new Cretan kid on the block in Melbourne’s Windsor suburb for those of you searching for an authentic contemporary take on the life-enhancing Cretan diet.
Opened last November by Chania-born Yiannis Malindretos and partner Melanie Raman, Zimari – which means dough in Greek – has risen to the occasion and this light and airy contemporary Cretan kitchen is fast becoming a High Street favourite.
Our dinner kicked off with dips. But these were no ordinary dips – but rather, delectable variations on the traditional: a threesome of beetroot tzatziki, a feta guacamole and a delicious mizitra cheese, honey and walnut concoction; and there’s certainly nothing better to do your dipping with, than the paximadi rusks (the sustainer of generations of Cretan shepherds) that are served at Zimari.
After just having to indulge in a Gerani orangeade (imported from Crete), we went for a Santorini white wine to accompany the mezedes, its semi-sweetness providing great balance to the savoury starters.
Zimari’s wine list is imaginative with Greek and Australian wines moderately priced.
The delicacies came thick and fast, beginning with grilled kefalograviera with lemon and olive oil, and then tyrokafteri – the Greek version of bruschetta – with baked feta, crushed tomato, along with just a hint of chilli and oregano. Soon the seafood surfaced – tapas-style serves of pickled octopus, and king prawns cooked in ouzo, garlic and lemon.
Zimari’s decor – a clean white minimalism, with no fuss, suits the honesty of the restaurant and food – authentic modern Cretan cuisine.
The specials on the board the night we were there were mousaka, boureki, yiovetsi, yemista and loukaniko haloumi, as well as psari psito – with the psari being barramundi – grilled with lemon and olive oil.
We had the mousaka and it was the lightest, least-oily version of this staple of Greek cuisine that any of us had ever eaten. A bottle of South Australian Inigo Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 fitted the bill perfectly as an accompaniment.
For carnivores there are a variety of tasty home-made keftedes – beef, lamb and chicken, all of which were delicious.
And to finish off the succulent savouries – just in case there was space left – Yiannis served up tasting plates of tigania – pork fillet in a rich lemon, mustard and oregano sauce, and baked chicken fillet in orange juice and herbs. With oven-cooked potatoes in lemon and oregano we couldn’t want for more.
But then Zimari’s desserts are to die for, and you really can’t leave this Cretan kitchen without putting your life on the line.
The baklava and portokalopita (orange and syrup cake with filo and yogurt) was gorgeous, but if there’s a Zimari signature desert, then it has to be their home-made walnut cake – karidopita – as light as a feather and a truly sumptuous taste sensation.
The evening ended with warm rakomelo – raki sweetened with honey and kalitsounaki – traditional Cretan cheese pies with yet more honey. A sweet evening was had by all.