If you thought the humble souvlaki’s time in the spotlight in Australia’s food scene was done and dusted, you were wrong. Over the past few years, Melburnians have been spoilt for choice when it comes to souvlaki options outside of Greece, and now another has been added to the mix: Sydney’s Zeus Street Greek has opened its doors in Moonee Ponds.
“We felt the time was right for us to bring our unique offer to Melburnians,” Zeus Street Greek’s general manager Adrian Di Tonto told Neos Kosmos.
“Moonee Ponds is an up-and-coming area with a strong sense of community which we felt was perfect for our first Victorian store.”
The popular eatery is known for its modern take on Greek food, taking traditional family recipes and reworking them with new flavour combinations and modern techniques, for a different, yet tasty result.
Adrian says what sets them apart is their “commitment to high quality honest Greek street food with an Australian influence”, summed up by their recent addition to the menu, the Aegean Schnitzel, combining Greek tradition with an Aussie twist, served with the Zeus aioli, Aegean slaw, caramelised onions, and parsley.
For those trying Zeus for the first time, it’s always best to start with their signature dishes, the Tzimmy Chicken and Pork Classic pitas. Fluffy pitas come filled with succulent meat marinated with a house blend and slow-roasted over charcoal, served with house-made tzatziki, onion, paprika, and chips just like in Greece, and perfectly paired with a Mythos beer for the complete Zeus experience.
For a meat-free option, you can’t go past the Stavros Stavrou pita which comes with Cypriot favourite, haloumi, tzatziki and Aegean slaw.
Alternatively you can ditch the pita bread and try one of their Spartan Boxes, by choosing your own spit-roasted meat, sides and dip – think traditional Greek salad, pilaf, and beetroot hummus.
Adrian says at the heart of Zeus is the sense of sharing, so those after a feast won’t be disappointed with Zeus going beyond the offering of your usual souvlaki bar.
They have a sharing menu that features everything from haloumi chips, calamari, and even spanakopita. Sweet tooths are also covered, with choices including loukoumades served either with honey or topped with Nutella, or their filo custard pastry dusted with cinnamon sugar for your bougatsa fix.
When experienced retailers, Costa Anastasiadis and George Kyprianou came up with the Zeus concept and opened their first store in Drummoyne, NSW in 2014, they had a vision to not only bring people delicious Greek food with a twist, but an option that is environmentally conscious, which means patrons can rest assured that they are consuming ethical produce.
Aside from sourcing their fresh produce from local growers and producers less than a few hours from each store, all their meat is sourced from free-range sources; their lambs graze on open pastures, the pork is ‘sow stall free’ and the chicken is RSPCA-approved.
Taking it even beyond food, the brand also sets out to use its platform to help those less fortunate where it can. With the opening of the Moonee Ponds store last week, they hosted an ‘I love free Pita’ day with a commitment of giving $2.00 for every free pita given away to local charity TLC for Kids, and managed to raise over $2,000.
The Zeus Street Greek concept has come a long way in just over three years, with 20 stores located across the country in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and now Victoria, and is continuing to grow along the East Coast.
Zeus Street Greek is located at 21-31 Hall St, Moonee Ponds, VIC. For other locations, visit zeusstreetgreek.com.au
