Xanthi - Westfield CBD, Sydney

Last Thursday after work, Cheesecake Boy and I didn't want to head straight home and become couch potatoes, so we decided to roam around the city to get some exercise, which led us to getting peckish and wanting some snacks, but the snacks ended up turning into a full blown dinner.  The dinner at Xanthi was completely spontaneous, as I expecting to cook.  Luckily my trusty little point and shoot was in my bag, so I guess you can see that our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs, and don't ask how we managed to fit all that food in.  We always managed to eat more than we could at Perama, especially in their last week of trading.  It looks like it will be no different at Xanthi, as we were savouring some of our old favourites.  However, some new dishes came into the equation too.  I will admit that I had difficulty composing this post without drawing comparisons to our previous experiences at Perama, as Cheesecake Boy and I have had many dates,  dinner with friends and family birthday celebrations that we still fondly remember. 

The reasons for the munchies was that we initially wanted some drinks, and beer was the drink of choice for both of us that night.  Cheesecake Boy and I both preferred the Mythos, for its rich depth of flavour.  The Alfa was nice, but not quite as smooth going down.

Beers: Mythos, $8.50 and Alfa, $9

I was surprised that we were served complimentary bread with olive oil, and had I known, I may not have ordered our dip, as the bowl of bread offered was more than generous.  The sourdough had a lovely texture and we really enjoyed the accompanying olive oil.  I don't know what got into Cheesecake Boy, but he really demolished the bread this time, and well didn't leave quite enough stomach space for the rest of our meal. 

Complimentary bread and olive oil

The tarama dip was one of my favourites at Perama.  They use to offer a platter of three dips, but I prefer the new option of just ordering one dip, instead of getting all three, as it leaves more room for other goodies.  Especially, in our situation when it's usually just the two of us.  The tarama dip is actually a salted and cured cod roe dip.  There is a subtle salty smoothness that I find so addictive about this creamy dip, and the buttery garlic bread crisps really adds to my love of this dip.

Tarama, $7

Cheesecake Boy and I have always been smitten with the herbed skordalia croquettes and were relieved that it made it across to the Xanthi menu as well.  The flavours of the  crunchy polenta crumbed potato and garlic puree croquettes were really heighten by the mint, dill and celery leaf in the creamy and wonderfully smooth skordalia.

Herbed skordalia croquettes, $7.50

We usually adore the zucchini fritters that consist of a mixture of shredded zucchini and haloumi with dill, mint and parsley.  However, this time we found that the coarsely shredded zucchini texture we had previously enjoyed was now finer in texture, and the oil seem to sit on top of the batter.  However, the flavours were just as we had remembered.

Zucchini fritters, $8

I would not usually order vine dolmathes, but Cheesecake Boy put through a special plead for them, and I was really glad that he did now.   I thought they would be overpoweringly sour, but they weren't.  We really enjoyed the sweet tangy flavour of these piping hot morsels, that were stuffed with a subtly spicy rice and vegetable filling. The vine dolmathes were perfectly soft, and melted in your mouth and were wonderfully complemented by the creamy acidic sauce.

Vine dolmathes, $9

I had two favourite dishes at Perama one being the handrolled Macedonian filo spinach pie and the other being the lobster moussaka.  I am sad to say that both dishes did not made it to the new menu at Xanthi, so Cheesecake Boy and I decided to try the snail shaped spinach and feta pie to settle my pastry craving.   If you're wondering whether the spinach and feta pastry is a good substitute for the handrolled Macedonian filo spinach pie, then in my opinion it definitely isn't.  There was a beautiful subtle balance of flavour between the spinach and the filo in the handrolled Macedonian filo spinach pie.  However, with the spinach and feta pastry now available, it was very rich in feta, and I found that the intense flavours of the filling overpowered the beauty of the handmade filo.

Spinach and feta, $14

I do not know anyone who had dined at Perama, and not love the pork belly baklava.  It was a beautiful harmonious balance of a pork, date and pistachio filling, against layers of filo pastry, that was a match made in heaven with a delightfully sweet and sticky date and mastic sauce.  It looked like the baklava that many of us associate with, being a layer of pastry and then in that case a layer of sticky slices of pork.  However, Cheesecake Boy and I did not recognise the new version of the pork baklava served before us, gone was the layered baklava, and before us was a couple of rolls of baklava and a piece of incredibly crunchy pork crackling instead. 

Unfortunately, we found that the divine balance between the pastry and pork was no longer there, and that the it was more about the pork, rather than the pastry that seemed to hiding in the background now.  Cheesecake Boy found the pork slightly dry.  However, I though the lovely sweet heights of the dates and mastic didn't seem to shine through anymore.  The difficulty with the current dish seems to be that, they are  now using handmade pastry as opposed to shop bought pastry which is something to be admired.  However, to my surprise I received a reply tweet from David Tsirekas during our meal, that the current pork belly baklava was still a work in progress, and was assured that the pork belly baklava will be magnificent once more.  I have faith that David is a man of his word, and hope to enjoy the  new and improved handmade pastry version very soon.

Pork belly baklava, $18

For a boy who insisted that he was stuffed and could not fit in dessert, as soon as Cheesecake Boy saw the description of the sokolata castania his dessert stomach miraculously kicked in, and he was ready to order again.  The sokolata castania was a chocolate and nut themed dessert.  This creation consisted of a beautifully velvety chocolate mousse dome that was filled with a luscious chestnut crema and was topped with a sweet sesame crisp, and if that wasn't enough, it was served with a sour cherry sorbet, a refreshing basil cream and light as air Persian fairy floss.  This dessert was an absolute pleasure to eat.  The chocolate mousse was not overly rich and with the slight sour, but sweet cherry sorbet they were so wonderfully matched.  The basil cream which I was initially skeptical of, actually freshen up the palate while you were eating, and prepared you for another bite of the lovely mousse and melt in your fairy floss.

Sokolata castania, $14

My favourite dessert at Perama was the olive oil ice cream, and I am not usually an ice cream kind of girl.  The olive oil actually gave the ice cream a lovely nutty and refreshing quality.  The version at Xanthi is slightly different, and I really shouldn't compare the two as they were both lovely in their own way.  Our olive oil ice cream was a lovely combination of pistachio and dried figs infused with Elea Creta extra virgin olive oil.  The ice cream was still refreshing, but the inclusion of pistachios and dried figs now added a richer sweetness and textural component to the ice cream.

Olive oil ice cream, $8.50

Don't be deceived by the stunningly beautiful facade of Xanthi.  The food, service and the staff are still very much Perama at heart, but just glammed up a few notches.  I do realise that I have to let the much loved Perama go now, so that I can make room for the new creations that Xanthi has to offer, such as the range of meats on the spit, the incredible list of sweet bougatses and don't forget the wonderful new desserts, they were simply sublime.


Dining away, Dumpling Girl.


Xanthi
Westfield, Level 6
Pitt Street
Sydney  NSW  2000
Ph: (02) 9232 8535
http://xanthi.com.au/