3 Olives, Newtown

A quick early dinner before our film tonight, the four of us headed into Newtown for our 5:30 pm booking at 3 Olives. We weren’t starving this late afternoon because we just binged on energy dense party food at an event beforehand. Okay fine, I was the only person who binged; the friends ate like normal polite people.

3 Olives, Newtown: Greek Salad

3 Olives, Newtown: Melitzana, Tzatziki, Taramosalata Dips with Warm Pita Bread

3 Olives, Newtown: Grilled Halloumi, Dolmades, Tiropitakia

3 Olives, Newtown: Mussels in Salsa

3 Olives, Newtown: Meat Plate

3 Olives, Newtown: Seafood Plate

3 Olives, Newtown: Meat Plate (right), Seafood Plate (left), Golden Potato Chips (top)

3 Olives, Newtown: Lemon, Lime and Bitters

3 Olives, Newtown: Greek Salad, 3 Dips (Melitzana, Tzatziki, Taramosalata) with Warm Pita Bread

3 Olives, Newtown: We got a complimentary loukoumi after we asked for the bill

3 Olives is a quaint taverna serving, well, Mediterranean (Greek) cuisine. We were the second table at this early dinner hour, and took the staff’s suggestion of ordering the platters to share for a taste of a bit of everything.

We got the “Meat Taverna Menu” ($36.50 per person) for two and another two of the “Seafood Taverna Menu” ($39.50). They’re both a several course menu starting with a Greek salad, pita bread with three dips, grilled halloumi, tiropitakia (deep fried cheese filo pastries), vine leaves, meat/seafood, and chips. Here I thought we were having a light dinner.

Dips! The pink one was the taramosalata with cod roe, which I’ve never tried before. My favourite was the chunky melitzana, an eggplant dip.

I traded my cheese pastry for an extra dolma with Richard. The staff told us these deliciously lemony stuffed vine leaves were naturally low fat, so they drowned them in olive oil. I approve.

Loved the mussels in salsa from the seafood menu. Now on to the main dishes!

The meat platter came with chorizo, chicken souvlakia (skewers), super fatty lamb kleftiko, and keftethes (meatballs). The seafood plate had swordfish souvlakia, calamari, octopus, white bait and prawns. A lot of the seafood items were battered and fried. While delicious, I found them overly greasy and didn’t taste “lightly fried” as they claimed on the menu.

The one 3 Olives staff we interacted with throughout was super friendly and attentive (almost to a fault), but I wondered if the service would have been the same if the place was busier. I also became ridiculously thirsty after the meal, and would probably have enjoyed the food more if I was hungrier. Maybe on a revisit, and hopefully then Richard won’t spray me with lemon juice again. tongue