Kamares
After a democratic vote over a pre-dinner drink in the
Three Kings, we set off to Kamares 'Greco-Italian' restaurant in Heath Road. We
sat down at some hastily gathered together, plastic covered tables, in the
double fronted restaurant with only one other table occupied. This didn't bode
well, but being a Wednesday we thought it might not be a popular midweek dining
destination.
We were given the
menu by a waitress and the list of food
was extensive with standard fayre from Greece and Italy. Our orders were taken
and as a starter we chose to have the Greek Medley, Antipasto and a Dolmades. The Medley and the
Antipasto were for two people to share. We were asked by the waitress if we
wanted more Pitta bread with the Medley starter, which we thought may be an
indication of the size of portions.
We were served with the starters, the portions were a
little disappointing and the antipasto was not good value at £14. The Greek
Medley was pretty basic, a few olives, taramosalata, houmous etc. with 3 pitta
breads, one of which was at additional cost.
The mains arrived and it was a diverse choice. One of the
group opted for Mussels Provençale, shown as a starter but ordered as a main.
The others went for Kleftiko, Stefado, Lamb Souvlaki and the Italian choice of
Roma pizza. In addition to main courses we had side dishes of Greek salad and
Side Salad.
The Kleftiko was tender but pale looking and unusually
small. Judging by how quickly it was brought to the table it must have been
cooked from frozen. The mussels tasted as though they either had been cooked frozen
or boiled in the bag. The Lamb Souvlaki lacked the taste of a marinade and the
accompanying pilaf rice was bland. The salads were disappointing, they were
more akin to ordinary mixed salads, since they contained lettuce, whereas a
traditional Greek Salad is peppers, onion, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers. The
Feta had been crumbled instead of the usual chunks. The Pizza was perfectly
adequate, fine in quantity and certainly hot enough, but not exceptional in
quality. The Stefado was mediocre and was not as tasty as it should have been.
Overall the food was disappointing and the Greco-Italian
fusion idea doesn't quite work. The menu offers too much choice which can only
be catered for by using frozen or pre-cooked/packet food. The only redeeming
feature of the evening was the House Red (Spanish). Good value at £13.95.
As a result of the above we awarded Kamares 2 stars out of 5 and it only got
these because of the wine.
31st
July 2013
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