Food experiences are not limited just to the taste. For an amazing experience, the food needs to please multiple senses. The plating and aroma of the dish influence your eating experience, as much as the taste. And theme restaurants, in my book, have an added responsibility to create an ambience that accentuates this experience.
Euriska in Koregaon Park, Pune promised to have good ambience based on what I knew and the online photos that I came across. Euriska is a Greek Restaurant and Bar located toward the end of North Main Road just ahead of Westin.
The first thing you will come across when you look for Santorini Island is the sparkling blue sea water and complementary white and blue houses.
Euriska captures this to the minutest detail. The colors, the building material, the décor, and the architecture. Everything that you will see at Euriska screams Santorini, Greece.
The island bar at the center, the symbolic windmill, the simple wood furniture, all these set the mood for an exciting Greek afternoon in Pune.
With Executive Chef Ajay Thakur, to guide us and help us select the right combinations of Greek food, we took a tour of the place. We soon found out that Euriska makes everything in-house. Some of the breads and the Pizzas come straight from a wood-fire oven tucked next to the kitchen.
To offset the warm temperatures, we started off with Grapefruit based Santorini Sunrise. Although a bit bitter as expected, the drink was fresh. It also introduced me to Greece’s most popular drink, Ouzo.
Where there is Ouzo, there is Mezze. The appetizers weren’t far away. Chef Ajay curated the Vegetarian and Non-vegetarian appetizers to highlight the Greek experience.
The Mediterranean dips were fabulous. The Hummus had an even creamy texture, covered with olive oil and a sprinkle of Paprika and was delightful with the Pitta bread. The Tzatziki had a hint of cucumber and mint to cool the heat outside.
Being a carnivore, I began devouring the non-vegetarian Mezze. Although not essentially Greek, the Fried chicken was very nice.
The chicken strips cover was perfectly crispy and tasted as I expected. But the star of this appetizer course was baked Anchovies or Gavros sto fourno. Amazingly, the fish tasted very fresh and there was no hint of a salty canned variety.
I love seafood and the prawns are absolute favorites – saltwater prawns, not the pink ones raised in farms. As much as I love these, cooking them right is a big challenge. You need to cook them just enough that they do not feel raw. The problem is that the meat is so delicate, a slight miscalculation can easily make your prawns chewy and rubbery. So I was overly delighted when the Beer Battered Prawns on my plate simply melted in my mouth and I hardly needed to chew.
If you think Greek food is all about the sea and lamb, think again. The vegetarian fare was equally exciting and had all the right appetizers without which the Greek food is incomplete in my opinion.
Getting to eat Greek favorites after many years, I naturally started with the Dolmades. Dolmades are rolls covered in Grape leaves and stuffed with a mix of rice and vegetables that balance the tangy flavor of the leaves. You can read more about the vegetarian fare at Euriska on KamalKitchen, our other vegetarian food blog.
Each of the appetizers use the essential Mediterranean ingredients, however, Chef Ajay has managed to make each different from the other and gave us a unique taste.
Moving on to the next course. But not without a trip to the island bar, of course. Euriska’s Pornstar Martini came highly recommended.
Choosing between Santorini Sunrise and Pornstar Martini is a very difficult choice. But then I am sure your Greek food adventure will not end with just a single trip. The martini is Vodka based and uses passion fruit juice as the mixer. Sounds easy? The trick is the Euriska’s secret ingredient that I could not glean out from anyone. The drink is very refreshing and perfect when you are visiting in hot weather.
But if it is cold, you can always opt for a soup. A soup I am sure you have not seen on most menus in the city, I haven’t on any. Kotosoupa Avgolemeno is a very delicate preparation of eggs and chicken with a refreshing lemony taste that almost masks the eggy after flavor. Delicate preparation because the challenge is to not let the egg part of the soup curdle. If you like egg-drop soup, I am sure you will love to taste this new preparation.
I am a hardcore carnivore, but have a weakness for salads. Fresh lettuce and fruits are simply irresistible in hot weather. The Smoked Chicken Salata or salad is fresh with a tasty, juicy smoked chicken with bits of Orange. If you wish to cut down on your main course and have decided to eat healthy, the chicken salad will give you just the right balance of meat, fruits, and veggies to feel full.
Or if you are the explorer kind, here’s your opportunity to go deep sea. The tangy Octopus and Cracknel is loaded with olives and capers on a bed Parmesan cheese Cracknel. The meat itself is very much like Squid and has a chewy texture. A good choice if you want to stick to the sea.
Greek food has an amazing array of dishes that use meat and veggies in combination. Moussaka is one of them. The Greek version of lasagna has layers of eggplant and minced lamb with other veggies topped with cheese and baked. Again, lamb lovers will enjoy this Greek lamb preparation a lot. And you will love the grilled meat and seafood Souvlaki that Euriska prepares with tender Snapper.
The prawns were prepared a bit different here with a honey-wine marinade with herbs and grilled to perfection.
As promised, the fresh bread from the wood-fire oven, served with the main course was warm and soft and tasted splendid with the Hummus dip.
No celebration can be complete without dessert. Euriska has a couple of sweet treats that should definitely be part of your local Greek excursion. I ate Baklava a few years ago and I just have to eat it whenever I find one on the menu.
Euriska’s Creation boasts of 20 phylo layers with nuts that is crunchy and juicy at the same time. It is a bit different than the Lebanese Baklva that uses rosewater, something I have eaten mostly before.
But what I did not anticipate was the super delicious Pannacota. By now I had already surrendered to Chef Ajay’s culinary skills, but he just kept surprising us everytime. The bitter flavorful bits of Lemon peel cleansed the taste buds and accentuated the berry flavors of the pannacota. I had never tasted one before and the creamy jiggly dessert instantly rose up the most favorite desserts list.
A theme restaurant can give you the best dining experience. Something that you do not eat everyday and something you won’t find on the list of restaurants that boast of a laundry list of preparations from across the world. Clearly, Euriska is doing this with amazing success and chef Ajay Thakur has raised the bar higher for Pune restaurants.
At the complete risk of sounding clichéd, Pune – Think Greek. Think Euriska.
And to get into the mood for the Greek food, why not watch Mamma Mia! ? Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth take this classic musical up another notch. The island setting makes it all surreal. And then you can sing to ABBA on your way to Euriska :).
Euriska Restaurant and Bar
Next to Koregaon Park Plaza, Koregaon Park Annexe , Pune, India 411036
+919049159911
Thank you chef, and the entire team at Euriska for a wonderful food adventure.