Catch up dinner with some girlfriends at the end of the week and we opted to go to West Village to try out the newly opened Yamas as well as to check out the new Brisbane Festival exhibit. With such an abundance of Greek food readily available in the area, we had high hopes that it would stand out.
As with most things these days, it was always better to book than not and we took the last available table when we sat down, albeit there weren't that many seats.
Menus were provided fairly quickly. The menu appeared to comprise of a more modern take on Greek food and was separated into entrees, small plates and larger plats. We ordered a selection of each.
Our drinks came first, one friend had a white wine, I had an espresso martini which was fairly standard and could have been a bit less sweet and stronger in taste. What really captured our interest was our friend's Apollo cocktail which came served with cotton candy that dissolved with prosecco, it was light and fruity and most importantly, whimsical.
Our mezze started to arrive not long after, this was the Saganaki, a grilled kefalograviera cheese topped with fig sauce. The cheese was melty and the sweet fig jam cut through the decadence really well. I really enjoyed this dish but found it a bit small for the price.
Our other mezze was the Htapodi, a grilled octopus dish with olive oil, oregano, lemon and fava. This dish was done really well, the octopus was very tender and the fava paste was rich and creamy. Again though, the price was reflective of a main but this was a small plate indeed and barely enough to share between three.
Onto our bigger dishes, this was the mixed lamb and chicken souvla. While larger than the mezze, it would be a bit smaller than large dishes at nearby Greek restaurants. The chicken and lamb were both char grilled really well and very flavoursome. I found the lamb to be moist whilst the chicken was a bit dry but this was able to be rectified with the yoghurt on top.
Our other large dish was the Hilopites, containing braised beef, square pasta, tomato, feta. Unlike the other dishes, the flavours were a bit bland and nothing stood out, even with the sprinkle of feta on top. Having said that, the beef was quite tender, and coupled with the carrots and pasta squares, it was litke a thicker minestrone soup with a lighter tomato flavour. Although the pot was quite big, the filling unfortunately wasn't though.
We also had two sides to share, on the left was the bamies, okra, slow cooked, tomato, onion and feta. This was crunchy, flavoursome and overall quite refreshing, but again portions were tiny. On portion sizes, the lemon potatoes were also a disappointment. Although the taste was quite good, in the end we paid $12 for one singular potato cut up into wedges. Unfortunately, we didn't have the best time at Yamas, dropping over $200 for a dinner for three but still leaving moderately hungry left quite a bad aftertaste. Unless drastic improvements are made, I don't think I'll be back.
Taste: 7.5/10
Value: 4/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 8/10
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