Mezzidakia, Glasgow
Mezzidakia is described as Eastern Mediterranean, Having traveled extensively in the Levant region of the Mediterranian and the Middle East it’s like calling a restaurant European, it does not do the amazing Levantine Cuisine justice and the term “Jack of all trades” pops into mind, perhaps in this case “Stavros of all trades”
Greek cuisine on which Mezzidakia leans heavily on is a very poor relation of the mezze from Lebanon, The Lebanese are masters of the meze whereas the Turkish are experts of the art of the Ocakbasi (grill).
I personally found the menu in Mezzidakia unnecessarily wandering and confused, what with Iranian stews also on the menu.
The restaurant itself is eclectic and quirky but the background music of 1980’s soft rock definitely distracted from the experience, they can take a leaf from Babs, the competition a few yards away who played music from the Buddha Bar stable.
Due to my extensive travels in the Levant, the Plimsoll line of any self-respecting mezze selection and in turn the chef is the humble Humous, it is a very simple mixture of olive oil, chickpeas, tahini, and seasoning but it can easily catch out the less talented of cooks, the Humous in Mezzidakia was thick, grainy and gloopy , definitely not a good start and the bread was served cold not hot, a personal bugbear of mine.
The Feta Saganaki was different from the one I am used to where the feta was coated in filo pastry and drizzled with honey, I personally like the feta coated in flour and pan-fried until it bubbles and then drizzled with honey and served hot and semi-molten, the filo pastry leaves the feta in unappetizing solid mass.
Now for something unusual, Lamb Fesanjan, a Persian lamb and pomegranate stew usually eaten in Iran in the Autumn to celebrate the harvest of the Iranian national fruit, the pomegranate, it was surprisingly delicious with the lamb slow cooked until it was soft and tender, but with no bread or rice served this let the dish down somewhat.
We ordered Iskender and the Mevlana Pide, which is the Turkish flatbread pizzas, The iskender kebab is normally thinly cut grilled lamb, tomato sauce, flatbread, melted sheep butter, and yogurt, however, we received something more akin to donner meat on flatbread and none of Master Efendi’s creation.
The Kibbeh which is normally a mixture of bulgur wheat, minced onions, and finely ground lean lamb and spices was stodgy croquettes and tasted of wheat and spices.
The biggest let down of the night was the Shish Kebab, Adana kebab, and the donner kebabs, we were expecting open kebabs grilled on an ochakbasi grill with fresh hot bread and served with pickled vegetables on the side, but we received wraps which all looked and tasted the same and the pickled vegetables overwhelmed the taste of the grilled meats.
The service was friendly but very distracted, possibly it could have been the high jinks of it being Hogmanay and the staff was winding down for closing early and a night of revelry.
In conclusion, Mezzedakia was the proverbial jack of all trades but master of none, what with the far superior competition 100 yards away with Babs, I think Mezzedakia definitely needs to pick up its game
Food –5 out of 10
Atmosphere – 6 out of 10
service – 7 out of 10
Cleanliness – 8 out of 10
total score – 26 out of 40