For months I was looking forward to a Greek restaurant finally opening inside the Hellenic Club in Woden. My email subscription to the club was a constant weekly reminder for me to go to Orexi, the highly anticipated new Greek eatery bringing with it a promise of upmarket food by an international Greek chef- Yiannis Baxevanis.
To my surprise, during my weekly brief scroll down the club’s email, something caught my eye which made me scroll back up and re-read the text. Something was different and it took me a brief moment to realise that Orexi’s banner was replaced with Fillo’s Taverna and bar, which started trading last night.
I started typing in Orexi’s website, the page could not be found. I searched the club’s site; no trace of Orexi. It would almost be like they never existed, except for the mixed reviews online as recent as last week.
I wonder what happened?
Looking at Fillo’s menu, there are plenty of things I want to try as it has a lot more range than when they were at The Hamlet. I might have to try it sooner rather than later, just in case they get replaced.
Meze/small plates~
Arancini fried risotto balls filled with porcini mushrooms with napolitana sauce, fresh basil leaves (3 for $16.00). I noticed the ‘holes’ in the arancini as soon as they were put down in front of us. I found that the risotto mixture was too sloppy to make a perfect arancini ball without it crumbling. The interior was nice and salty with a district mushroom flavour but I was hoping for a more cheesy filling.
Crispy prawns lightly battered, golden fried, served with lemon wedge and lemon mayo (4 for $16.00). Despite being favoured by the other guests that I was dining with, I was impressed with the size of the prawn but I didn’t think there was anything special about this dish. 
Zucchini puffs with tzatziki (5 for $14.00). Not really memorable in comparison to the other dishes but they weren’t oily which I admired.
Kobasice thin spicy semi smoked pork sausages simply filled with ajvar ($12.00). I really enjoyed these as I found them to have lots of flavour in the sausages, although I was not a fan of the ajvar as I could taste a light bitterness from capsicum skin. This was my favourite meze plate of the night.
More substantial~
Sides~
A soft fluffy pillow encasing some delicious jam, that’s how I would describe this dessert.
Polenta waffles lemon thyme sautéed mushrooms, goats cheese, poached eggs, corn puree, salsa verde and truffle oil ($18.90). I thought the addition of dry ice and truffle oil to create a ‘truffle cloud’ upon serving was more for showmanship rather than for taste, but it gives Space a more theatrics side of things setting them apart from their sister cafe Ricardo’s. The waffles themselves were rather crunchy with a soft centre and I loved it paired with the mushrooms and sweet corn puree but I found the goats cheese flavour too strong. I would easily order this again if I wanted a unique vegetarian option.
The truffle cloud presentation.
Space benedict pulled pork croquette with poached eggs, beetroot hollandaise, pork crackling brioche crumble and pea puree ($18.90). I loved the interesting presentation of this dish and I can’t resist a croquette. The crunchy croquette coating which encased the tender pulled pork was brilliant although I wasn’t a fan of the pea puree. I was surprised to see that I found the slightly sour beetroot hollandaise really addictive and kept dipping my fork into it. Definitely a breakfast classic with a twist that is worth trying.
Served with beautiful violets and perfectly cooked eggs.
I noticed owner Rick de Marco plating something up himself. “Does he interfere often?” I playfully asked. “We take a collaborative and cooperative approach,” answered head chef Russell tactfully. Rick is clearly a perfectionist, evidenced when he presented a plate of the most beautiful bircher muesli I have ever seen. Adorned by fresh fruit and flowers, the bircher muesli ($15.90) was surrounded by circles of yoghurt and blood orange curd and decorated with passionfruit caviar (perfect pearls made through a chemical emulsion process). And yes it tastes good as well, augmented with freshly grated apple.
I love their huge Christmas tree.
Event Details
I didn’t envisage that my first meal here was going to be from the lunch/dinner menu because their American style breakfast was what intrigued me about this place but when the opportunity presented itself, I wanted to try a range of food. I made TimmyC share the BBQ trifecta with me even though he just wanted the pork ribs.
The brisket tasted almost sour with the amount of vinegar I could taste from the sauce/juices.
There wasn’t enough sauce in the world that could have helped the pulled pork or brisket.
What everyone else ordered~
Smoque Signature Texas Beef Rib (1 kg $34.90).
I found the staff pretty useless at the front counter and not particularly friendly. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed with my meal. I think I’ll just stick with the pork ribs and buffalo wings.
The wait for service didn’t take long (it probably took longer to decide what to order) and after we ordered, drinks promptly followed. The first serving timing was super fast! Our rice with two BBQed meats was the first to arrive. It would have been annoying if two people who weren’t sharing the meal received their meals with such a time difference (we had almost finished the rice before the first set of dumplings came out), but we did request that whatever food was ready for it to come out ASAP. 
Two mixed BBQ plate with rice (Roast Pork and BBQ duck). I like this combination as it allows you to pick your favourite two BBQed meats accompanied with rice and some vegetables. I love eating the rice with the sweet soy sauce that usually comes with BBQed meats. I really liked their BBQed duck, after all Chinese Kitchen has been doing this for years so I knew they had their skills down pat, it was just a bit disappointing that the roast pork pieces are chopped so small, I don’t know if it is to give the illusion to make it look like more.
Pan fried pork and chives dumplings (15 pieces $13.80). I knew the dumplings would be small so I had no qualms that we couldn’t finish it between the both of us. They came out super hot which was not great for my over enthusiastic mouth. I really liked their crispy pan-fried bottoms but I think I prefer my dumplings to be bigger.
Shang Hai steamed pork bun (10 pieces $14.80). The steamed pork buns were not perfect but definitely in the top few that I’ve had in Canberra. It also came out very hot but because there is a little ‘soup’ that develops inside it, it probably burns you even more. The meat filling tasted okay although I think you could never go wrong with pork. I had to ask for soy sauce and vinegar which confused me a little as it is essential to dumpling eating, although I was disappointed when the vinegar had the colour of Apple cider vinegar when it should look red, so I stuck with the soy sauce for my dipping. I also would have preferred a Chinese spoon to eat these properly.
The trick is to nibble an air hole to allow the dumpling to cool a little before consumption but all without losing the essential ‘soup’ inside, hence why a Chinese spoon would have been handy.
I didn’t get to try much from the menu but I tried the essentials: bbqed meats which was always their specialty before the refurbishment and also their dumplings which is something new to them and they have concentrated more on after finding the demand was high in Canberra. I thought the service was fast and attentive before we received all our food, but if you wanted anything else after that (like sauce or spoons), you really had to wave your arm off before someone would come and attend to you.
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 
