Eloura

Quick Bite: Great service, if only the food could match. See our original reel from our first visit. 

Service:

Excellent! We were greeted and escorted to our table almost instantly and given the menu with ample time to take it all in. Our waitress easily answered questions and was pretty attentive. 

Ambiance:

The restaurant sits on the northwestern part of the square, but that is only visible if you are sitting at one of the 3 tables in the restaurant. If they expand to a patio similar to surrounding restaurants,  taking in the views of the capital will be lovely. The vibe is dark and cozy, with industrial brick surrounding the space paired with rows of dazzling mini chandeliers. Very industrial chic.

Large Groups:

Yes! Eloura doubles as a cafe by day, and they seat smaller parties on the cafe side, with larger parties on the other. This seemed to work well. 

Taste:

Mango and Passion Fruit Mimosas - Fine. You can’t really mess up a mimosa, though  I supposed if the juice was freshly squeezed that would have been nice. My only complaint was that they seemed a little warm or room temperature. I usually like my beverages to be ice cold, and it seemed like the juice and champagne just weren’t chilled. 

Pistachio Iced Latte - Similar complaint. It was clearly hot coffee that was attempted to be cooled down, making the whole beverage just lukewarm. I’m not sure if this was  traditionally made, but there were large pebble like pieces of pistachio  in the drink. We more expected an incorporated  powder, pistachio infused milk, or even just a dusting of pistachio on top of the milk. 

Eloura Mezze Selection- Many many dips and not enough pita. There were 6 dips, one basket of pita, a couple stuffed grape leaves and a salad in the middle. In the menu description I noticed we were missing the falafel so perhaps that’s where the extra dip came from. All in all it was nice to sample, but $32 for dips seems like a lot. And I like dip! 

Lamb Popstickers- These were good!! They were just a bit small and we felt they were just a touch overcooked, making things a bit too chewy. For the sizing, the plating seemed off: the platter was huge and the popstickers half rested on a bed of salad, with the dipping sauces being larger than the popstickers. 

Crab Cake Benedict - This dish needs work. The batter was too wet, because at times the crab cake felt almost raw and just full of moisture and lacked a proper crust. At one point I wanted to finish the  crab cake and removed the poached egg, but the crab cake underneath was quite unappetizing. Additionally the hollandaise sauce + the poached egg yolk + the wet crab cake really made this feel like a raw dish. I usually love eggs benedict ( and LOVE crab cakes) . I  had actually enjoyed some that morning, but I did not enjoy this version.   

Orange  Phyllo  Cake-  Best of the night by far. It was springy, it was fresh, and it was a light and zingy dessert. I feel like it really uplifted the palette. 

Yeah, No

I don’t think we will return. This was a complimentary meal in exchange for content (with the expectation of alcohol) and we would have spent $102  only to have enjoyed a small amount of food. I understand we are not industry professionals, but we know our way around a brunch menu, and Mediterranean food.