South Aegean cuisine… It conjurs up an array of images, Meditterraean blue seas, white washed buildings, fresh seafood and for some (me) memories of nights spent in Cyprus and Cretean restaurants where the owner won’t let us go without another Ziviana or Raki. Aagean food is of the land, sea, heart, heritage and family.
Perhaps its not surprising that Ploos opened a restaurant here – nestled in the sandstone heritage listed warehouses of Campbell’s Cove, with views to the Opera House and its harbour.
It is Wednesday lunchtime. We are greeted and take our wicker seats in the outdoor dining terrace, which is weather proofed thanks to overhead cover and side ziplocks which can keep wind and rain out. Thankfully the wind is the only thing we contend with and a warm pashmina is offered by the staff.
Ploos view today is of a waterborn skyscraper. I know the physics, but I still can’t fathom how a cruise ship defies the natural order of things to sink. The harbour is buzzing as people are getting on and off with military precision. There is an energy to it all which Ploos embodies.
With a glass of Clover Hill Pipers Brook sparkling in hand we salute the one sail of the Opera House! I have picked my dining partner carefully, Penny is of Greek/Cypriot heritage and there are not many places that represent her Cypriot homeland. Penny is my guiding light of ‘yiayia & dad’, the things that make her heart soar.
The chef behind the vision is award winning Peter Conistis (Cosmos, Eleni’s, Omega, Alpha). If you represent a cuisine, it’s hard to please everyone from the traditionalists who seek the food of their home v others who seek a contemporary dining experience. Peter bridges and honours both worlds.
The menu spans mezze, mains and sides (deserts come later). The first plate embodies the colours of the Aegean sea with shimmery reflections from glossy sardine skins finely filleted and dotted with cubes of beetroot, labneh, oregano, topped with strips of chilli and oooh those pops of fishiness from salmon roe ($28). It is the dish which has the most profound impact; produce, history and creativity.
Halloumi
Kataifi pastry
Clover Hill sparkling
Next, three little birds nest of Kataifi pastry are filled with a generous layer of whipped feta cuddled by a ring of pastourmas twirled elegantly around it’s perimeter and topped with candied eggplant. Crunch, creamy, rich and sweet all in one or two mouthfuls, depending on your level of propriety. Koupes is the much loved street food of Cyprus, normally made with bulgar wheat and meat. Here, its gets the ‘Conistis touch’ and is a delightful oval of king prawn, mushroom, tahini served with coriander slaw. We are tipped off about the grilled halloumi. It is topped with Glyko, a traditional ‘spoon sweet, (often some kind of jam or preserve), today’s surprise is fennel.
Spanakopita manti 
Pan roasted kingfish
Spanakopita filled manti (a dumpling popularised in Turkey) is a mind bender. It’s confusing to eat flavours so well known, but in a different vessel. What if you ate a cheeseburger but in a samosa? Our brains are fried. The manti is dotted with dill yoghurt and languishes in rich burnt butter with one or two waspy wafers of filo.
Onto mains. Penny tells me that Gamopilafo is like risotto, it means ‘rice of the wedding’. After tasting pan roasted kingfish on a delicate rice bed of clams, prawns, fennel we say “I do”. Any yiayia would be proud of us eating our veggies. Braised peas with a pureed fava beans (koukofava) are flecked with aromatics of tarragon and sprinkled with barrel aged feta. The ultimate comfort food. Potatoes tsakistes is a cracking bowl of little roasted smashed potatoes that give us that sensory crunch we have been craving.
The Cretan Tart is a Santa stocking of nutty fun – walnuts, slivered almonds, pine nuts, pistachios and the jammyness of fig encased in an oh so thin and crispy pastry on a lemon ouzo curd. For someone who doesn’t like liquorice, the topping of a quenelle liqourice ice cream looks imposing, but it’s delicious, with a low aniseed flavour profile. Loukoumades are something Penny’s dad used to make, so the donut stakes are high. These little bundles of fun are lovely, piled sky high and drizzled with spiced syrup, sea foam and a savoury halva ice cream. It’s both a moment of nostalgia and present day.
We are lucky to have a food culture which represents so many nationalities. Cypriot cuisine is somewhat underrepresented, whilst they brought so much to the world (thank you for halloumi!!). Peter has always created a narrative of his own and Ploos is that little bit of Greek-Cypriot heritage, nestled in a building with stone which is decades old, wise, adaptive, beautiful and refined. Much like the experience of dining here.
Ploos, Bay 7, 7-27 Circular Quay West, The Rocks, NSW 2000
Hours: Tuesday Dinner only, Wednesday – Saturday Lunch & Dinner, Sunday Lunch only
https://www.ploos.com.au/about
