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Review: Othello Greek restaurant, Northgate, Halifax
The wonderful thing about food is how an aroma, a taste or its presentation can instantly evoke strong memories. Perhaps a romantic night, a celebration or the best parts of holidays.
I had my first taste of Greece, back packing in the late 1970s. A pal and I managed to visit six islands in two crazy, hectic teenage weeks.
Since then I've been back every three or four years and now have an impressive number of islands under my belt.
I love Greek food and I love the Greek way of eating. It is the way they turn a simple meal into an a big event.
In Greece itself this is usually an unhurried affair, on occasions a marathon. The fact the food becomes luke warm hardly mattering when the heat from the Mediterranean sun is radiating back from the ground.
Midweek in Halifax in a temperature-challenged May is not quite the same and the buildings that house Othello Greek Restaurant on Northgate approaching North Bridge are far removed from an open air taverna gently serenaded by the lapping of the waves.
But step through the doors and the world, for an all-too-brief hour or two takes on a new dimension. The first thing that hits you is the decor. Stylish and contemporary. The second the seductive bouzouki music. Lastly and most importantly the wonderful smells coming from the kitchen. No time to lose, where's the menu?
It was quiet (then it would be at 7.30pm on a Tuesday) but the effects of another plate-smashing, busy weekend were still being felt.
Apparently the bottle of ros wine my wife fancied had been a top tipple in between the Greek dancing a day or two previous.
Not a problem. There were plenty more and a Greek Tsantali ros at a tad under 14 was a good second choice.
I would normally have gone for a meze, the fish and seafood one here is 25 and the meat version a couple of quid cheaper, but it would have been too much. So we chose individual dishes. Starters were prawn saganaki for Mrs W and keftedes for me. The prawns were cooked in a light sauce with feta cheese – an unusual dish – but nice. The lamb meat balls were beautifully spiced with mint and came with a side salad, a yoghurt mix and pitta bread.
The starters were good but the mains were on another level. I had red mullet accompanied by yoghurt, a Greek salad and sauteed potatoes. The mullet came as four small fillets, each delicately fried in a light batter similar to tempura.
Our other main was souvla – five magnificently moist and fragrant lamb chops that had been marinated and cooked over charcoal. The smell was a knockout and the taste even better.
One small complaint. There was a little too much.
But the quality of what we ate was not questionable.
The wine had gone down well too – mostly in one direction – as I had been designated driver for the evening.
The meal came to a close and the bill ran to 60.
It had been a thoroughly enjoyable evening and back outside the doors in the world of reality thoughts turned again to Greece and our holidays there.
If only it was warmer in Britain ... if only.
Details
Name: Othello
Address: 91, Northgate, Halifax.
Telephone: 01422 355353
Courier reviews conducted without the prior knowledge of the restaurant
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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