KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 – For one reason or another, Greek restaurants have been hard to come by in Kuala Lumpur, with the few places serving Greek food often doing so under the incomprehensibly broad umbrella of "Mediterranean cuisine”.

While it may be decades before regional Greek food and all its wonderful differentiation and nuance grace our tables, MAZI (Greek for "together”) Greek Taverna is a compelling starting point.

Located in The Stories of Taman Tunku, it occupies the space that formerly housed Princeps Bistro.

Out front, the covered patio seating overlooks trim and tidy greenery, while the inside is warmly lit, with wicker lampshades and chairs hinting at the more casual airs of a classic taverna.

The menu here doesn’t stray far from taverna classics either – simple meze like tzatziki (a yoghurt dip with garlic and cucumber) and taramosalata (salted and cured cod roe spread) feature with plenty of house-made pita, while phyllo pastry makes appearances in spanakopita (a savoury pie of spinach and feta) and galaktoboureko (semolina custard baked in phyllo).

Taramosalata (RM19) was a more than ideal way to start the meal.

Here, salted and cured white cod roe is made into a smooth spread with breadcrumbs, lemon juice, kalamata olives and extra virgin olive oil.

When it arrived, there was an additional garnish of diced kalamata olives on top, and steaming hot pita on the side.

Most commercially available tarama (salted and cured cod roe) is dyed pink for aesthetic appeal, but high-quality tarama retains a yellowish-white hue.

The version here sported a pale beige coat, and every bite of the cold, salty and velvety-smooth paste on hot, toasty and chewy pita was a match made in Olympus.

It was a little early in the meal, but everyone at the table later agreed that this was one of the best dishes of the night.

Turning our attention to the sea, lavraki (RM66) was a simple but delicious preparation of the European seabass, which often appears as branzino in Italian restaurants.

Lavraki is the Greek name for it, and here it was grilled, resulting in super crispy skin, and served on a delightfully refreshing bed of baby potatoes, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and onions.

A taverna classic, moussaka (RM30) here comes piping hot, basking in a gorgeous, baked caramelisation on the top that gives way to a rich, hefty spoonful of minced beef, eggplant and potatoes that falls with a resounding thud on your tongue.

The inclusion of béchamel lent a luxuriant yet restrained taste and texture, and is perhaps best credited to Nikólaos Tselementés, who’s widely considered to have created the modern version of Greek moussaka in his seminal book Odigos Mageirikis.

However, I would have liked to find more slices of eggplant in each spoonful, instead of what felt like copious amounts of potato.

Moving onto meat, we went with the kebab (RM52) from the Kalamaki Merida section on the menu, which specified sides of tomato, onion, tzatziki and pita with the grilled protein of your choice.

The skewers held short and fat cylinders of mince, a mix of beef and lamb that were grilled over charcoal in MAZI’s Bertha Oven.

This imbued a tremendous amount of smoky flavour into the incredibly juicy meat, which benefited from the balance of gamey lamb with the more mellow and neutral beef.

A composed bite of kebab, pita and tzatziki balanced smoky, juicy, chewy, cold and tangy flavours and textures wonderfully, with bites of cherry tomato and onions providing refreshing intermissions in between.

The dessert menu was short and sweet, listing only two typical Greek desserts, both of which were phenomenal.

Greek orange pie (RM15), which called to mind portokalópita, was a truly unique usage of phyllo dough unlike anything else I’ve eaten.

It owes its craggy yet soft appearance to dry sheds of phyllo dough, which yields a fluffy and almost juicy (from syrup and oranges) texture that’s wholly unexpected, and a real treat.

Galaktoboureko (RM18) was my favourite bite all night; buttery and flaky phyllo pastry gives way to sweet, creamy and luscious custard, inspiring joy and euphoria that only something ambrosial can.

The scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side is welcome, but when each bite is that good, it hardly needs the help.

MAZI Greek Taverna KL

Unit A1 Taman Tunku, Off, Jln Langgak Tunku, Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur

Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11.30am-3pm, 5.30-10 pm

Tel: 03-6211 1866

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