Abstract (157 Greville Street, Prahran)

One of the added benefits of staying with friends when travelling means that you get to go to new restaurants that they already know are good. We were staying quite near Prahan for the first part of our trip, so a walk to Chapel Street was no big deal.

Nichola had mentioned that she wanted to take us to a Greek/Mediterranean restaurant, and in the absolute sweltering day that it was, Abstract proved to be a good option because it wasn’t too far. It seemed to be family owned with a good atmosphere; there seemed to be a fair bit of banter flowing around the family.

We noted that there were a lack of craft beer options (beer options generally actually!) but other than that, the menu was in pretty good shape. There was a big range of entrees and mains, and a number of platters available for sharing. There was four of us and so we opted for the platters to allow us to try a range of different foods.

We ordered two platters, one with a meat focus and one that was vegetarian. There was a range of pork, beef, lamb and chicken and included kebabs, sausage, cutlets and kofta. There was also vine wrapped rice, delicious Greek salad, cheeses, hummus, pita bread and the list goes on. There ended up being so much food, and it was pretty good value coming in at about $25 a head (including a drink each).

For dessert, we actually decided to take a walk around the area and ended up at Messina – an extravagant gelato shop with loud pop music blaring and a million different (and interesting) flavours.