Anniversary Celebrations at Entelia

Looking for a little Greek food in Bristol? Following on from our delicious lunch at Yume, Rich had a surprise up his sleeve for the evening. He had booked a restaurant for our anniversary dinner and I would only find out what it was when we arrived there, I love surprises so it was a lovely thing to do. Turned out Entelia was the surprise restaurant, definitely somewhere I hadn't been before so I was immediately excited about sampling the menu. I had no preconceptions of Entelia which sometimes makes a visit to a restaurant more enjoyable.

Greek restaurants are not something that are in abundance and I have only ever been to one or two before in my life but each time the food has been really enjoyable and it makes me wonder why there aren't more about. We ordered a bottle of Greek red and pawed over the menu I couldn't quite decide whether to go for a large selection of meze to share or to do the traditional starter, main set up. In the end Rich and I decided to share a couple of meze; the selection of dips with pittas, feta meli and some halloumi, it is Rich's favourite.  For my main I had a hankering for lamb, subliminal messages from the Greek themed decor, no doubt, so I picked the Paidakia, 24 hour marinated grilled lamb chops with Greek salad and chips, although rice is also an option. Rich had the steak with the same accompaniments.

halloumi and dips

feta meli

Best taramasalata I've ever had, I generally find it overly fishy, and I do like fish, and synthetic tasting but this was subtle, creamy and delicious I would just happily snack on it with pitta and carrots all night. The feta meli was wonderful, crisp in all the right places and the feta wasn't too rich but very creamy which meant the honey complimented it beautifully. So far we were really impressed and the portions were generous so we were already half full by the time the waiter came to clear our meze. It is important to note at this point, before I forget, that the service through out our meal was really attentive but not intrusive, it was noted when our glasses needed topping up and checks were made during each course that the food was to our tastes. And so on to the mains, you certainly won't go hungry at Entelia as you will see below.

sirloin steak

24 marinated lamb

Both meat mains were well seasoned and well cooked, Rich's steak came rare just as he asked and was a tasty cut of meat. My lamb chops could have been a bit pinker for my liking but they tasted great and I have to say the amount of crunchy salad they provided on the side was refreshingly good. Entelia get top marks for cooking proper chips so they were crunchy yet fluffy and well salted. All in all great starters and mains plus the Greek wine was very drinkable, never had Greek wine before and was pleased by how smooth tasting it was.  Rich and I had just about enough room for a dessert to share, who can resist baklava? Certainly not us so we ordered some to share and sipped the last of our wine.

baklava with cinnamon topped ice cream

A nice end to the meal, although I prefer little individual baklava this was delicious particularly with the cinnamon sprinkled ice cream. We left full of food and warmed by the parting shot of fruity liqueur that came with the bill. Entelia surprised me by how good the food was, Rich always has good taste but he did extra well this time. We will be returning, especially as we received a 10% off card for our next visit. To find out more about Entelia and their early evening deals check out their website.