Fetta’s Greek Tavern, Cairns, AUS

Posted on May 22, 2016 by melsmosaic

When in Australia, one must eat Greek! Was on a tour bus on somebody mentioned this great Greek place in Cairns. Sounded good so decided to check it out. The name — Fetta’s Greek Taverna.

Got there, got a table and right away we knew this was authentic Greek. Was tough to understand the staff because of accents, we could not figure who our waiter was vs who the (apparent) drink order taker was. We asked a lot of questions and the waiter sort of gave answers but we couldn’t totally understand him.

Most important thing for me to get at a Greek place is an appetizer and we and opted for the Melitzana, an eggplant, onion & garlic dip.

After that we decided to split several small dishes. We went for dolmas, a village salad (with true feta) and octapapodi (octapus marinated in olive oil, vinegar, garlic & oregano).

For wine, the waiter wasn’t overly helpful but this guy sitting next to us piped in and gave us amazing help and suggested a wine I would not have jumped on, but so glad I took his advice. We opted for the Bay of Stones Merlot. Not what I would expect from a Merlot. This was another amazing dinner in Great Barrier Reef world. This place is just great!

Dundee’s, Cairns, Australia

Posted on May 22, 2016 by melsmosaic

April, Cairns, Australia. It’s the place you go to visit the Great Barrier Reef. You get off the plane and it’s upper 70s to low 80s. Heaven! Can we bring some of that to the DC-area…PLEASE?

The first night there we walked around and checked out menus for dinner and finally decided on Dundee’s, which is one of the many restaurants right on the water.

While going through the menu of course some wine was needed. We opted for some (get Austin Powers in your head) Mojo. Very nice Shiraz from Barossa Valley.

After much going through the menu we decided on one of their very popular dishes to get a true local flair, the Australian Sampler Plate — A taste of Australia’s most popular cuisine – chargrilled eye fillet, pan seared wild barramundi, kangaroo striploin satays, crocodile tail satays, emu chipolatas and a tiger prawn satay served with honey roast sweet potato, teriyaki, spicy peanut and plum sauces with lemon beurre blanc.

We also decided to get some salad to have a bit of veggie, so went for Rocket & Apple Salad and Mixed Leaf Salads.

That mix of meat was so unique. I’d had the ‘roo, but the croc was pretty cool. Similar to gator. The emu was nice. Praws, just like shrimp. The barramundi was great. All this, the salads and that wine…glad the hotel was about a 2 minute walk away.

Cheers to Beer(s) in AUS

Posted on May 22, 2016 by melsmosaic

Ok, there is of our amazing wine in Australia and New Zealand. But, one must not forget about the brew! Some amazing stuff come from malt, yeast, hops and water. Some were enjoyed with aforementioned meals in posts. The couple below were ‘just’ enjoyed in Cairns, AUS near the Great Barrier Reef. The James Squires Pale Ale was perfect. Not hoppy, just smooth. The Golden Ale was a bit light, but nonetheless refreshing!

The XXXX Australian was one of those to just drink because it’s hot out and you wanted to try local beer. Think Foster’s. The picture of it focuses more on the beautiful water because of that.