Blu Kouzina

I have always liked Greek and Mediterranean cuisine but they are hard to find and pretty expensive so when I was given a treat for my birthday, I quickly suggested Blu Kouzina for the meal

Recognised as one of Singapore’s oldest Greek restaurants, Blu Kozina opened its doors in 2010 at its first outlet in Bukit Timah. Since then they have expanded to 4 outlets just within Singapore. The owners are dedicated to serving the most authentic Greek cuisine with ingredients and products flown in from the Mediterranean. I visited the Blu Kozina outlet at Dempsey Hill for my meal and the entrance was hidden by a bush of greenery giving the restaurant a shroud of mystery

The moment you step into the restaurant, you get transported to an environment which feels like a countryside stone cottage home. Decorated with dry flowers and plants, the restaurant also has baskets of offerings filled with products flown over from Greece and other Medditerian countries. You can find exclusive Greek wines, other produce like olives, seasonings, dips frozen pastries and breads

The first item to order in a Greek restaurant is always the dip platter with pita bread. We ordered the 3 dip platter priced at SGD 43.50, if you like more dips there is the 5 dip platter priced at SGD 54.50. Each platter comes with 1 grilled pita and 1 crispy pita. We chose Hummus, Melitzanosalata and the Harissa dips. Their Hummus is made from Greek tahini, organic chickpeas & extra virgin olive oil garnished with almond, pomegranate & mint leaves. The Melitzanosalata dip is made with smoked eggplant mixed with feta and herbs while the Harissa dip is made with spicy tomato, Greek yoghurt, walnuts and extra virgin olive oil, garnished
with chilli flakes. My personal favourite is the Harissa which has very nice smokey tomato flavours. The pita bread was also very well made with a nice charred fragrant but soft texture which is perfect when paired with the dips

Next, we had fried artichokes topped with balsamic cream which were nicely plated like roses. It was my first time having fried artichokes so I am unsure of the flavours to expect. The artichoke petals were crispy and soft at the same time. It has the unique texture of artichokes which is slightly stringy yet not overly tough. As it was fried and not steamed, the petals were dry and crunchy but the balsamic sauce helped to provide more moisture. The dish is quite interesting to eat but I am not a huge fan

Next, we had the Talagani which is grilled halloumi cheese drizzled with balsamic cream sauce and blu sauce. The sauce was similar to the one served with the fried artichokes and provided a tangy flavour to the cheese. The grilled cheese itself has a firm and spongey texture to the bite with a light savoury and tangy flavour profile. This is a nice snack and appetizer to start a meal and I personally liked it with less of the sauce to taste the natural light flavour of the cheese

A seemingly simple yet delicious dish was the roasted lemon potatoes which were ordered as a side for us to fill up our stomachs. As a potato fan, I could not skip this dish from the menu and had to give it a try. The potatoes were soft yet not mushy and the roasting gave a nice charred flavour to the potatoes. Lightly tossed with the lemon sauce, the potatoes were well seasoned and covered providing a tangy and refreshing flavour with every mouthful. This was so good that I finished every potato even when I was feeling stuffed

Another dish I cannot skip from ordering is the grilled Octopus. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will realise that I never gave up on any chance to try an Octopus dish. The Xtapodi is grilled octopus with vinegar & extra virgin olive oil. The olives served with the octopus were also perfect for snacking. The octopus was well grilled with crispy charred skin and succulent and meaty flesh. The vinegar dressing did help to cut down the greasiness so it was a pretty addictive dish

Last but not least, we had the grilled lamp chops with vegetables and potatoes. 3 pieces were priced at SGD 52.50 and 4 pieces at SGD 65.50. As there were 3 of us, we ordered the 3 pieces which were quite huge in size. I seldom eat lamb due to the gamey flavour so when I do have a lamb dish, I expect the dish to have no strong gamey flavours. The lamp chops served did exactly that and were perfect for me. The meat was cooked perfectly with a flavourful and crusty exterior and pinkish and tender inside. There were just enough natural lamb flavours in the natural meat juices without the overpowering gamey taste. While the prices were not cheap, I would definitely visit again just for the lamp chops

Overall, Blu Kozina serves extremely authentic Greek flavours with most of their dishes done perfectly. While the prices of the items are not exactly pocket-friendly, the serving sizes are decent and worth the price since some of their ingredients are imported. The experience I had at Blu Kozina is comparatively superior to the other Greek restaurants I have visited so far

Address: 10 Dempsey Rd, #01-20, Singapore 247700

Operating hours: 11.30 am to 3.30 pm and 5.30 pm to 10.30 pm