Vegetarian at a Greek Restaurant: A Complete Parramatta Ordering Guide

The assumption is that a Greek restaurant is a meat restaurant, and that a vegetarian at a Greek table is going to end up eating chips and a salad while everyone else has lamb.

That has not been true of Greek cooking for a very long time, and it is not true here. Here is exactly what to order at The Souvlucky Country if you do not eat meat, and the one thing to watch out for.

Start with the dips

All five of our dips are meat free: tzatziki, spicy cheese, taramosalata, eggplant, and skordalia. They come with pita and they are the natural start to any Greek meal.

One caveat if you are vegan rather than vegetarian: tzatziki is yoghurt based, spicy cheese and skordalia are dairy, and taramosalata is made with fish roe. The eggplant dip is the one to look at. Ask us and we will tell you plainly, we would rather you asked than assumed.

Starters worth ordering

• Spanakopita — spinach and feta in filo. The dish most people order twice.
• Haloumi plate — grilled, salty, the vegetarian answer to something off the grill.
• Feta roll with honey — sweet and savoury together, and better than it sounds on paper.
• Dolmades — vine leaves stuffed with rice.

Actual mains, not side dishes

This is where a lot of Greek menus give up. Ours does not:

• Vegetarian Plate — a proper main built as a main, not a main with the meat removed.
• Vegetarian Moussaka — made with mushroom instead of mince, served with cabbage salad. The dish we would point a first-time vegetarian diner toward.
• Vegetarian Pita — with either grilled haloumi or chickpea fritters. The falafel version is the closest thing we do to a vegan handheld, minus the sauces.
• Skepasti with haloumi — the same dish everyone else at the table is eating, in a version that suits you.

Add a Greek salad, a dakos, or a cabbage salad, and chips with feta, and it is a full table.

Eating with a mixed group

Most of our vegetarian orders come from tables where only one or two people are vegetarian. Greek food handles that better than a lot of cuisines, because the meal is shared rather than plated per person. Order dips, salads and vegetable starters for the middle, then let everyone take their own main. Nobody has to eat around anything.

We see a lot of this in Parramatta, and vegetarian ordering is a normal part of our week rather than a special request.

Other dietary needs

We keep gluten free pita bread, so the pita dishes can be adapted. Our chicken and lamb are halal-sourced through our butcher, though pork is on the menu and cooked in the same kitchen, so we do not describe ourselves as a halal venue. If any of that matters to your table, tell us when you book and we will give you a straight answer rather than a hopeful one.

Come and test it

316 Church St, Parramatta. Open Monday to Friday 12pm to 10pm, Saturday and Sunday 12pm to 11pm. Book a table online, or call (02) 9891 4174.