Bakalaki Greek Tavern Singapore

It was a throwback to my gorgeous Greece holiday (read more about my itinerary here) when i stepped into the natural light-filled breezy space that is the newly opened Bakalaki Greek Tavern at Tiong Bahru. We heard that Bakalaki's kitchen is run by Greek Chef Spiros Palaiologos (formerly of Blu Kouzina) and they use traditional ingredients are sourced from Greek suppliers. A range of Greek wines and other specialty products like extra-virgin olive oil are also available here.

We started with a bottle of Avaton – Gerovassiliou ($86.90), a dry full-bodied red which consists 3 Greek red varieties. The wine held up well with the accompanying rich meats that we ordered. For starters, we had the Spanakopita (2pcs for $15.90), a Greek filo pastry filled with spinach, feta cheese, leeks and dill. We enjoyed the refreshing aromatics used in the filling though the dill was a tad overwhelming. 

We made it a point to not over-order and so the eggplant dip Melitzanosalata Agioritiki ($14.90) was forgone. I trust that the smoky spread with red peppers would go so well on the pita (which we also did not order, because carbs).

Moussaka ($25.90) it was for us because it's one of the defining dishes in Greek cuisine (at least for me). I ordered this at every opportunity i could when i was in Greece and i had the best one in Delphi (Epikouros Tavern). Bakalaki's version was a huge disappointment due to the overwhelming curdy béchamel sauce. There was hardly much of the tart tomato minced beef sauce to cut through the richness. The star of the dish should be the eggplant but i could hardly taste it. Skip the Moussaka and go for the crowd favorite grilled octopus Htapodi ($32.90) instead.

For the indecisive, the Mixed Grilled Meat Platter for 2 people ($97.90) sounds like a perfect idea but mind you it's too much food for 2. Just look at this mountain of meats (it also came with a basket of fries). In fact, our party of 4 ladies couldn't finish a platter of this size. There is a mix of Beef skewers, minced beef and lamb Kebabs, Chicken Yiro, Lamb Chops, Beef Meatballs and Beef sausages. I wouldn't order this again as there are hits and misses in this one.

Of the lot, what's worth ordering from the a la carte are the juicy and tender beef skewers, perfectly cooked and not-too-gamey marinated lamb chops with Oregano and Rosemary, the plump fried meat balls [Keftes (7 for $16.90)]. DO NOT order the over-seasoned and gamey kebabs, you've been warned. The yiro was also very dry and unappetizing. This platter definitely needs a lot more sauces than the little ramekin of tzatziki. You can ask for refills (which we didn't know we could until they served us more). I'd rather do that than pay $14.90 for a cucumber yogurt dip. 

I was full of hope that Bakalaki would be my new favorite Greek joint in Singapore but i guess not. More misses than hits from this meal and the prices were also on the high side. 

Bakalaki Greek Tavern

3 Seng Poh Road Singapore 168891

Tel: +65 6836 3688

Mon - Thu: 6pm - 1am

Fri - Sat: 12 - 5pm, 6pm - 1am

Sun: 12 - 5pm, 5pm - 1am