Ikos Oceania: Eating at Ouzo

Experience with us the meals we had at Ouzo restaurant at Ikos Oceania in Halkidiki, Greece.

Greek food. Real Greek food. This is what we got at Ouzo. If you have been following my blog, you will know that my hubby and I have gone on the vacation of a lifetime and, at the same time, celebrated our honeymoon that we never had the opportunity to do when we got married.

Out of all of the restaurants at Ikos Oceania, we spent most of our meals at Ouzo. It was simply incredible.

Breakfast at Ouzo

Our first meal here was breakfast. The view over the Aegan sea was simply breathtaking. It was the perfect way to start our day. The moment we sat down we were brought some bread, pain au chocolat, butter and the most delicious jam ever – cherry is my favourite! The menu was chockfull of the most delicious dishes and we had a hard time deciding on what to have. The waitress came up with a solution: order them all! Haha! Very funny… Or so we thought. She was actually serious. But we are not about wasting food so we settled on a dish that contained all of my favourite breakfast things: sourdough, avocado, poached eggs, cherry tomatoes, dukkah and feta cheese. Lots of feta cheese. The waitress suggested a side of bacon. She was right – that was definitely the cherry on top (so to speak!).

I was still very curious about bee pollen. Heard a lot about it. Never tried it before. There’s never a better time than the present, right? So I ordered the Greek yogurt (not greek-style, I may add) with Greek honey and bee pollen as a little ‘pick-me-up’ stomach liner… Incredible!

Dinner at Ouzo

The same evening we also went to Ouzo for our dinner. Upon our arrival we were presented with a shot of – you can guess – ouzo. I. Hate. Liquorice. It is the worst thing that exists. So why, across our stay, have I had three of these? Because I didn’t want to offend the locals. Well, that was two out of the three times. The third time I just had to prove a point. But that is a different story!

Back to our dinner. If you have read A Greek Odyssey: Experience Ikos Oceania in Halkidiki and Ikos Oceania: A Resort Experience you would have noticed that I have a few allergies and that I have been assigned a dietician, Anna, to help me navigate the food scene safely. One of these allergies is to aubergine. A pretty big staple in Greek cuisine. In speaking with Anna I have mentioned to her that I am a huge foodie. I love trying new things (if it doesn’t kill me) and although I have had homemade versions in the past (when I could still eat aubergine), I’ve always wanted to try a real Greek moussaka. But since aubergine is out of the question, my moussaka dream has gone out the window. Enter Anna. She made it happen. I had a (modified!) Greek moussaka in Greece. I was over the moon! But before we get to the mains, let’s talk amuse bouche and starters.

Along with our shot of ouzo, we received a plate with what looked like three small loaves of bread. It was topped with tomato sauce (you know, like the type you put on pizza) along with a dried olive and a sprinkle of feta cheese. I bit into this little loaf of bread, just to find that it is drier than a piece of old toast. The texture reminded me of beskuit (a South African breakfast rusk), but my mind was scrambled as it was savoury instead of the sweet I’m used to. I had to enquire what it was. Dakos. A Greek barley rusk topped with tomato, olive and mizithra cheese. Not feta. Still, a taste explosion with big flavours and a bold crunch. What a way to start our Greek adventure.

Whenever my hubby fills up his car, he stops at the M&S next to the petrol station. He gets some picky bits for us to nibble on at random times during the weekend. He always gets me the dolmades. I love the M&S dolmades. If I don’t pace myself, I can easily eat the whole pack in one go… With that in mind, you can only imagine that there will only be one option for my starter choice. Only here they call it dolmadakia. The rice is a perfect al dente. The dill provide the fragrance and there is an acidity so subtle that is difficult to detect or identify, but balances the dish perfectly. The greek yogurt sour cream was a perfect topping. I already hear you ask: ‘which one do I prefer?’ Of course it is the Greek one, but here in the UK I’ll settle for the M&S one until one day I can return to the land of glorious food. My hubby chose the chargrilled halloumi cheese with aubergine and pomegranate for his starter. He said it was utterly delicious!

Then it happened. My long awaited real Greek (somewhat modified) Moussaka. The first thing that flashed through my mind was the school dining hall scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the bully made fun of Toula’s lunch by calling it mouskaka. The first bite was delicious. The second bite took me to foodie heaven. It was everything I’ve ever hoped it could be. Of course it had to be paired with an authentic Greek salad. Wow.

I don’t expect anyone else to get as lyrical as me over a bowl of salad. But this is Greek salad. Real Greek salad. The tomatoes made this dish. I asked about the tomatoes. They are vine-ripened, Santorini tomatoes. They were sweet, full-flavoured with a hint of umami. The olives where salty and bitter and rich. The feta was creamy and salty. It was so delicious.

Then came dessert. It sounded odd on the menu. The waitress told us to ‘trust the process’. We ordered the chocolate pistachio parfait with, wait for it, extra virgin olive oil. I wish I had space for another one. The olive oil added a richness to the dessert with an earthiness that just made sense. The parfait is cool but not ice cold and the ganache on top is silky smooth and decadent. The crystallised pistachios reminded me of a posh version of Non-Stops. Non-Stops were these sugar-coated peanuts that we used to buy from the local koöperasie (agricultural shop). Once you opened that packet, you didn’t stop until they were finished! Anyway, these pistachios reminded me of that. They were delicious and moreish and I probably could’ve had another handful and not be tired of the taste and texture.

BBQ lunch

We didn’t eat lunch during our stay. It was simply too much. We made one exception though. One morning we decided to skip breakfast and wait for 11am when we could return to Ouzo for their lunchtime bbq. Since I cannot eat anything that has the possibility of cross-contamination, I got to order off the menu. My hubby got to experience a Greek bbq in its full glory. He couldn’t even eat half the dishes that had been available as it was simply too much, but he did choose some of the dishes that simply looked divine. He had kebabs, different types of kofta, flame grilled peppers and other veggies, pitta bread and of course greek salad. There was so much that I couldn’t remember half the dishes on offer.

I ordered from the menu and although the bbq looked delicious, I still think I made some great choices. Hummus, tzatziki and beef kebabs with yogurt and pitta bread. We washed it down with a refreshing mojito.

Final dinner

Our very last dinner at Ikos was spent at Ouzo. Like before we started the meal with the dreaded ouzo, but the much anticipated dakos. This time, in addition to the dolmadakia, I also had the courgette fritters. They looked a little like frickles, but so much better as they were paired with the rich and creamy tzatziki and refreshing mint. My mains were Cretan Skioufihta, a pasta dish made with those divine Santorini tomatoes, irresistible olives and cream Greek feta cheese. This was truly a tantalising experience that tickled my tastebuds in all the right places. My hubby had the pork souvlaki for his mains after he had aubergine and halloumi again for his starters. It looked so delicious. Deadly to me, but delicious for him!

Of course we couldn’t leave without going for that beautiful chocolate pistachio parfait again. It tasted like poetry.

Final breakfast

On the morning of our departure we went for one last breakfast. The hubby had the toasted sourdough with avocado and eggs again, but I wanted to expand my horizon. This time I tried the chia pudding. I have always wanted to try chia pudding, but considering that I am not fond of strawberries (I know) it was probably not the wisest choice I’ve made. Trying to rectify my little blunder (I still ate it all as I don’t like to waste!) I decided to order the shakshuka as well. This was a great choice! This modern take on an old Middle-Eastern classic was genius! Instead of cooking the eggs in the sauce, poached eggs were carefully placed on top. It was rounded off with crispy pancetta lardons and of course feta cheese. Paired with some slices of sourdough toast, this was the perfect end to a perfect holiday.

The ugly side of all-inclusive

This is a little off-topic, but it was at our last night of the holiday that I saw the ugly side of all-inclusive. My hubby and I don’t waste. Each week we buy exactly what we need for the week and we will eat everything. We have one bag of ‘food waste’ a week that contains bones, peels and egg shells; you know, the inedible side of cooking from scratch. But it was at this night that I saw how self-entitled people can be. The table next to us had a family of six. The two parents and four children. The children weren’t little. They were around teenage years. Old enough to enjoy food. I saw this family order nearly everything on the menu. The table was jam-packed with food. They arrived after us and they left before we were finished. With that, they also left the table with almost every dish untouched. It seemed like they literally took one bite out of every dish before moving to the next dish, simply sampling what had been brought out. The waitress laughed it off, saying that it was the norm. This was quite upsetting. Chefs in the back cooking their hearts out in unbearable heat, yet customers that don’t appreciate the food. I just cannot believe the arrogance of some. The portions wasn’t huge so this was no excuse.

Final thoughts

Anyway, on that note I’d like to remember the good side. The creamy tzatziki and nutty hummus. The fragrant dolmadakia and the crunchy dakos. The memorable moussaka and the feta. The creamy, rich, salty feta that hasn’t been replicated anywhere else.

Have you had great Greek food before? Let me know in the comments!

Disclaimer:

The hubby and I paid for this holiday in full out of our own pockets. None of this is sponsored. It was simply our holiday that we would like to share our experience of.

Did you like this post? Why not read about some of my other restaurant and foodie experiences here:

Please follow me on these platforms:

• Facebook: Life, with Clotted Cream
• Pinterest: Life, with Clotted Cream
• Instagram: Life, with Clotted Cream