Review of Greek restaurant Spero in Mooloolaba

Greek restaurants are popping up all over the place at the moment, and this southeast gem is definitely worth a try… even if it’s just for the very modern — and very delicious — take on an old classic.

According to the Urban Dictionary, Spero means a “great lover who tends to be the best you ever have”.

While restaurateur Tony Kelly and chef Mitch Smith’s new Mooloolaba restaurant of the same name might not be quite the best Greek I have ever had, it is certainly pretty darn good.

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Review of Greek restaurant Spero in Mooloolaba

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Having taken over the old Chances bar site at Mooloolaba’s iconic Wharf, the fresh fast-casual eatery follows a similar format to the gents’ other restaurant, pan-Asian Rice Boi, just a chopstick toss away.

Service is minimal, with diners ordering at the counter, collecting their own water from a central dispenser and picking up cutlery and napkins from tins on the tables. But what the venture saves in waitstaff costs, they spend on quality produce and clever cooking.

It’s a smart formula given the difficulty of finding experienced hospitality workers these days, but it also means you can expect tables to be uncleared around you, others needing a good wipe, and staff members focused on efficiency rather than friendliness.

But if you know what you’re in for, it’s a place with plenty to offer.

Firstly there’s the view. Perched on the edge of the marina, the bright and cheery interior, with hanging greenery, multi-coloured chairs and an abstract Greek god mural, ensures every table looks out over the water. There’s also balcony dining if you want to fully capture the sea breeze.

Spero restaurant and bar at Mooloolaba takes advantage of its waterside spot.

Then there’s the drinks list. Though a compact affair, it offers quaffable wines for just $9 a glass or $40 a bottle, great local beers, and some cracker cocktails, including an ouzo sour, which my friend describes as one of the best cocktails she’s ever had, and a quirky watermelon margarita, with the traditional salt rim replaced with a ring of crumbly fetta, which actually works.

But the true highlight at Spero, as with Rice Boi, is the food.

The share-style menu ticks off on all the Greek classics: spanakopita, gyros, beef stifado, tzatziki et al, but then allows for a little fun and whimsy with dishes like peanut butter hummus and a pork belly baklava.

Pork belly baklava at Spero, Mooloolaba.

The latter ($20) is a standout. Like the love child of a pork terrine and a pie, it features meltingly soft pig belly sandwiched between golden, crisp filo pastry with sticky dates and crunchy pistachio. Sweet, salty, fatty, crisp — it’s comfort in a bowl.

But perhaps even better are the lamb ribs ($15). The fat has been rendered down until crisp, while the meat slides straight off the bone, lacquered with a saccharine cumin-infused caramel sauce set off by a smear of smoky baba ganoush-like eggplant puree. Heaven!

The classic prawn saganaki ($22) is given a slight Korean twist with gochugaru chilli used to punch up the tomato sauce, which sings of aniseed from an ouzo infusion. While the prawns have the lightest tempura batter providing crunch against the melted mozzarella below.

And a Greek restaurant wouldn’t be complete without calamari. Here it comes fried with a salt and lemon myrtle crust ($10) atop a bed of red capsicums and onions softened in red wine vinegar to deliver a tangy acid hit against the sweet, tender squid.

Salt and lemon myrtle calamari at Spero, Mooloolaba.

While service might not be five star, with terrific food at bargain prices, along with that view, it's easy to see why this place is proving so popular there’s queues out the door.

SPERO

Address 123 Parkyn Pde, Mooloolaba

Phone [phone]

Open Daily 11.30am-9pm

VERDICT

Food 8

Service 6

Ambience 8

Value 9

OVERALL SCORE 8