Niko’s Kitchen – Kingsgrove, Sydney NSW
EDIT: Niko’s Kithchen Kingsgrove is now closed but there’s still one in Dulwich Hill… let’s hope they serve at least slightly better meals there!
I give Niko’s Kitchen 5 stale pork cracklings out of 10
I had friends talk about wanting to try Niko’s Kitchen, and seen others had some great looking food photos from there on social media so was really keen to try it. I was in Sydney and my brother and I were keen to start the day right so we headed over there.
Full disclosure, when I say start the day I’m not talking breakfast but sometimes my day gets underway a little later when I’m in Sydney. So about 11am we head out.
When we arrived they were still preparing some of the food for the day so I was excited to taste it at its freshest.
I do actually enjoy eating at places in the middle of busy periods because I like to know how the food tastes and looks at these times. I like to think that’s more their standard and what is the very least I should expect anytime that I take others there or visit again myself.
But on this occasion I was keen to eat their food at their best… or so I thought.
So many things sounded good but in the end I went for the Pork Belly Baklava Gyros. As described on their menu as “Slices of slow roasted pork belly, crackling, filo shards, date & pistachio paste, mixed herb salad with parsley, coriander, mint & watercress with apple mastic mayo.”
Though my brother ordered a Souvla Pack and a dose of food envy came over me.
First impressions of my Gyros?! It didn’t look like I thought it might and was a little underwhelming. But taste is king so I got stuck in.
I was underwhelmed again. It was cold, there was no crackle in the pork crackling, I’m not sure where the filo shards were but maybe they were a soggy mess too. The date and pistachio paste didn’t have all that good a taste to it either. I was very disappointed in this food.
Niko’s Kitchen do have a Gyros challenge where if you eat 6 Gyros in 60 minutes you receive a free Gyros everyday for a year. Seems doable with the size of the Gyros but then you’d feel obligated to eat here more. So not sure I want to do that challenge.
If you’re wondering my brothers thoughts on his meal… not much different to mine. It’s not the plate of yummy food you expect, and get, from other good Greek food restaurants. He wasn’t a fan and wouldn’t be back.
So it turns out rather than being at the freshest they were probably just serving us yesterday’s leftovers. Everything was a little bland and didn’t taste fresh. The crackle was chewy and tasted like it was stale.
In the end how do I score it…
Niko’s Kitchen Website
Niko’s Kitchen Location (Dulwich Hill)
237 Wardell Rd, Dulwich Hill NSW 2203
Zomato Rating
Tripadvisor Rating
