Parea Taverna

4 Carmelita Ripepi Goliath - a month ago

Always a beautiful experience. If you enjoy authentic Greek food, this is the place. It's quaint, good wine, Greek music, delicious desserts and staff who know their stuff

5 Tebogo Mabye - 3 weeks ago

Authentic Greek cuisine, apparently this is exactly how it is in Greece ???????? ???? I can't say much about that but I can definitely say that the food is to die for, great for a date night, a night out with friends or just a sole date.

Ask the owner for recommendations he knows his menu like no body ???????? 10/10

5 Vis Naidoo - 4 months ago

We’ve been wanting to go to Parea for the longest time after many foodie friends raved about the fresh grilled fish, which they have become synonymous for. After a year of planning our Greek friends finally got us to commit to a date to have dinner with them at Parea.

The best part of going with Greek friends is that you let them choose the dishes and surprise you as opposed to ordering what you know. And I’m glad we did! Meze and dips are always great starter options to break bread and savour the array of flavours. Our host chose an assortment of meze and dips for starters. After scanning the myriad of options in the glass counter, I also chose one of my favourites - Gigantes - giant butter beans marinated in olive oil, parsley and onion, which was outstanding.

The dolmades comes with a generous portion of tzatziki, and were sublime. The next dip was a beautiful surprise and just too yummy for words. Melitzanosalata – finely chopped brinjals in a garlic dressing. A definite must try. We had fresh pita bread to mop this all up and was scrumptious. The Taramosalata – fish roe, olive oil and lemon dish was excellent, and is a firm favourite if fish roe is your thing. So as if this was not a lot of starters, we still had a divine Greek salad with amazing Feta and olives.

And the final starter dish was the delightful, Brinjal Special – grilled brinjals with Pomodoro tomato, topped with crumbled feta. Another must try dish.

Half way through our starter, our host had indicated to our efficient waitron, Thandi to get the fish on the grill. The whole grilled Red fish was certainly the pièce de résistance, with its firm white flesh, delicate flavour and enhanced with a generous squeeze of lemon. Now I could see what the fuss was about grilled fresh fish and Parea. Golden crispy chips went very well with the fish, as did a dish I’ve tried for the first time, and definitely not my last - the Horta – boiled wild spinach blended with olive oil and lemon juice. Chips, Horta and fish – an ideal mix for a main course – light and tasty.

We rounded off the lovely meal with yummy homemade Baklava and semi-sweet Greek coffee. What a wonderful Greek meal with beautiful friends in a taverna setting with an island feel in the heart of Illovo.

With such an extensive menu, we will be back to savour the other offering and would love to dine on a day where we can experience the belly dancers, live music and plate breaking! OPA!!

5 Estelle de Bruyn - 7 months ago

Booked dinner to celebrate my bf birthday. What a lovely ambiance, soft lighting, not noisy, not crowded, waitress didn't constantly appear, large portion, good tasty fare. Affordable wine for katemba, 10/10

Waitress served us cake I had brought earlier which was sourced and a bakery. No objection, happy to accommodate me. What a nice gent, super impressed.

4 Lesedi “The Story Oracle” Mogoatlhe - a year ago

Always wonderful. Good service and delicious food. Mainly the grilled octopus, and the whole fish. Relaxed ambience, with no pretentious vibe. You just rock up

4 Franklin Legend TV - 2 months ago

Food is still great after all these years. Service has really improved since the last time we've been. Just need to not put 1000 island sauce on their burgers. If I'm ordering a feta burger don't expect it to have 1000 island sauce on it.

4 Victor P - 3 weeks ago

This places does almost everything right, the food is out of this world. And the deco is quite nice. If you want more of the “being in Mykonos” vibe seat inside.
They have great veggie platter, calamari, lamb, etc. every dish is just delicious and traditional. They have everything to be one of the greatest restaurants in joburg, but sadly I’m giving it 4 starts because the service it is always average, it is quite painful to struggle to get a waiters attention.