Mykonos takeaway has been an institution in Sandy Bay, Hobart, for decades; if you haven’t had a late night feed there, you haven’t experienced Hobart.
This well known greasy spoon was established by an immigrant Greek family from Mykonos, which explains the windmill.
It is not just a generic decoration, it is a faithful representation of the famous Mykonos windmills, which are seen on the top of the hills on this island in the Mediterranean and are the first thing people notice when arriving by sea to Mykonos-town, Alefkandra harbour.
Most were built in the 16th century, though construction continued into the early 20th century.
*The Hag is Tasmanian Times’ scurrilous gossip monger …
Ted Mead
June 17, 2018 at 19:09
One of the windmill fans is dysfunctional so it looks more like a 4 -leafed clover instead, but at least I know the relevance of it now.
As for the photo the street side fascia, it doesn’t inspire it to be a riveting hub or a place promote Hobart on.
Given that, I have been there before to purchase a vegetarian souvlaki and I must say it was a great eat, and not a greasy spoon as you have suggested.
Jon Sumby
June 18, 2018 at 18:19
Re. #1 … Ted, I thought so as well, but I went and had a look.
The windmill lights are animated and blink off in sequence to give the appearance of rotation; the photo must have been taken then.
Greasy spoon is something I haven’t heard for a while so I looked it up …
Greasy spoon is a colloquial term for a small, cheap restaurant or diner typically specializing in fried foods. Originally disparaging, the term is now more frequently used in an endearing sense. The name “greasy spoon” is a reference both to the typically high-fat/oil, and high-calorie menu items at such places (for example: bacon and eggs, hamburgers, souvlaki, etc.) and to the supposed general standard of cleanliness. The term has been used to refer to a “small cheap restaurant” since at least the 1920s.
Ted Mead
June 18, 2018 at 19:53
#2 … Greasy spoon it is then!
greg cure
June 18, 2018 at 21:16
Of course, directly across the road there was another chip shop for many years.
The proprietors were two amiable Greeks, George and his wife Sylvi. I lived above the chip shop circa 1972 and just outside my door was the flue! Say no more!
George was from Lesbos and I asked him once about the poet Sappho. He confessed he had not heard of her until he read something in Australia in the Pix .. a notorious magazine of immediate post war Australia, with page 3 girls, conspiracy theories and unsolved murder cases and similar fare. Very good chips I thought.
Of course, another landmark for years was the famous Blue Dolphin Chip Shop that was a common stopover for patrons from the Travs for many many years. In those days before bain maries you waited for your chips and this led to much light-hearted banter among waiting patrons – and the odd altercation! It was located conveniently alongside the betting shop (Charlie Hay) a couple of doors south of the Dr Syntax Hotel, run for many years by MHR and trots reinsman Ken Austin, who if I recall, had a role in the bribery scandal surrounding the fall of the Bethune government. I could also talk about the Brazil but that’s digressing, and one would have to talk about the green gate who served the best caramel milkshakes ever.
For NW coasters the “real†Greasy Spoon was located just opposite the silos at Devonport. Again, great chips.
Snowy
June 20, 2018 at 02:47
Re #5 … The Brazil started life as a regular restaurant – before the arrival of pizza in Hobart.
It was the first restaurant (which wasn’t a hotel dining room) that I ever entered (circa 1963). Was it one of the few stand-alone restaurants in Hobart at that time?
Robin Charles Halton
June 21, 2018 at 09:34
Does anyone remember Dellas’s Crystal Palace cafe in High St, New Norfolk where I used to go to get my regular Fish and Chips? My Parents warned me those dirty Greeks were caught sleeping in the kitchen by the Council Health Inspector. It didn’t stop me at all. Dellas’s were always obliging people, never any issues with fish and chips despite their reputation.
I think the wife’s name was Ketty and she used to provide me with colourful Greek postage stamps during the 1950s to the early 1960s.
They were hard workers providing a service almost 24/7 which was not unusual as there always taxi drivers, early morning drunks from the Freemasons Hotel, and of cause patrons from the Plaza Picture Theatre all looking for a late night feed – and regular young couples in cars at all hours after having sex!
There was also a more modern cafe on the opposite side of the street run by a Greek with a surname S, something like Stratis or similar!
I can faintly recall a serious altercation that made Mercury headlines sometime back in the late 1960s that involved the use of a knife to settle differences between the two cafe owners!
Another place was a cafe in Sorell. It’s still a cafe today now opposite McDonalds.
I can’t recall the nationality of the owner as a Greek or an Italian, but the fish and chips were cooked in olive oil which was unusual at the time, but absolutely with perfect results that are unforgettable!
Robin Charles Halton
June 23, 2018 at 14:20
During the 1990s I used to visit Hobart on a regular basis to catch up with family.
Where Flight Centre is now, the Greeks who used to run the place produced the best Souvlaki in the City.
Eleni, the younger one who was both good looking, outgoing and not afraid to treat customers as special, she caught my eye once and I had to ask her if she was married, she politely pointed out that she was, to the older Greek who I thought was her father or uncle!
I felt somewhat deflated but that never stopped us having a chat which was unusual for many Greeks at the time probably because of lack of education, command of English and of course trust of being scattered among Anglos often misunderstood lingo.
I only ever went into the grease trap across the road at Mykonos once. I must have been desperate at the time and it never occurred to me to ever enter the Brazil cafe.
Anyone know what happened to the illuminated and unique Brazil sign which was a landmark signal for the Bay CBD and which is not the same without it?
In fact the Brazil corner now with a bowtik painted all over inside and out in white looks awfully drab and uninviting.