Ambrosia On Pako

Restaurant Feature
If you’ve dreamed of cruising the Greek Islands or the Mediterranean whilst gorging yourself on delicious cuisines but can’t seem to get beyond the confines of Geelong, then Ambrosia is your best stop. Owned by Joubin Mahmoudi, Ambrosia offers locals somewhere for a quick bite to eat with friends or a spot to sit down and waste the night away. The restaurant also adds a new culture to the food scene of the area.
“It’s something that hasn’t been done in Geelong. So we’ve decided to take that and modernise it,” Joubin says.
Ambrosia is still relatively new to the food scene in Geelong after only 10 months since they opened, but the experience that Joubin and his team bring to the restaurant more than makes up for it. After working at several hospitality venues, Joubin decided to open his own, and hasn’t looked back since.
While Ambrosia may be a few doors down from the café “hub” of Pakington St, saunter past the window and the design will immediately catch your eye. Brightly coloured tiles imported from overseas break up the deep warm woods that line the walls. A communal table decorated with fresh flowers greets you upon arrival and gives a comfortable space to chat with a group of friends or a place to make some new ones. But Ambrosia isn’t just a pretty face, and has a quality menu to back up its first impression. While many places only offer salads to the vegetarians out there, Ambrosia has a long list of meals to choose from.
“The good thing about our menu is the diversity of the easy eating for everyone’s palettes. So if someone’s a vegan there’s at least more than a few dishes up there, if someone’s gluten intolerant there’s probably about eight or nine, and if they’re vegetarian pretty much half the menu is vegetarian. So there’s a good option for everyone,” he says.
Vegos can pick from crumbed pumpkin gyros, vegetarian moussaka, an array of salads, or numerous others. For those more meat inclined, there’s lamp rump with an orzo, artichoke, lemon and pea salad, some pan-fried calamari or fish of the day.
Ambrosia also caters for those in a group, or with less of an appetite, as they have a great selection of sharing plates.
“That’s how our menu is designed to be. It’s meant to be shared and have a taste of the lamb, the chicken, the seafood and everything – just chuck it in the middle and share it all. In Europe and the Middle East that’s pretty much what we all do. We all just put it in the middle and everyone makes up their own plate,” Joubin says.
Most of what you see on the menu can be ordered as a takeaway, so for those of you who don’t have the time to indulge in a sit-down meal you can still get some of the delicious meals they have on offer.
While many places on Pakington Street close their doors when the sun sets, Ambrosia is still serving up hot meals to patrons as well as a few after work drinks where needed. They take their cocktails just as seriously as their food and have a considerable menu with combinations that are unique to their restaurant. If that hasn’t tempted you, they even have cocktail specials on Wednesday nights. Make sure you try the Greek Slipper when you’re there, which is a twist on the classic Japanese Slipper and has Ouzo, Midori, Triple Sec and lemon juice.
Ambrosia is approaching their first birthday and to celebrate will be holding a special dinner. The restaurant is also releasing a new dessert menu, which will be out this week. And if that isn’t enough, Ambrosia can even be hired out for functions. Decorations aren’t a worry at this venue and there isn’t a hire fee to budget in either.
For more information on events, function hire or the menu, visit the Ambrosia website or call 5229 2725.
Info: 208 Pakington Street, Geelong West / 03 5229 2725 / ambrosiaonpako.com
Story and photos by Amanda Sherring