Plaka On The Beach

Eat at Peters by the Sea most times when down at Scabs, the Plaka is just as good, went in there when Peters was packed and couldn’t get a table. Used to go to the Plaka in Northbridge many moons ago. OK menu and chow, prices are the same.

This unassuming eatery is a rather quiet achiever and gets about its business without causing too much fuss.
But it does what it does well. Very well, indeed. I was at Scarborough Beach the other day and decided to give my usual Peter’s By The Sea a miss and try a new beach side treat.
I was a bit nervous about this as I’ve had a long love affair with Peter’s and wasn’t sure if Plaka could deliver the goods.
I cautiously eyed the less than perfect pictures of somewhat formidable food on the menu. It’s really easy to make food look good. You just add more light. Well, that’s easier said than done and no help at all if you don’t know that little tip. The truth is it’s really easy to make food look bad too. And Plaka on the Beach seems to have excelled itself in the latter area.
I didn’t let the photos of unappetising chips and oily meat phase me though. Just because an eatery doesn’t have a big marketing budget, or a marketing budget, doesn’t mean the food is below par.
So I ordered the burger and I’m very glad I did. It was a mouthwatering delight at a reasonable price.
Looks can be deceiving and they are if you take Plaka’s pictorial menu on face value.

I am not giving this place 5 stars based on the food experience. The 5 stars are not intended to reflect 5 star dining as this is only a food-​court-​type-​fish & chips-​type-​kebaberie. The 5 stars are aimed at the fact that they do simple things really well. They serve yoo fast with a handy ticketing system and provide you with fresh food (no more 8 hour old refried chips). Their portions are also huge. I came in here one afternoon with a friend when our hunger pangs struck at the beach. We thought we were opting for a snack when we ordered chips and gravy to share, it was massive.
They are no also fully licensed and sell bottles of beer and cider far below prices that you see in neighbouring bars.
Next time you are hungry from all that salt and sand it is well worth sitting down here for cheap food and beer.

Plaka is the sort of place that doesn’t look like much from the outside. Actually, it doesn’t look like much from the inside, either. It’s every beachside fish ‘n’ ships shop you’ve ever eaten at. Every kebab joint. Every milk bar.
Except that, well, it’s kind of not. Forget the branded umbrellas and the plastic chairs. Plaka actually shows real care and attention to detail. It also has an obsession with: unlike most kebab places, which showcase their wares on a vertical spit, its fat content glistening against a backdrop of stained aluminium, this one advises customers that its kebab meats are kept in the fridge to ensure freshness. The results are there in the pita.
They’re even more apparent in the burger bun. In a city that goes on a little too much about its home-​grown gourmet burger joints, Plaka quietly goes about its business churning out some of the most genuinely satisfying such burgers around. There’s nothing gourmet about the bacon and egg hamburger – it’s a pretty ugly-​looking sandwich – but its meat is beautifully seasoned and even more beautifully cooked. A reminder that hype is often overhyped. The fish and chips are solid, too.
Plaka also impresses with its liquor license. It is nice to know, heading down to Scarborough for lunch, that one will be able to was down one’s ground beef or thinly-​sliced lamb with a bottle of beer or glass of wine. It’s yet another surprising touch of class in a place that, by rights, should have no class at all.