Jimmy Grants

On a lazy Sunday afternoon with a hungry tummy, I found myself in front of Jimmy Grants. This is a place that has been on my "must visit" list for a long time. Jimmy Grants is similar to Gazi but much more informal, with a less spacious venue (think side lane, funky music and pumping out lots of soulvas) and a smaller menu offering.


To start we got the famous Jimmy's Dimmy. I was quite interested to see George's version of dim sims. I'm normally not a very big dim sim fan. My parents operated a catering/take away store for most of my childhood. Hence in my eyes, my dad's dim sims were always the best. A lot of people claim that South Melbourne dim sims are delicious but I still find them too heavy handed in MSG and pepper. I was expecting to be disappointed but surprisingly I found myself reaching for a second dim sim. The skin was thin and the filling was juicy with good cabbage/meat ratio.


D and I each got a souvla each. D went with the patris soulva which has a filling of prawns, honey, mayo, cucumber, mint and coriander. The mayo was smooth and sweet once combined with the honey. Together with the cucumber and mint, this made the deep fried prawn soulva have a lighter feeling. I loved the crisp and fresh feeling from the cucumber and mint.


I was slightly greedy and couldn't decide on the lamb or the chicken so I went with the bonegilla which had both! (Win!!) However I was a tad disappointed, the pita bread was not as fluffy as I had hoped. The lamb was very succulent but the chicken was not as juicy as I would have liked it to be. However the mustard aioli and that onion.... Sweet and juicy onion, oh it's so good!


The chips, were definitely the highlight of the meal. I love the fetta, garlic oil and oregano combo! I couldn't stop reaching for more, think if it were twice cooked chips, it would have been even better!


Overall 16.5/20. I am a big fan of Gazi, (as many of you will know) and during the whole meal, I couldn't help but compare Jimmy Grants to Gazi. I know they are both George Calombaris so I think that's why I keep thinking they were be the same. Jimmy Grants has a great offering and a soulvaki that makes you want seconds, but the pita bread was a bit of a let down. However everything else such as the chips and dim sims made up for it. Also, with Messina only a few steps away, I will definitely be back!