It's all Greek

The Greek restaurant community in Singapore is a small one - you can count them all on two hands. So it makes a big impact to the numbers when two new eateries joined the fray earlier this year, both opening within the span of two months.

"It's difficult to open a Greek restaurant here in Singapore," says Greek native George Kokkinis. "Not in terms of money or investors, but in getting the right passionate people and products. To bring authentic Greek food to Singapore, you have to source many products on your own because it's difficult to find them through local suppliers. Plus, the prices can be very high because of the low demand."

Mr Kokkinis is the general manager of the new Greek taverna named Bakalaki, which opened last month at Tiong Bahru. The other new player is Ergon Greek Deli & Cafe at Suntec City Mall, which opened in April. The two join a small number of existing restaurants such as Alati Divine Greek Cuisine at Amoy Street, Blu Kouzina at Dempsey, and Mykonos On The Bay at Sentosa.