Η μελιτζάνα ήταν πιο νόστιμη απ’ όσο περίμενα, αλλά το κουνουπίδι ήθελε λίγο ακόμα χρόνο στον φούρνο.

Because Greek nouns have grammatical gender, and the article has to match the noun.

• μελιτζάνα is feminine, so it takes η
• κουνουπίδι is neuter, so it takes το

This gender also affects the form of adjectives that go with the noun.

Because the adjective has to agree with the noun it describes.

Here, νόστιμη describes η μελιτζάνα, which is feminine singular, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• masculine: νόστιμος
• feminine: νόστιμη
• neuter: νόστιμο

So η μελιτζάνα ήταν πιο νόστιμη means the adjective is matching μελιτζάνα correctly.

This is a very common Greek comparative pattern.

πιο νόστιμη απ’ όσο περίμενα = more tasty / tastier than I expected

The structure is:

• πιο + adjective = more + adjective
• απ’ όσο = than

So:

• πιο νόστιμη = tastier
• απ’ όσο περίμενα = than I expected

It is the Greek equivalent of English more ... than ....

Because it is a shortened form of από.

Before a following vowel, από is very often shortened in natural Greek:

• από όσο → απ’ όσο

This is very common and sounds natural. Both forms are understandable, but the shortened one is especially common in everyday language.

Because Greek often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

The ending of the verb already shows the person:

• περίμενα = I was expecting / I expected

So εγώ is not necessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• περίμενα = I expected
• εγώ περίμενα = I expected

Greek does this all the time, much more than English.

Because the speaker is comparing the taste with what they expected at that time.

περίμενα is the imperfect form of περιμένω and here means something like:

• I was expecting
• or more naturally in English, I expected

So πιο νόστιμη απ’ όσο περίμενα literally means tastier than I was expecting.

ήταν is the imperfect of είμαι and means was.

In this sentence it describes a past state or quality:

• Η μελιτζάνα ήταν πιο νόστιμη...
• The eggplant was tastier...

The imperfect is natural here because the speaker is describing how the food was, not pointing to one completed action.

This is a very natural Greek way to speak about food.

Although θέλω literally means to want, Greek often uses it in contexts where English would say need.

So:

• το κουνουπίδι ήθελε λίγο ακόμα χρόνο
• literally: the cauliflower wanted a little more time
• natural English: the cauliflower needed a little more time

This kind of personification is very common in Greek, especially when talking about cooking.

It means a little more time.

Breakdown:

• λίγο = a little
• ακόμα = still / yet / more, depending on context
• χρόνο = time

Together here, λίγο ακόμα χρόνο means:

• a little more time
• a bit longer

So the idea is that the cauliflower was not quite done yet.

Because it is the direct object of the verb, so it appears in the accusative case.

The dictionary form is:

• ο χρόνος = time

But after ήθελε, the noun is the thing needed, so Greek uses the accusative:

• χρόνο

This is very normal Greek case agreement.

Because στον is a contraction of σε + τον.

• σε = in / at / to
• τον = the masculine accusative article
• σε τον → στον

Since φούρνος is masculine:

• ο φούρνος = the oven
• στον φούρνο = in the oven

In Modern Greek, σε is used with the accusative for both location and movement, so στον φούρνο can mean in the oven here.

For the same reason as χρόνο: it comes after σε, which takes the accusative in Modern Greek.

So:

• ο φούρνος = the oven
• τον φούρνο = the oven (accusative)
• στον φούρνο = in the oven

This is a very common pattern:

• στον δρόμο = on the road
• στον κήπο = in the garden
• στον φούρνο = in the oven

αλλά means but, and it introduces a contrast.

Here the contrast is:

• the eggplant turned out better than expected
• but the cauliflower still needed more cooking

So αλλά connects two different evaluations of the two dishes.

Not completely. Greek word order is more flexible than English, because case endings and verb forms give a lot of grammatical information.

This sentence is in a very natural, neutral order. But Greek can move elements around for emphasis.

For example, λίγο ακόμα χρόνο could sometimes be placed differently if the speaker wanted to stress it. Still, the version you have is the most straightforward and natural way to say it.