Coquitlam BC
Well I guess it’s time for Greek food again. Note the excitement in my voice.
I’m not sure what it is. I’ve haven’t been excited about Greek food for a while now. Now is it just me, or is the menu of every Greek restaurant in Vancouver just copied and pasted from one of the other Greek restaurants? It sure seems so. But I digress. And I did say “anywhere” to my buddy.
So My Greek Taverna here we come.
It’s a pretty warm day. Let’s try a Greek beer. When in Rome right? Boy this beer sure would taste better sitting on a patio somewhere enjoying a view of anything other than Brunette Ave. Oops there I go digressing again.
I went with the dark first. It was actually quite good. Very reminiscent of a Guinness but without the heaviness. Unlike Guinness you could actually drink a few of these and not feel ill.
Let’s see here. Is there anything on this food menu that might not show up on the menu were we sitting in any one of the many other Greek places around?
Nope.
So I guess start with my one and only dish I was actually looking forward to. Saganaki.
When done right it shows up at your table sizzling away like a sixty year old from Scotland who was out at Wreck beach for the last 10 hours. It wasn’t sizzling. At least they didn’t bring it to me stone cold like Stefano’s did. Ever had Saganaki cold? Don’t! Oh and they didn’t bring us any Tzatziki. WTF?
Not something I would typically try at a Greek restaurant is the Keftedes. Greek style meatballs. I known that the Greeks and the Italians share a spice palette. But somehow the Italians just do meatballs better. I think it was the dill that threw me a little bit. I don’t expect that flavor in meatballs and it didn’t really sit well with me. And I do like my meatballs in marinara. But they certainly were soft and they did have flavor. Just happened to be a flavour I wasn’t thrilled with.
And then of course the old standby spanakopita. Charred. And tasted charred. Peeled off the first couple layers of Phyllo and it was okay. Still it shouldn’t be served like that. At least they remember the tzatziki.
Since the highlight of the meal so far was the beer I decided to try the light version as well.
While it was drinkable it certainly wasn’t what I’d call notable. While I did enjoy the dark beer this one I don’t think I’d bother with again.
As far as the ambiance goes, it sucks.
With a low ceiling and tile floors if there’s more than three people in this restaurant you can’t hear yourself think. It’s cramped and squishy and generally sterile. Even the patio at the Bruncheria is starting to look better than this.
I will give props to the service. It was very good, the staff were very friendly and attentive.
So in hindsight saying “anywhere” was probably a bad idea.
Food 5/10
Ambiance 2/10
Service 8/10
Overall 6/10
Sampling the local Greek cuisine over the last few years has absolutely killed any desire I have to travel to Greece. Italy here we come!