Greece

This week’s culinary passport trip was to Greece as represented by Akropolis Kafe in Ballantyne.  It’s a small place in a little square with several other restaurants and bars.  You order at the counter and they bring it to you so it’s not a fancy joint.  On the day I went they were having the opposite problem their mother country was in that they were lacking employees rather than jobs.  They had a big help wanted sign on the door.  When I walked in there was just one man in the place and he looked harried.  He took my order while mentioning he didn’t know where his help disappeared to.  As he was ringing me up she showed up and finished the transaction while he went to the kitchen to get things started on my meal.

The décor didn’t scream Greece but there were a couple of paintings on the wall intended to evoke that Greekish feel.

I ordered the Gyro & Shishkabob plate which came with a salad and fries.  The baklava was sitting there taunting me so I had to get a piece to eat for vengeance.  I had a choice between the pork or chicken and got the pork which came out nice as you can see below.

The shishkabob was tender and had been thoroughly marinated so the flavor was in every bite.  The gyro meat was ok and once you threw it in the pita with some tzatziki sauce you had something going.  I don’t really know why fries are included except as a filler and I didn’t bother to eat a one.  So now I’m going to say something that I can barely believe I’m putting to words but I was most disappointed in the salad.  It wasn’t bad but the lone olive, tomato slice and cucumber slice made it feel like some kind of weird orphan vegetable salad.  There was enough tzatziki to dress the salad so didn’t even try the provided dressing.  The baklava was quite good and very cinnamony.  I will say my sister & brother-in-law team up to make one that’s better but I could be biased.

Overall the place wasn’t bad.  In spite of any employee issue the staff present was very friendly and the food was solid if not exceptional.  I’d go back if I was in the area but wouldn’t make a special trip.

You can check out their web site by clicking their name above and don’t forget to check out Tell Me More for a tzatziki recipe, music and more.