Greek – Page 2 – Michael Eats

Mind-Blowing Souvlaki at Mamakas Taverna

Published on September 19, 2019October 17, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 80 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://mamakas.ca/

Mamakas Taverna had a booth at the recent OssFest street festival on Ossington, serving up chicken and pork souvlaki. It was almost improbably good. Like, is the food at a street festival even allowed to be this good? It was easily the best souvlaki I’ve ever had.

It’s simple enough — it features pita bread slathered with tsatziki, and topped with chunks of pork and tomatoes (onions are also an option, though I skipped those).

Every element here is amazing. The pork is cooked on a spit over coals, giving it a nice smoky flavour. It’s perfectly cooked and amazingly juicy.

They chop the pork up and toss it in some kind of magical, zesty sauce; little touches like this make all the difference. The pork would have been perfectly delicious if they had just served it as-is, but that sauce kicks up its flavour, adds additional moisture, and elevates the wrap from good to great.

The creamy, mint-and-garlic-infused tzatziki is just as delicious as the pork, and complements it exceptionally well. And the bread is the perfect vehicle — it’s fresh, a little bit chewy, and amazing. The whole thing is exceptionally delicious.

Tasty Greek Food at Fat Lamb Kouzina

Published on July 26, 2019July 26, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 874 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.fatlambkouzina.com/

Fat Lamb Kouzina is a delightful little Greek place near Yonge and Bloor that, as you’d guess from the name, specializes in lamb. It’s mostly a take-out joint, though they do have a communal table and some stools.

The menu’s pretty simple — you can either get lamb, pork, chicken, or eggplant, and you have the choice of getting it on a pita, or with a side of potatoes or salad.

I went with the lamb; it’s right there in the name. It’s an easy enough choice.

There’s nothing better than well-prepared lamb — there’s something about its distinctive flavour that’s fairly irresistible. And they prepare it very, very well here. It’s slow-roasted and seasoned perfectly, with a zippy, herb-packed flavour.

It’s also incredibly tender. Maybe a touch too tender? I would have liked it to have a bit more texture, but it’s hard to complain when it’s this delicious.

I got it with the potatoes on the side, which were perfectly creamy, and just as herby and delicious as the meat. It comes with a cup of creamy tzatziki that amps up everything’s flavour. It’s good stuff.

Tasty Greek Wraps at Oh My Gyro!

Published on November 9, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 155 John Street, Toronto
Website: http://ohmygyro.ca/

Oh My Gyro serves what’s probably one of the better gyros in the city, though it’s a pretty clear case of “too much of a good thing.”

I got the chicken gyros wrap (you can also get beef doner, chicken souvlaki, or falafel), which comes crammed with chicken, tomato, tzatziki, garlic sauce, and hot sauce (and onions, which I elected to skip).

Seriously: it’s a hefty wrap. The photo makes it look pretty normal, but it was filled with a dense reserve of chicken, probably about the size of my forearm. It must have weighed about a pound.

It’s good quality stuff — the chicken is super tender, with a good amount of crispy bits (I probably could have used more, but then you can never have enough crispy bits). This might have been my imagination, but it had a slightly lamby flavour, like they had mixed lamb fat in with the chicken. Whatever it was, it was good stuff.

But there was a little bit too much of it. It made the wrap ridiculously difficult to eat without making a huge mess, and the balance of flavours was a bit off. The wrap only cost about eight bucks, and would have still been a great deal with about half the amount of meat.

That’s a fairly minor complaint, though. Everything about this wrap worked really well — the herby flavour, the delicious garlicky sauces, the zippy hot sauce (I went with extra hot, and it wasn’t kidding around), the fresh tomatoes, and the soft and chewy pita bread. Even the fries worked really well — I’m normally not a huge fan of fries in a sandwich, but these were fresh and tasty, and complimented the wrap’s other flavours perfectly.

Tasty Greek Doughnuts at Loukoumania Cafe

Published on July 24, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3120 Rutherford Road, Vaughan
Website: http://www.loukoumania.ca/

You can’t go wrong with doughnuts. Let’s face it: pretty much any time you fry dough and then add sugar to it, it’s going to be good.

So of course, most countries have their own take on the doughnut, because again: you cannot go wrong. Literally cannot.

Greece’s version is called loukoumades, which is essentially a doughnut hole that’s been tossed in honey and seasoned with cinnamon. It’s great (at least if the version they serve at Loukoumania Cafe is anything to go by).

I actually liked it a lot more than I was expecting to (and I was expecting to like it). The loukoumades were hot and fresh, with a pronounced outer layer of crispiness. The contrast between the crispy exterior and the fluffy, chewy interior was extremely satisfying.

The flavour was great too, with the perfect amount of honey; it’s nice and sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. And the cinnamon takes it over the top. It’s fantastic.

They have various sauces and toppings you can add to your loukoumades, but since they’re so great on their own, this seems superfluous. You also have the option to get them on top of ice cream. I did this (because I can’t say no to ice cream); it was a huge mistake.

I won’t even mince words: the ice cream was flat-out horrible. It was cloyingly sweet and thin, with almost zero creaminess. It was almost as bad as what I recently had at Kiss the Tiramisu, which is saying a lot.

The doughnuts are so good, though. Just skip the ice cream and get more of them.

Tasty Greek Take-out at Agora

Published on June 27, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 921 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://theagora.ca/

Agora is a delightful little take-out gem from the people behind Mamakas Taverna. As you might imagine, they serve tasty Greek eats. The menu’s a bit more interesting than the typical gyro joint, with sandwiches, salads, and more substantial meals like moussaka or roasted chicken. They have a few stools by the window, but for the most part it’s take-out only.

I tried the spanakopita, which is a mixture of spinach and feta wrapped in crispy phyllo pastry. It was one of the better versions of that dish that I’ve had. The filling was rich and satisfying, with lots of spinach flavour and nice pops of saltiness from the feta. And the super crackly pastry shell was ridiculously buttery, with about a million paper-thin layers of crispy, crunchy goodness.

I also sampled the briam, which the woman behind the counter described as a Greek version of ratatouille. And it was indeed extremely ratatouille-esque, with perfectly-cooked, flavour-packed chunks of zucchini and eggplant, among other vegetables.