Since it feels like 40⁰C in Athens in the shade, we lunched on Mezes covered patio today.
My pork souvlaki dinner ($28). I asked our server to hold the rice that usually comes with the dinner, and upgrade my salad to Horiatiki/ Greek Village Salad from their standard Greek salad made with lettuce, tomato and feta.
My friend ordered the chicken souvlaki pita ($15) with extra tzatziki, Horatiki ($8), and some Greek Fries.
This is my favourite covered patio on the Danforth.
Btw saw this sign go up on my walk recently in Rosedale summer Hill area. This new building is coming up right next to the flagship LCBO. Mamakas Taverna is opening up soon yay! Excited to welcome them to this neighborhood as ossington is still available trek for moi
Yes, it is. I think I wrote more about them somewhere. The Greek Nescafé, or other Greek instant, as well as Japanese instant, and other Euro instant, is freeze dried which makes it froth more than Canadian instant coffee, when whisked. I used to save the complimentary instant coffee packets in hotel rooms from visits to Europe and my one visit to Japan, for making frappes at home later.
The Greek instant is sold at Serano Bakery, Select Bakery and any Greek grocery stores. There’s also another brand that isn’t Nestle that works if one avoids Nestle.
If you want to order one, the version at Athens Pastries on Danforth or Vic Park is a little more like the type that I like the most.
You can get it without the milk. I don’t know of any Greek spots in Toronto offering a nut or oat milk Greek frappe. I would think they’re available in Greece.
The cafe was half full on Saturday at 1130 am. I decided to use my phone’s magic eraser to remove the customers, to give the people who had been in the photo their privacy.
As pizza pide has returned to form ordering in from them more frequently. They had a promo on lahmahjun that I usually don’t get so ended up having it with the pide. Good stuff. Somewhat lighter and hit the spot on a hot day
Not sure if Armenia is consistent with this thread, but it was lunchtime and we came across an Armenian restaurant in the North end of the GTA on Victoria Park south of Van Horne called Lavash (Website HERE).
The first thing we noticed was how clean the restaurant felt. Bread is served in sealed plastic bags. I am about as familiar with Armenian food as I am about String Theory in physics but it was overall quite good! We ordered the Cheese Borak plus Filet Mignon Combo for 1 to share which included rice, salad, fattoush, and hummus in addition to the filet mignon. A couple other tables had ordered the Samsak but we were already full. We plan to come back next time for dinner.
If you’re in Scarborough and in need of an Armenian lunch, I highly recommend Mamajoun. The owner is perhaps the hardest working man in the takeout restaurant biz. https://mamajoun.com/
Tried Turquoise Restaurant downtown today for delivery. Lahmahjun and pide. Hmmm not at par with pizza pide for sure. With promos it’s fine. Besides pizza pide has given like 3 pides when I ordered 2 (I couldn’t figure how else I got 6 corner pieces otherwise maybe it was 7 even ) these also come with a salad side
Had a follow up delivery from Turquoise Restaurant downtown. This one was a combo for one and fared much better than the pide. With the exception of the lamb chop (I think I should give up on getting a lamb chop for delivery) all the items were decent. Chicken being not overly cooked as well. Kebabs are ok doner was ok as well. I wouldn’t mind ordering again if there is a promo.
My friend and I visited Pantheon on Danforth tonight.
We shared the fried calamari. It was nicely fried, but it was slightly larger than ideal calamari, making it a little chewier than smaller calamari. Probably as good as fried calamari gets on the Danforth right now. Inflation is hitting the Danforth. A plate of fried calamari was $28.95 tonight.
Not as good as Joso’s,.or probably Milos here in TO.
She had the chicken souvlaki dinner with an upgrade to the village salad, and I had fried zucchini and eggplant with skordalia, and pan-fried potatoes with cheese (patates vlahekes) . I wasn’t in the mood for salad but I should have ordered something lighter. I also don’t eat meat or poultry on Fridays, and has already agreed to fried calamari to share. Shoulda ordered something else as my second course.
My friend likes the chicken souvlaki at Pantheon slightly more than the chicken souvlaki at Mezes, bit she preferred the village salad at Mezes. The patio is also nicer at Mezes.
My lemonade was a carbonated lemonade from Greece, similar to San Pellegrino carbonated lemonade.
Thank you for the review. I haven’t been in a long time. My go to is the Pantheon salad and hummus. I was a bit skeptical about addition of dill in the salad but ended up loving it. I’m didn’t know if that was a traditional ingredient but I found it very refreshing.
Fresh dill and sometimes fresh mint and/or fresh parsley, is traditional at my house (and in many places and Greek homes)! either dried or fresh oregano is welcome, too! Lots of room for variation since it just means Village Salad. The most basic version I have had in Greece was tomato, feta, onion, oregano, olive oil and vinegar, not even including cukes and bell peppers.
I usually don’t add bell peppers at home, and I often use green onions instead of white, yellow or red onions.
I think fresh herbs add a lot to Village Salad/ Horiatiki, Greek salad with tomato -feta-lettuce, and Greek Green Salad (Maroulosalata- romaine/ onions/ dill)
I have a lot of typos in my review. My autocorrect has been aggressive and wrong lately.
The Pantheon salad is very basic but so simple, fresh and delicious: chopped romaine lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, dill, olives and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.
I picked up some cookies , 2 simit, a piece of pistachio Kataifi and some Dubai chocolate at Simit-Chi located at 501 Bloor in the Annex. I like this place a lot.
) these also come with a salad side
