I was on a Greek food crave, actually just Greek Salad, so with a couple of friends, I finally decided to head down to Greek Town to try some authentic Greek food. It was my first time in this area, and I honestly feel ashamed because I been in Canada for almost 15 years and have never been to this side of town! Seriously.
Messini has been one of the top picks on urbanspoon for cheap eats and was also recommended from my friend so I had to try it out.
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| Ceasar Salad |
The below was not an authentic Greek salad because it contained no lettuce. It was a bunch of largely chopped cucumber, tomatoes and onion topped with feta. The size of the tomato was HUGE. It was literally a quarter of a whole tomato. How can a Greek restaurant NOT serve Greek Salad?
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| Greek Salad? |
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| Pita w/ Olives |
The grilled calamari was a little overcooked and was chewier than normal.
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| Calamari |
After reading about the awesome feta fries, I knew I had to try it because I LOVE feta. To my disappointment, these fries were nothing but sliced potato topped with feta. It tasted good but nothing out of this world
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| Feta Fries |
This was one dry stick of chicken souvlaki, that's all I have to say.
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| Chicken Souvlaki |
Isn't it funny how I came to an authentic gyros restaurant and not eat gyros? Well, that's because my gyro experience at Mr Greek was disastrous therefore I claim myself to not like gyros. Not to be stubborn and all, I decided to try a piece of this gyro. Let me start with, "this gyro is completely different than the gyro I had at Mr Greek!" I only had a tiny little piece so I'm not able to judge this any further. I am more willing to give gyros another shot in the future after tasting this one.
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| Pork and Lamb Gyros |
Final Verdict: Par
OMG .. this is by far my favourite Greek "fast food" place.
ReplyDelete1) I actually think that traditional Greek salads don't have lettuce!! It's just what we've all been conditioned to have, because we're in Toronto. I love the fact that they don't "cheapen" their Greek salad by adding lettuce.
2) Their gyros are SO great -- fresh meat off the spit, instead of the pre-cooked over-salted compound meat-block at Mr Greek and Friendly Greek. The fact that they also toast their pitas and throw in fries make it fantastic! That being said, I find their pork gyros too chewy -- Chicken or Lamb are much better.
3) I would not have any of their grilled items -- they're not known for their souvlaki or calimari. Same way I wouldn't order salmon at a steakhouse -- stick with what they're good at -- the gyros!
I'm sorry that you didn't have a great experience there -- everyone I've taken to this place have loved it. Try it again, but stick to the gyros next time!
I think I do want to try again, and this time just for gyros! I guess the only way to find out if greek salad contains lettuce is to go to Greece and find out~ hahahah
DeleteOh Oh Oh !!
DeleteSo I've heard that a LOT of Messini faithfuls are flocking to Folia Grill. I'm going to try it out very soon, but they do Pork Belly souvlaki, and gyros with juicier, more consistent meats. It's on Pape, about 2 big blocks north of Bloor.
I do love to dine at any Greek restaurants. Those foods are yummy. Hope I can taste them all.
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