St. Spyridon’s Greek Festival 2006

Since we moved to San Diego in 2001, we’ve been to the Greek Festival at St. Spyridon’s Greek Orthodox Church every year except one. Though we had a pretty full schedule this year, we wanted to make sure to drop by, and get a few of our "favorites".

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The Greek Festival at St. Spyridon’s on Park Boulevard has got to be one of the most well organized festivals in San Diego. Everything from parking with a free shuttle service (At Roosevelt Jr HS – Upas and Richmond St), to traffic control and crosswalk safety officers are covered. I guess it’s the experience garnered from many years(this is the 37th annual festival). The $2 admission is a mere pittance to pay for attending such an organized festival.

Arriving at 1115 this morning, my mouth was watering, as I checked out the lamb roasting.

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If you checked out my post on last year’s festival, you’d know that I adore the Leg of Lamb Plate($6.00). Unfortunately, all the planets were not aligned this year, and we found that the lamb was not ready and that it would be an hour wait for it. Due to scheduling conflicts we wouldn’t be able to wait around for it. Bummer!

But at least I got my "flaming cheese" dish, the Saganaki($5.00):

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Slices of cheese(the name of which escapes me….), are fried, and placed upon a fried pita. At that point brandy is added and the cheese is set on fire. Along with a joyous "Opa" from all the occupants of the booth:

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The Saganaki booth is by far the festive at the festival. The cheese concoction is gooey, milky, and a bit on the salty side.

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Good stuff!

I also made a quick trip to the Gyros Booth, for what else….a Gyros Pita($6.00):

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This booth got very busy, very quickly.

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Not a bad Gyros Pita.

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While I was stuffing my face, the Missus made a quick trip to the pastry section.

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And got Her Baklava, Katalfi, and other pastries:

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For those desiring a more refined dining experience, the Dining Room opens at 1130, with such items as Greek Chicken, Lamb Chops, Moussaka, Spanakopita, and other yummy items.

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Don’t forget to stop by the Deli area as well.

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In case you weren’t able to drop by today, you’ll still have another chance tomorrow, Sunday, June 11th(from 11am – 9pm). The only strange incident that happened on our visit(other then the lamb not being ready), was a Husky Guy wearing a Pink T-Shirt peddling Mary Kay cosmetics, with Two other Women. They accosted the Missus twice, very strange.

St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church
3655 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92103

Chef Tony

*** Update – thanks to StR, who commented below, Chef Tony is currently closed, and will reopen in a months in a different location. A brief update can be found here, at the bottom of the post.

Way back in August of last year I received an email from Christina recommending Chef Tony Mediterranean and Lebanese Cuisine, so I added Chef Tony to my "list". But for one reason or another we just never quite made it to Chef Tony. Then last week "Keith" left a comment also recommending Chef Tony, so this time I really had to make sure to pay the restaurant a visit. An opportunity arose this past Tuesday. We were headed out to Viejas for a concert, and thought a nice detour to the College area, and a visit to Chef Tony was in order.

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Cheftony10_1 Chef Tony is located next to an AM/PM, and fronting a mostly unoccupied strip mall on El Cajon  Boulevard. It seems that Chef Tony had been perhaps a pizza joint in a previous life. We were greeted by the dignified, though perhaps vertically challenged fellow at the door. Chef Tony, perhaps?

We arrived at about 530pm, and the restaurant was empty except for a family finishing up dinner.

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After a brief wait we placed our order.

The Missus ordered the Lamb Kabob Plate($10.95):

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Two skewers of Lamb,on a bed of nondescript rice, some nicely flavored hummus, and a fresh Greek salad with the typical vinaigrette dressing. Nothing really outstanding, except the lamb. The lamb was not just fork tender, but "plastic fork" tender:

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And though the lamb was just mildly marinated and seasoned, it was grilled to perfection, with just the right amount of charring. We could have done with a bit more "muttony" flavor, but still, the texture and tenderness was right on.

I opted for the Shawarma Combo Plate($9.95):

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Strips of marinated and nicely charbroiled beef and chicken, we both thought the beef had more flavor then the chicken. Though I enjoyed the hummus, and everything else that came with the plate, it’s the "white stuff" that made the dish. That "white stuff" is delici-yoso garlic paste, very garlicky, and yet without the bitter bite of garlic. It’s as if the "soul" of garlic had been captured. You do understand that I love garlic, right?

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Two large warm pitas were also provided for sandwiching our meats and slathering with garlic paste.

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We also ordered a half dozen Falafel($3.75):

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These were only garbanzo bean falafel, with no fava beans. You can tell by the color, and flavor. Made fresh and brought sizzling to the table. I thought these falafel were fair, since they were small in size, I thought there was too much "crust", and the interior wasn’t quite as smooth as I enjoy. The falafel were also a bit on the oily side, and when we finished there was a small pool of oil at the bottom of the bowl.

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In a nutshell, if you enjoy the gritty crust of the falafel, you’ll enjoy these. Personally, I enjoy the balance the crunchy exterior, along with sufficient amount of  slightly creamy "filling". Still not bad for the price, and you know these haven’t been lying around or put into some drawer stored for later.

We enjoyed Chef Tony, and I think we’ll be in whenever we’re in the neighborhood. As we were leaving, the place started to fill up, and the smell of Shawarma(and garlic) filled the air.

Notes on Chef Tony: This is a small Family operation, so one thing it’s not, is "fast food". Think of it as very casual, leisurely dining if you eat in. The menu consists of a good variety from appetizers like Dolma($3.95) and Falafel (1/2 dozen $3.75-1 dozen $6.75), to salads (small greek salad $2.95-large$4.95), reasonable priced sandwiches from $3.75(Lebni) to $4.95 (Beef Shawarma), to various entrees ($6.50 – $10.95). Oh, and you can buy a "large" order of Garlic Paste(Toum) for $3.50.

Thanks for the recommendation Christina and Keith!

Chef Tony
6311 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Here’s where I show my "age". Guess what concert we went to? I’m allowed one "old-fogey" concert a year and this year it was Blondie(good – Debra Harry’s voice sounded really good), and The "New" Cars(bleh, except for Elliot Easton). As great a musician and songwriter Todd Rundgren is, he’s no replacement for Ric Ocasek. And though Kasim Sultan and Prairie Prince sound like a great rhythm section, they sounded a bit out of synch…..I kept waiting for a "train wreck" especially on Shake It Up, where the tempo would constantly speed up, and Elliot Easton would have to "reign it in".

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Of course we kept singing "One way, or another, I’m going to get you, I’m going to get you, get you, get you…." All the way home.

Alborz Restaurant

Earlier in the week we did a little window shopping in Solana Beach, and on the way back, I was quite excited to have a chance to have lunch at Alborz Restaurant, which came highly recommended by several People. Located in a strip mall overlooking the I-5 freeway Alborz can be a bit hard to find unless you’re actively looking for it.

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I approached the Restaurant positively excited over eating Persian Food. I’ve only had Persian Food in San Diego, at Bandar, Sadaf, and Parsian Market. And my knowledge is pretty much Alborz02 limited to Chelo Kabobs, Shirazi Salads, and the like.

The humble facade hides a a very nice and well appointed interior. We were seated immediately, and looked over the menu. And flat bread was immediately delivered to the table.

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Along with very pungent and strong raw onion. The large shaker of sumac was also a good sign.

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We placed our orders, and were brought some nice lentil and rice soup; well flavored with cilantro and tomato, I really enjoyed the soup.

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Up next came our appetizer. Now this is where I made a mistake. An acquaintance of mine told me to order something called Panir Sabzi($6.99), telling me it was a "salad" with goat cheese and walnuts. And me being the doofus that I am at times, really didn’t do any research, and was kind of confused when it was delivered to our table.

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There was a small cube of feta cheese, some really good walnuts, scallions, mint, basil, and leek. The Missus and I looked at each other in pregnant silence, until we both broke out laughing. We were waiting for "something else". Having a total lack of any experience with this dish, and having had it described to me as a "salad" I was totally caught off guard. The last time I was served a plate of herbs like this, it accompanied a bowl of Pho’! My bad….. Finally we figured out that you slice off a bit of feta and walnut, roll up the herbs in the bread and eat it. The feta was too mild and totally lost, and the green onions overpowered everything else in the dish.

The Missus ordered the Lamb Shank($10.50):

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The green bean rice was on the bitter side, and the salad was decent, though mild and in need of a good quantity of sumac. The lamb shank was delivered separately:

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The lamb shank could have used a bit more cooking, but the texture wasn’t really bad, though the overall taste was a bit on the mild side. The sauce was well flavored and slightly rich, and the Missus enjoyed this the best.

I ordered the Lubia Polo($8.99):

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The Shirazi Salad(tomato-cucumber salad) needed a bit more lemon/lime for flavoring, I ended up sprinkling alot of sumac on the salad. The tomato rice was delici-yoso when mixed with the layer of saffron rice, I finished it up in no time. The ground beef kabob was very moist, though very bland, again in need of alot of sumac. The charred tomato was quite bitter.

Though the food was decent at Alborz, I really didn’t think it’s worth making a special trip for. I did Email Howie from A Foodie’s Eye View, asking Him what he usually orders. He informed me, that He enjoys the Kobideh, Chicken Kabob, and the Eggplant Borani. I also asked a Co-worker who is Persian and lives in Del Mar, She also seconded the Kobideh, and also enjoys the Kebob Barg. I was also told that the food at Alborz is decent but very "tame". So maybe I’ll order one of those dishes if I’m in the area and decide to have a meal at Alborz again. Or maybe one of you can do that for me, and let me know how you like it.

Some notes on Alborz: Service was excellent and very friendly. I was amazed at how quickly we were served. As the pictures detail, the portions are pretty large, especially for "Lunch Specials".

Alborz Restaurant
2672 Del Mar Heights Rd
Del Mar, CA 92014

Garden Grill

*** Garden Grill is no more.

On our visit to Saffron we noticed that "Falafel King" was gone and replaced by Garden Grill.

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One look at the menu and we knew that we’d have to make an effort to return.

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Garden_grill03_1 The menu is quite extensive, and I took these photos especially for RONW at Hotel Waikiki, I know he has a "thing" for menus. So here ya’ go, these are for you RONW! So we returned and found some primo street parking on India Street – not an easy thing by any means.

We both "eyed" out what we wanted and went to order. My plans were scuttled when the Missus ordered the Mixed Grill($8.99), which was what I had in mind:

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Man it was good! The Chicken Kabob was moist and tender, the flavors of the herbs used to marinate the chicken came through very clearly. So delici-yoso!!! The Kufta Kabob was also tasty, the meat for the kabob was more coarsely chopped than finely ground which gave the meat an excellent texture. The Greek Salad was a bit short on Feta, but the Romain was very fresh and crisp, the simple dressing also followed the light and crisp theme. The Hummus was routine, and short on garlic, but the tabbouleh balanced out the hummus by being very garlicky. The plate also came with a whole pita that was nothing special, but perfect for scooping up the tabbouleh and hummus. We both thought the rice was kind of mushy for basmati, but we’ll be having the Mixed Grill again.

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I ordered a simple Lamb Kabob($7.99):

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Garden_grill08 The Lamb Kabob plate came with the same accoutrements as the Mixed Grill. The Lamb was so tender with a lemon and herb flavor, but not quite as gamey as I enjoy.

On a recent visit, we weren’t feeling very hungry, and so stuck with a salad and appetizer. Here’s the Greek Salad($6.45):

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The Romain lettuce was so fresh and crisp, the dressing very light! Still not enough feta, though.

I got the Baba Ganouj/Hummus appetizer($4.99):

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At first glance it was hard to tell the difference between the Baba  Ganouj and the Hummus, other then some visible seeds in the Baba Ganouj. I really enjoyed the Baba Ganouj, which was filled with garlic flavor, and a bit on the chunky side. The Hummus was routine, but very nice with my pita.

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The indoor seating is quite cafeteria like, but we rather sit outside.Garden_grill04 Parking on India Street can be a challenge, the parking meters are also on the expensive side. I always crack up at the "time allowance" of 4.48 minutes per 10 cents!! While we were leaving, an obviously rented mini van parked in an open space. As the Gentleman walked up to the meter His eyes opened up wide, His Wife walked up and simply said "Wow"! He quickly turned to his kids and said "Hurry, we’re going to have to eat fast, I’ve only got fifty cents, that’s 24 minutes!"

Garden Grill is also a favorite of Kady of Gourmetish. Who knows, maybe you might run into one of us there!

Garden Grill Restaurant
3715 India St
San Diego, CA 92103

The Greek Cafe

**** The Greek Cafe has closed

Located in the same Mission Valley  strip mall as Tandoor Indian Cuisine and El Portal is The Greek Cafe.

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More of a “casual-fast” style restaurant, the Greek Cafe serves everything from Lamb Shank to Spanakopita. But the item I usually order is the Gyros Sandwich($4.85)

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Though I can get a pretty decent sandwich with salad and fries for $4.95 at Mediterranean Greekcafe03 Cafe in Hillcrest, the Gyros Sandwich at the Greek Cafe is not too bad. The sandwich is served on a large toasted pita and I enjoy the really thick and creamy tzatziki that is slathered on the sandwich. On this visit the roma tomatoes were especially ripe and added a nice sweetness to the Gyros Sandwich. Other then that, it’s a purely routine Gyros sandwich, whose taste faded into memory almost as soon as I devoured it. Not good, not bad, but still better then any of the fast food options available.

On a recent visit I decided to order something different and had the Beef Souvlaki Sandwich($4.85).

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Same toasted pita; though the tomatoes were not as ripe. But what threw me off was the lack of Beef Souvlaki. As the old commercial used to say; “Where’s the beef?”

Here have another look. Can you find it? Seems more like a veggie pita, doesn’t it?

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But after some digging, I did discover some beef. The Beef was very mildly flavored though very tender, but totally “lost” in all of the slightly bitter iceberg lettuce. What a waste.

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I did learn a valuable lesson. Sometimes it’s really not worth trying to find a “hidden gem”, in an environment that really wouldn’t seem to support such efforts. After all, it seems that The Greek Cafe is just Casual Fast Food, nothing wrong with that. At least there is another option that adds some variety in the “Fast Food – Chain Restaurant Purgatory” that is Mission Valley.

The Greek Cafe
5618 Mission Center Road
San Diego, CA 92108

Olympic Cafe

Sometimes, no, change that to many times, some really good eats can be had in one of those little neighborhood diners. Maybe you’ve passed them many times, next to the coin laundry, the Chinese fast-food joint, or maybe next to one of the many "Hair/Nail" places. Olympic Cafe is located on the busy corner of University Avenue and Texas street, and though we’ve always noticed the cafe, we really never paid much attention to the modest storefront.

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That all changed after a recent conversation with Ed from Yuma. The topic of all things was Ed’s "delici-yoso" dance. Ed was telling me a story of how He had dropped by a former employer of His, and the one of the "Old-Timers" still working there mentioned Olympic Cafe, and said that "the food is so good, you’ll close your eyes and do that hand-thing of yours". (AKA the Delici-yoso dance!!!) Well anyplace that would make Ed do the delici-yoso dance, is a place worth trying.

So the Missus and I arrived on a Saturday at about 1035am, during that strange period that is the transition between breakfast and lunch. The Restaurant looked to be emptying out, and we went in and sat. The interior was as expected cheap furniture and very spartan. But the menu was indeed interesting; everything from Diner favorites like Grilled Cheese Sandwiches to Greek favorites like Avgolemono Soup. Because we had arrived before 11, at the "dead" time, I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to order lunch. But my question, was answered with a very pleasant, "Of course, you can order lunch, no problem."

This being Saturday, the Missus ordered the "weekly special" for Saturday, the Lamb Shank($9.25):

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The plate came with rice pilaf, a Greek Salad, Lamb Shank, and basket of pita bread. The one item the Missus fell in love with was the mattress of Feta Cheese on top of the salad.

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Though the rice and the salad did not particularly thrill Her, I got the distinct feeling that she would have loved another thick slice of feta, to stick some lamb between, making a feta-lamb "sandwich".

The Lamb was well braised, very moist and tender, and mildly flavored.

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I got the Gyros and Souvlaki Combination($8.65):

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This plate also came with rice pilaf, which I probably enjoyed more then the Missus, because all the drippings from the Souvlaki had gotten into the rice. The greek salad, with a mildly creamy greek dressing was okay, though not very memorable, as was the pita bread, and the tzatziki. The gyros meat was very moist, most of the time gyros meat is cut and refried and ends up being quite dry. In this case it was very moist and the edges were nicely crisp. The Souvlaki was very nicely flavored with lemon and garlic. Though the meat was a bit on the tough side, the cubes of beef had been grilled well, and a nice tasty crust had been developed. Overall, pretty good food, and an excellent value.

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Good portions sizes along with good prices(nothing over $10) and pretty good food means we’ll be back to Olympic Cafe. I’m especially interested in breakfast with Gyros and Village(Greek Sausage, Mushrooms, &Feta) Omelettes, and Souvlaki and Eggs. Now that sounds really good. Service is also very efficient and friendly. Olympic Cafe is the type of Restaurant that every neighborhood needs. The Restaurant serves everything from Burgers($3.55-$4.55) to Greek Style Pork Chops($8.65). Maybe no delici-yoso dance, but good food at affordable prices.

Olympic Cafe
2340 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Open 7am – 930pm Daily

Mediterranean Cafe

Sometimes you just want really good dependable food, you know what I mean? And maybe you had a tough day, and just need to get outside for a bit, not to eat, but just to do take-out….

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As you notice the Mediterranean Cafe is located right next to El Cuervo in Hillcrest. But where El Cuervo is chaos Med Cafe is peaceful tranquility. I never see very many people eating here, but there’s always a constant flow of "Take-out".

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Actually, the one thing that makes me laugh on the "lunch special" menu is the "1/3 Burger", I’m sure that everyone knows that it’s a 1/3lb burger…but still I picture a plate with 1/3 of a burger. I usually get the Gyro’s in Pita plate ($5.95):

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Very simple, a toasted pita with gyros meat, tomato, onion, and tzatiziki, nothing outstanding; P1000826 but in some way comforting. Everything is routine, the salad, is dressed with red wine vinegar, a bit of feta and usually a single olive. There’s always a nice container of ketchup with the middle of the road fries; not too thick not too thin. Tastes fine, no muss, no fuss.

On maybe an odd day I’ll order a combination plate($7.95). You know, just to live on the edge….

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And maybe the Gyros meat is a bit dry, and the tzatziki is a bit watery…the chicken kabob is moist, though short on herbs, there are really nice crusty bits, and most of all the service is oh, so friendly and nice!

P1000824 Sometimes that’s all you want…..

Mediterranean Cafe
112 W Washington St
San Diego, CA 92103

Plaza Sorrento Food Court – Greek Bites and Amarin Thai

***** Both of these places have closed

I'm a true believer in Food Courts; not the cookie-cutter shopping mall type, mind you. But those found in areas of the San Gabriel Valley, with interesting variety and decent quality. You'll hardly ever find "great" food in a Food Court, but it's the "hunt" that counts. Two of my favorites are The Quincy Market in Boston and Union Station in Washington DC. The usual program would go like this; we'd each take $20, head off in opposite directions, with instructions to meet at a central location in 15 minutes to share our bounty. Honestly, there are more "clunkers" than winners, but it can be fun. So when we came across the Food Court in the Plaza Sorrento during our visit to the Sorrento European Bakery, we became very interested. And since we were starving, and one Banh Mi would not quench our hunger, the hunt was on.

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In this food court is a Indian Tandoori place, a Vietnamese restaurant, and Japanese restaurant. I started noticing that many of the places in this "food court" had it's own dining area, making the description of food court into a misnomer, this collection of eating establishments was more of a "restaurant row". On this trip we decided on Greek and Thai.

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From Greek Bites we got a combination platter ($8.65).

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This pretty sizable platter was a big dissapointment, even at food court standards. The gyros meat was very dry, the chicken kabobs were dry and tasteless, and the chicken wings were – eh, ok. The salad was short on feta and the dressing tasted bottled. The rice pilaf was over-cooked. The tzatziki was good though, and we ended up slathering it over everything, and even bought another one ($.40). Seems like the name Greek "Bites" was somehow appropriate. At least we had leftovers for Sammy and Frankie.

Our other choice was Thai from Amarin Thai Restaurant.

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I asked if this place was under the same ownership as Amarin Thai in Hillcrest and was given a positive nod. I ordered the Thai Sausage ($5.95) and Grilled Beef Salad ($7.25). One quick thing, unlike the speed of most food court type places, there was quite a wait here – even though it was sausage and a salad I ordered.

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The Thai Sausage was nicely portioned with all the usual condiments, the sausage was alot milder than I'm used to (i.e. LOS in Vegas), not as salty, a bit more herbacious, and softer in texture. The sausage tasted fine with a squeeze of lime and wrapped in a cabbage leaf, but I could've used a bit more peanuts.

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Yum Nuah (grilled beef salad), is one of my favorite dishes, especially on a hot summer day. This version had a generous amount of beef, lots of cilantro, cucumbers, lettuce, and tasty ripe tomatoes. The dressing was a bit one dimensional, I know that sounds strange, but it had too much fish sauce and not enough lime. I ended up squeezing the lime from sausage dish to balance the flavor out. We ordered this dish hot and the heat was excellent, though in spite of the amount of beef, the overall portion size was on the small side.

Best dish of the day – the Thai Sausage. We finished almost everything (Greek stuff leftover), and could have gone for more, but it was getting a little late, so we headed home.

So not quite a food court,  The Plaza Sorrento " International Food Court" features a great variety of restaurants, putting everything from Boba and Pho' to Tandoori Chicken within reach. Obviously your mileage may vary in these type of places, but it's fun to be able to grab a good variety of dishes. And besides, there's great sport in the hunt! Do you think there's a future for an organized food court eaters league?

6755 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92121

St. Spyridon’s Greek Festival

*** Posts on the 2006 festival can be found here, 2007 here.

This Festival is on our "must do" list every year. Though we missed last year, we’d gone to the previous three and always enjoyed the pastries, the food, the pastries, the friendly people, the pastries, and most of all, the pastries!

Greek01 This year there was a bit of "June Gloom", but that didn’t hinder us at all. This festival has got to be one of the most organized! Everything from parking to traffic control, to adequate eating space is accounted for. This year there’s even an informational pamphlet listing the different foods and program schedule. Admission is just $2 – though we had a flyer for a dollar off admission, but decided not to use it! We think that this festival is worth every penny we spend here!

As you enter the front of the Church, the pastries immediately draw you in:

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Greek03 That’s Thiples staring at you – it’s just the beginning of this wonderful gauntlet. The tempting looking Kataifi at the right is a must buy. We ended up getting 3 Baklava, 2 Kataifi, 2 Saragli, 1 Kourambiethes, and 2 Galaktoboureko, and still got out spending less than twenty bucks(actually $16.50)! All pastries are priced from $1.50 to $2.50. The Saragli, which is like a rolled Baklava is the unanimous favorite.

There’s a large dining room serving items ala carte, such as Grilled Lamb Chops, Moussaka, Manestra, and Pastitsio, among others. But our favorite are the outdoor booths, for this reason:

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Greek11 It’s fun, the sun, the smells, the leg of lamb!!!! You can watch these guys working hard to keep up, as well as check out the leg of lamb roasting.

The booth next to the grill is selling Spanakopita, Tyropita, Dolmathes, but most importantly the leg of lamb plate:

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The lamb was very well seasoned and very tender, and went well with the bread, feta cheese and Kalamata olives. Basically you break off a bit of bread spread some feta on it, place the olive (pit it first) and a slice of lamb on it – Delici-yoso! Repeat as necessary, until unable to move. The Leg of Lamb plate goes for $6.00. What would a Greek festival be with out Gyros? The Gyros booth sells a Gyros sandwich served on warm pita with Tzatziki, onions, and tomatoes:

Greek08 Though the Gyros was pretty good, it really could not stand up to the leg of lamb. Too little Gyro meat really held this back. Directly across from the Gyros booth is the Saganaki booth. The Saganaki is a Greek Cheese that is served on pita bread – in this case during the cooking process some liquor is added and lit!

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Greek06 The Saganaki had a great "gooey" texture and was fun to eat. Though a bit on the salty side, this was really tasty ($5.00). After checking out the deli and other booths we decided to go home and hibernate.

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But not before getting the leg of lamb plate to go along with some Dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves).

This is St. Spyridon’s 36th annual Greek Festival and it seems to get better every year.