A Taste of Greece

One of my dining partners, who recently relocated to the Lark Street area, has urged me to come down to Lark Street to try the neighborhood fare. After my last experience at Totem, and of course the great difficulty with which one has to find parking after 7:00 p.m. in that neighborhood, I, understandably, had some reservations. Nonetheless, I ventured out to A Taste of Greece ("ATOG") located on the Washington Avenue end of Lark Street.

I did a bit of research on the establishment before making the trip. I learned that the restaurant, in its current location, has gone through several different iterations during the past decade. Of course, reading this gave rise to some concerns, but I dismissed it to the difficult Lark Street dining scene (except for a few perennial favorites: Bombers, Elda's and now, McGuires).

We walk into the restaurant and are greeted by warm, earth-toned walls. No chintzy murals of Greece or large banners of the Greek flag. The dining space could just as easily pass for Mexican, a French Bistro, or a coffee shop. You immediately get the "down-home" feel when a young woman (incidentally, modeling a "Totem" [sushi bar] tee-shirt) gets up from her seat, where she was dining with a group of her friends, and tells us to sit anywhere we'd like. The restaurant was about half full, so we take a seat at the banquette style booth near the window to get a good view of the restaurant and Lark Street below.

We studied the extensive 4-panel menu and separate wine list and concluded that ATOG is far more than your "typical" gyros-and-hummus-place that's generally found in middle-America. A separate wine list featured wine primarily from myriad vintners in Greece. Glass service ranged from $4.50 to $7.00, whereas bottles ranged from $20.00 to $30.00. A young group of urban hipsters shared a basket of warm pita and a bottle of a Greek white to my left.

Moments later our server/chef/foodrunner asked whether we've settled on our order. We were still in the midst of studying the menu, but we both agreed on sharing an order of Spanakopita ($5).

The menu reveals that ATOG relies on Greek mainstays like lemon, oregano and thyme, and puts together winning combinations of each. The most expensive dish on the menu is grilled lamb chops described as being crusted with pungent oregano and sprinkled with a light lemon oil dressing. There was also an ample seafood section featuring items like grilled shrimp. Of particular curiosity were pasta dishes with chicken or shrimp and pink sauce. By no means am I an expert on Greek cuisine, but it seemed like these were added to pander to those diners who were dragged to the restaurant and wouldnt enjoy the gustatory delights to be found in stewed lamb, shrimp, or char-grilled octopus.

The appetizers featured several other indegenous favorites including the aforementioned grilled octopus and grilled halloumi cheese. Halloumi is a cheese reminiscent of a firm mozzarella, but saltier. Its best feature is its ability to withstand grilling, which is how ATOG serves it.

The balance of the menu also revealed the chef's diversity. Prominently featured and labeled as an ATOG 'favorite' was gyveci, a stewed lamb dish infused with cinnamon, tomatoes and onions, and ATOG's rendition of saganaki, available in meat, seafood, or vegetarian options.

The Spanakopita arrived a few minutes later: a large (3"x4") sheet, which my partner and I elected to share. Cutting into the dish with our bread knife disrupted the delicate, buttery layers of phyllo and spinach beneath. Nonetheless, a swift, deft cut and we were on our way to enjoying the dish.

Upon first bite, the dish was cooler than I wouldve desired. The spinach was overwhelmed by dill and there wasnt enough feta in the dish. The phyllo, although visibly fresh-looking and well-colored, was a bit "stale" and tasted as though it had been reheated past its prime. The balance of the filling only revealed a bland swipe of chopped, frozen spinach (n.b., this maybe because of the temporary ban on fresh spinach).

Neither of us being too hungry after the appetizer course, my partner and I both settled on gyro sandwiches ($7). I opted for the beef/lamb and my partner requested the chicken variety. The gyros are served with an order of "Greek fries."

In the interim it was nice to see that the owner of El Mariachi, one of Albany's and the region's finest Mexican restaurants, strolled in for dinner.

The gyro sandwiches were served moments later, wrapped in deli paper and teeming with lettuce, tomatoes and meat. I dove into the "Greek" fries first, which I learned were nothing more than undercooked steak fries seasoned with a blend of salt, pepper and dried oregano. I hoped that my sandwich wasnt nearly as much of a disappointment.

The gyro meat was lean and well-flavored. Each bite yielded to fresh vegetables and a satisfactory mouthful of beef-lamb goodness beneath. My only complaint was the quality of the pita wrap - which tasted a bit bland (I dont think these were fresh) and the sourness of the yogurt which made the tzatziki sauce. Real homemade Greek yogurt is world renowned and should be creamy and offer good density. This was no more than your typical Dannon blended with cucumbers and other spices. Nevertheless, the sauce wasnt a major distraction from the main course which I was more than satisfied with.

The dessert course appeared to be simple and satisfying, and had I saved room, I wouldve opted for the baklava. Hopefully, it'll be a bigger hit than the spanakopita, which shares the same phyllo wrapper.

ATOG does a satisfactory job in bringing Greek cuising to the Capital region. Despite the rough waters facing many restaurants (on Lark Street and in that specific location) these days, ATOG has the right elements for a true dining jewel on Lark Street.

A Taste of Greece
193 Lark Street
Albany, New York 12210
(518) 426 9000