Birthday dinner: Greek in Manhattan
My birthday buddy had a long list of restaurants he wanted to book, but due to the short term nature of when we were trying to make reservations, in addition to trying to book a table of 8, reservations were very difficult to come by. Funny enough, after booking a table at Lola Taverna, people dropped out that we ended with only 5 for dinner. Who knows where we could have gone instead? It has been quite awhile since i’ve had Greek food outside of Astoria, but I did enjoy it, and it was a little more modern than what I normally have. Starting with the cocktails, I chose the Siren’s Song for the pure fact that it had greek yogurt in it (vodka, apricot, lemon, greek yogurt, honey, fennel).
It was a sweet drink, but not overly sweet and it had a nice tang from the yogurt. Similar to our meal at Le Coucou, we decided to share a bunch of different things. For appetizers, we went with Pikilia, Spanakopita Spring Rolls, Chicken Gyro Bao Buns, Grilled Octopus, and the Charred Cauliflower.
The Pikilia gave us 3 choices of different dips and a basket of pita bread. We went with the classic hummus, Muhammara (roasted red peppers, pomegranate, walnut), and Kopanisti (whipped spicy feta, chili oil). My favorite was probably the Muhammara, but they were all great.
As for the remainder of the appetizers, they were mostly what you would expect.
The spanakopita spring rolls were alright, I honestly prefer the real thing. And I’ve definitely had some great spanakopita in Astoria. Tough to beat those.
For entrees, we definitely went with less dishes than the appetizers. We chose the Shrimp Orzo, Marinated New York Strip, and the Grilled Australian Lamb Chops.
This was probably my favorite of the 3, and it was also my choice. They were not stingy with the shrimp, and I love when dishes are very sauce-y. It was cooked almost like a risotto, but with orzo.
Honestly, by the time it got to these last 2 dishes, I was so incredibly full. I had a small piece of both, but it was so difficult as we ate SO much food. It was a shame too because the smashed potatoes that came with the lamb chops looked so so tasty.
It was a fun birthday dinner, and so nice to be able to celebrate with my birthday buddy again.
