Friday, September 17, 2010
Azar's
Went to Azar's for Greek food. The lamb pizza was pretty heavily spiced, and tasted more of cinnamon than lamb; I don't think it needed the tzatziki sauce. I don't recall having stuffed grape leaves before; the main taste there is a bit of vinegar. The hummus and pita bread is good, and the sesame honey brittle candy is very good.
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Okay, here's what to order next time at a different Greek restaurant (since Azar's dolmathes were evidently too vinegar-ey). Get mezedakiah with pork (not chicken cuz Greeks often over-cook chicken), smelt (if they do it lightly breaded and fried -- they're thin little mild silver-white fish that come in a cute pile all together), some more hummus and pita bread, and lastly three different desserts. The stuffed grape leaves are called dolmathes (or dolmades... dolma simply means "stuffed"), and meat ones are better than veggie, imho. Yes, they should have a tartness to them but they should also clearly taste like the beef-lamb and rice mixture that's in them along with cucumber yogurt sauce for dipping. A mezedakiah plate is a combination of appetizers that will furnish you a few dolma along with chunks of marinated pork, seasoned fresh cucumber and tomato wedges drizzled with lemon, plus those reddish-brown Greek olives and some little slabs of feta cheese. Then for dessert have baklava, and rice pudding and the un-pronounceable (ga-LAKTO-bou-REKO) vanilla lemon custard that's smooth and creamy and goes perfectly with the hot black tea you'd ordered just a few minutes before.
Damn, I'm hungry now. Thank God for Cocoa Puffs and milk in the fridge.
I agree with Avi that the dolmates must not have been all that well manufactured. They're not bad and should not be vinegary in my experience (I got fed them by Lebanese folk).
I am a fan of the way Greeks do potatos. I always be sure to order some extra.
The baklava is good if it is fresh, but it can be a bit stale depending on when it was made. If there is a nut allergy, you might want to pass on that.
I prefer chicken souvlaki usually when I'm going for greek, but a good greek salad, with greens, feta, some black olives, red onion, and some oil and vinegar is quite tasty.
I usually trade tzatziki in for hummus, mostly because I'm a big fan of hummus and love garlic.
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