About three weeks ago the Greek gods decided to take a break from their endless squabbling, descend from Mt. Olympus, and pay a visit to us mortals. Fortunately they landed in Phoenix, and they came bearing gifts. These can be sampled at Athena Greek Cuisine, a new restaurant in the shopping center at Mayo and Scottsdale Rd.
If the Scordalia ($6) isn’t heaven sent, I don’t know what is. This spread, made from bread, almonds, potato, olive oil, white wine vinegar and GARLIC is jaw-droppingly good. It has a mellow, almost sweet taste and is good smeared on anything, but especially on the Greek Sausage appetizer ($7), another gift. In fact, all the appetizers we had were delicious. Ken chose Grilled Octopus ($12); Pat had Greek Style Wings ($9), which had been marinated in olive oil, parsley, oregano and lemon (these were even better cold the next day). Marinated Beets ($7) were refreshing. Meg, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for introducing us to Athena, says the Fried Smelts ($7) are tasty too. It’s so nice to have out-of-the-ordinary menu selections available. And the servings are surprisingly large, great for sharing.
The entrees don’t reach the sublime level of the appetizers, but for the most part they were good and reasonably priced. Meg and I split Moussaka ($13). It was as good as any I’ve had in Phoenix, but there was nothing to lift it out of the ordinary. Stewed green beans were served with all the entrees, and these were a nice foil for the richness of the moussaka. Ken had the Combination Plate ($15) which had Pastitsio, Moussaka, Dolmades with Avgolemono Sauce, and Roasted Leg of Lamb. I thought the lamb was
overcooked (but that seems to be the norm for Greek restaurants) and tasted curiously liver-y. Pat was disappointed with her Greek Spaghetti ($12) which was way too salty.
We were quite full, but Pat, being half Greek, felt we had to sample the Galaktoboureko, a filo and custard concoction. The custard was pasty, rather than
silky, and the lemon sauce needed some zest to wake it up. But it was nice to see something besides Baklava on the menu (in fact there were a number of Greek desserts).
I loved Athena’s decor. It’s happily over the top. There’s a statue of Athena centered in the doorway, an aqua back-lit frieze on one wall, a white bar framed with Greek columns. The white painted wooden chairs (which Ken said were not very comfortable) look great against the dark floor. The only jarring note is the two TV screens flanking the bar. If you go on Athena’s website you can get a virtual tour of the restaurant, and also check out the menu.
Our waiter Chris and his “shadow” were both very pleasant and seemed familiar with the menu. There was a huge amount of staff for the number of patrons, but better too many than too few. Given that Athena has been open only for a short time, I find it easy to overlook the shortcomings - in fact we’re planning to return this weekend. We’ll probably stick to the appetizers, but believe me, that’s no sacrifice!
Athena Greek Cuisine
7000 E. Mayo Blvd. Phoenix 480-502-4466
athenagreekcuisine.com
daily, 11AM-midnights
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