Sherman's Food Adventures: Olympia Pizza

Olympia Pizza

It was poor planning on my part. We had just finished up our Friday night hockey game and I suggested we go try out Chewies in Kits. Let's see, small restaurant. Friday night. Non-existent parking in the neighbourhood.... Equals a 2-hour wait AND money in the meter (which was going to waste since we going to leave). Seeing how this would not work out for us, we quickly hightailed it to another eating destination. But where? For some reason or another, I was not at the top of my game. You see, I've been lazy and well, there were no backup choices... Well, except for one - Olympia Pizza. Yes, it ain't the sexiest of choices. However, the food is predictable and the place has been around forever. So we made our way over and had to pay the meter AGAIN. Do the meter maids really check at 9:00pm at night all the way out there anyways???

Whatever, we fed the meter anyways and headed into the restaurant. Someone suggested we share everything to which I gleefully agreed to. We started with the Calamari which arrived on a large plate. We found it to be pretty good with tender squid rings in a light and crispy batter. It wasn't oily at all and properly seasoned. The thick tzatziki had a good combination of lemon and garlic with the cucumber. Next up was the Keftedes which arrived in a healthy portion with classic Greek accompaniments - rice, potatoes and salad. These were rather flat which probably led to the meat being dry. Despite this, the "meatballs" were seasoned nicely with a good onion hit without being salty. There was a good char and caramelization on the outside. The rice had a good bite and was not in any way soggy while the roast potatoes were soft with a noticeable lemon zing. However, the outside of the potato was quite hard.

Naturally, being the lamb-lover that I am (wait, that didn't sound good...), we had the Arni Psito (roast lamb). Again, It arrived as a pretty large portion with a good layer of fat on the outside. This probably helped keep the meat moist and tender (which it was). The meat fell off the bone and had the soft lamb texture that makes roast lamb yummy. Furthermore, the meat was well-seasoned (not salty though) with good hints of garlic. Onto another classic Greek dish, the Moussaka was slightly out-of-balance. As evidenced in the picture, there was a fairly thick layer of bechemal sauce on top. We felt there should have been a bit more of the other ingredients (layers of eggplant, potato and ground beef). Now that didn't mean it didn't taste good though. Once again, it was well-seasoned (bordering on salty). The bechamel had a nice consistency while the eggplant was nice and the beef was moist.

Lionel Hutz thought it would be nice to try something different in the Greek Ribs which were marinated in lemon and spices then charbroiled. As expected, this was not the fall-off-the-bone version. They were a bit dry with a chewy texture. It was still easy to eat though with a pronounced lemon pepper kick. These were alright, but definitely different. For variety purposes, we decided to go for the large Olympia Lasagne featuring a rich layer of sour cream. This was indeed a large portion with lots of melted cheese baked on top. The lasagne was typical of these types of restaurants with a wet meat sauce in between layers of soft pasta. I liked the sour cream as it added a certain richness to the dish. Moreover, it somewhat alleviated the good amount of salt (which was quite a bit).

Lastly, we split a medium Meat Lover's Pizza (yes, this was a lot of food for 6 people). Where is Mijune when you need her? Again, much like the lasagne, the pizza was pretty typical for a restaurant like this. The crust was crunchy and semi-thick. As for the abundance of meat toppings and cheese, the whole pizza became very greasy. Furthermore, it was salty as a result from the different types of meat. We weren't huge fans of it. As for the rest of the food, it was not bad, especially for late night. We've had better elsewhere, yet it was exactly what we expected and I guess that is not a bad thing necessarily.

The Good:
- Pretty standard fare, no surprises
- Service was decent
- Portions were good

The Bad:
- Not cheap
- Very well-seasoned food, sometimes being salty

Olympia Pizza on Urbanspoon

4 comments:

LotusRapper said...

"So we made our way over and had to pay the meter AGAIN. Do the meter maids really check at 9:00pm at night all the way out there anyways???"

OMG you think just like me, LOL. Like, really, I too don't believe the meter maids assault the cars parked on the west side, where the creme de la creme reside, that late in the evenings.

Olympia is alright, a safe family standby I'd go to than say, Swiss Chalet or White Spot along that stretch of Broadway between MacDonald and Alma. Not sure they're so "Greek" anymore these days.

PS: they have 2-3 parking spots in the back alley, FYI.

tony said...

umm...good review of the food. You might want to re-word your opening sentences tho. (fail, epic fail.)...it at first sounds like you are about to roast OLYMPIA PIZZA as an epic fail. As far as the meter maids: trust me..they will ticket your vehicle right up to the last second. You won't even know as they just type in your license plate from the comfort of their patrol vehicle and you get a ticket in the mail two days later. Same for parking too close to a corner or parking ass backwards on any residential street. Why? it is city policy..they are making up for all the 2010 olympic spending and mayor goof-off wants vancouver to be the greenest city, favoring bike lanes and transit over car trips. City hall has a secret agenda to make vancouver car drivers extremely frustrated and make you want to leave your car at home. They want you to take your bike or mass transit so their efforts do not look like a familiar. Go find somebody at city hall in the traffic department..eventually he/she will confide in you what i just typed is true. Anyways..another great and honest review of the food. --thanks!

Sherman Chan said...

@LR Yah, I noticed that their lot was full, so I had to waste more change... sux...

@tony Yah, that's why I still put coins in the meter... I'm afraid they'll get me!

Westjet007 said...

Which place do you prefer over Olympia? I LOVED their moussaka!

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