Greek Village

Sometimes we ignore things that are closest to us and/or easy to access.  Or in my case, I choose to ignore my Mother-in-Law on purpose.  However, it wasn't consciously that I haven't been back to Greek Village in quite some time.  It was never my favourite Greek restaurant, but it did what it did decently and at a reasonable price.  So when Zamboni Guy, Hot Mama and Jill wanted to grab some lunch, we went there rather than doing the "I give up, let's go to a chain restaurant" thing.

Starting things off, we had the Calamari which looked paler than a Vancouverite during December.  Despite its appearance, the batter was lightly crispy and very easy on the grease (while adequately seasoned).  Although the squid wasn't exactly super chewy, it wasn't tender either.  We prefer calamari that retains a bite, but this could've been tenderized a bit more.  I thought the side of tzatziki was nicely thick, yet it could've used more acidity.  For my main, I went for the Mousaka sporting a thick layer of bechamel on top.  I liked how it wasn't too stiff nor runny.  It was appealingly creamy and mildly seasoned. The ground beef underneath was soft and moist, albeit rather greasy.  Below that, the eggplant and potato were tender while not being mushy.  In terms of taste, I liked how there wasn't too much salt.

To my utter horror, everyone else has the Chicken Souvlaki (what? no variety?).  On the plus side, it was nicely prepared with moist chicken that was attractively charred.  It was mildly seasoned with the natural sweetness of the chicken coming though.  The side of rice was firm and also lightly salted.  We found the roast potato appealing in texture with a nice hit of lemon.  On another visit, everyone had the souvlaki again!  For myself, I had the Kleftiko (Lamb) with the usual sides.  Although the portion size was fairly large with chunks of lamb bathed in a tart and sweet tomato sauce, I was indifferent about the dish.  I found the lamb a bit stringy and dry despite the evidence of fat.

For some odd reason, Jill had the Fried Zucchini served with tzatziki.  Well, they were actually decent with a crunchy batter that was a touch greasy.  Inside, the zucchini wasn't mushy while the batter didn't slide off.  On that note, I much prefer breading over batter.  Overall, both visits to Greek Village yielded good service with serviceable food.  I liked my mousaka, but wasn't overly impressed with the lamb.  So depending on what you order, the experience could be very different.

The Good:
- Friendly service
- Serviceable food
- Okay pricing 

The Bad:
- Food can be a bit hit and miss