lunch at the Athina Grill

I said I might go back to the Athina Grill for lunch. I bet you never thought I'd do it this soon. Ha! Shows what you know. This might be diligence on my part, or it might be a certain girlfriend of mine who loves Greek food, and has already decided that we will become regulars.

I can't say I disagree with her. Lunch was doubly tremendous. The first tremendous came in the form of fantastic flavors all around. The second tremendous related to proportions. The aforementioned girlfriend, Rakka, was super hungry and ordered the two of us about four peoples worth of food. It was a bit excessive, really.

Still, it's good for the blog. I get to talk about way more stuff than I would otherwise. Like all of these spreads:

Hummus and baba ghanoush, and terokafteri and dolmades with tzatziki, oh my!

They were all good. The dolmades were maybe a little plain. But the hummus was nice and smokey, and the terokafteri (hot cheese spread) was crazy delicious! I'd never had it before; it's closely related to pimento cheese spread ^[1][2]. In fact, I think terokafteri might be the inspiration for the southern classic.

All of these spreads are good on fries. Which brings me to the main course. At this point I was close to stuffed, but I had ordered the eggplant and smoked mozzarella pita. There was nothing to do but solider on. It was worth it. The sandwich was fantastic and tremendous, or fantendous, as I like to say. They offered to put some feta on top. This is a mod I heartily support; never say no to feta.

Eggplant pita with fries

Rakka had the falafel pita, which she was kind enough to let me try. It needs a goofy made up adjective too, but I limit myself to one of those per post. Let's just say it was tremastic.

So, in the end, the two of us condensed a day's worth of eating in to one meal, for about 35 dollars. I think I'm going to like being a regular at the Athina. See you there.

[where: 528 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109]

breakfast at the Athina Grill

The Athina Grill is now open for business, and breakfast. Rakka and I stopped in this morning to check it out.

Right in the middle of everything

It was a good call, I think. I like the place. The food is good and cheap at the same time. Really, it seems more of a diner than a grill. But that's cool; who doesn't love a diner?

Did you know? Diners originated in Greece. 100% fact!

The coffee, for instance, is very much diner style. And it goes incredibly well with the Banana & Nutella crepes. Have I mentioned those yet? They're awesome.

Banana & Nutella Crepes, like starting the day off with dessert

But it's Rakka that has the sweet tooth. I'm all up ons the savory dishes, like the Greek Scrambler. Eggplant, tomatoes, onions, red pepper, with some feta cheese on top. Now that's a breakfast. Especially when it comes with home fries, and the most traditional of all Greek toasts: sourdough.

Greek Scrambler, greek flavored diner meal

The inside of the place is nice too. It's bright and cheery. The slanted clock is a delightfully pragmatic solution to some weird architecture.

Insides

To top it all off, all the sandwiches can be had with fries. Falafel and fries! That's almost as awesome as the Indian/American place I used to go to in Baltimore (nothing tops curry and fries). They also have Halibut and Chips on the menu, which seems more English, but who's counting?

I expect I'll have to go back and try some of these things. Just, you know, to satisfy your curiosity. Oh, the hardships I endure for you, my readers. ;)

[where: 528 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109]