Boston Greek Food

 Someone wrote:

 > There are very few exclusively Greek restaurants in Boston these days
 > [used to be many more].  I have seen the Omonia at 75 Charles Street
 > [in the theater district] recommended in this list quite recently.

 I wrote the review, but since then my Greek friends have told me that the
 Steve's location on Newbury Street is *the* place to go for great Greek
 food in Boston. But in case anyone is interested, I'll repost my review of
 Omania below.  Hit "n" if you've already read it. :)

                                     Very truly yours,
                                     Ms. Margo

 **************************************************************************
 Omania Restaurant
 75 Charles Street South
 Theater District
 Boston, Massachusetts
 Phone: (617)426-4310

 The Omania Restaurant is tucked back on Charles Street, a little more than
 a block away from the Wang Center.  Although Boston isn't chock-a-block
 with Greek restaurants, this is still one of the city's nicest.  I visited
 Omania twice, both on evenings out to the ballet at the Wang.  While Brew
 Moon, Jacob Worth's, and David's all had a long wait for tables, Omania
 was busy, but not crowded.  It's not exactly on the main drag, and I think
 that many of the theater crowd don't even know that it's there.

 Menu

 The menu contains a lot of the classic Greek favorites.  There's lamb
 roasted and as souvlaki, spanakopita both as an appetizer and an entree,
 moussaka, gyros, avgolemono soup (egg lemon soup), pastitsio (Greek
 lasagna), stuffed grape leaves, chicken souvlaki, taramasalata, tzatziki,
 shrimp with garlic, stuffed squid, and American steak for the non-Greek
 eater.  I didn't ask if the spanakopita was all veggie, but I suspect that
 if you're a vegetarian you can manage to make a meal.  Entrees are served
 with a choice of Greek or horiatiki salad, rice pilaf or potato, the
 vegetable of the day, and bread.

 The evening's deserts will be recited for you.  Our list included baklava,
 rice pudding, pastiki, and grape nut pudding that our waitress said was
 better than what her Mother makes.  You can get American coffee (regular
 or decaf) or Greek coffee.  If you've never had Greek coffee, imagine a
 double espresso sweetened with honey and with a 1/2" of sludgy, silty
 grounds at the bottom of the cup.  I was bouncing in my chair before I
 even finished the cup.

 The wine list was fairly diverse for the small size of the restaurant.
 Much to my dining companions' dismay I choose to have a glass of retsina
 on both visits.  The astringent, resinated wine, with its Christmas tree
 flavor makes an excellent foil for Greek food - even if some people hate
 the stuff.  There are also selections of Greek and California reds and
 whites if you're so inclined.  House wines (including a Merlot and a
 Chardonnay) are available by the glass, as are many of the other wines on
 the list.  There is also a small selection of beers available.  I've never
 had the courage to try Greek beer, but it's available.

 Decor

 From the outside you might be tempted to pass this restaurant by.  It has
 a large tacky "Greek coffee shop" type sign and plain curtained windows,
 but don't let the outside fool you.  Inside, the one dining room is subtle
 and relaxed.  Large tables with white linens have equally large
 comfortable chairs.  Tables are spaced fairly close, but not ridiculously
 so.  (You'll have to listen hard if you like to eavesdrop on the next
 table.)  The walls are white-washed with oversized color photos of
 interiors and exteriors of a Greek villa, framed in light wood.  The
 lighting is muted and indirect.  Soft Greek music plays in the background.
 If you're looking for a romantic restaurant, this one doesn't rate badly
 on the romance scale.  The overall feel is that of a nice, cozy taverna
 somewhere in the Islands.

 The restaurant is mostly non-smoking, with a few smoking tables.  Although
 there is no separate smoking room, the ventilation was good enough that I
 never noticed the smoke from the smoking tables - but if you're really
 sensitive to cigarettes you might ask to be seated in the far corner,
 furthest away from the smoking tables.  The small bathrooms are off the
 main room and were very clean and pretty.  The coat rack is outside the
 restaurant door, but clearly visible from the tables through a glass wall.
 This isn't immediately obvious when you come in, so don't worry about
 losing your coat.  The dress code is relaxed.  There was the whole range
 from very dressy couples going to the theater to young folks in jeans and
 sweaters.  There is validated free parking at the Howard Johnson 57 Hotel
 around the corner.  Be sure to ask about it when you make your
 reservation.

 Service

 Service was prompt and friendly.  Both times our waitress was great.  The
 wait staff here knows the menu well and can explain items that you might
 be unfamiliar with.  The recited list of the specials included the prices,
 which many restaurants don't seem to do.  The courses arrived promptly,
 but weren't rushed.  The Maitress d' checked on us occasionally, and kept
 tabs on the room like a watchful mother.  When I accidently cut time a
 little close on our first visit, the whole staff seemed to go into high
 gear to take care of the check and make sure that we made curtain on time.
 I really appreciated that.  (If you have an 8:00 curtain, arrive at
 6:00-6:15 to have time for a leisurely dinner, conversation, dessert,
 Greek coffee and time to get to your seats without rushing.)

 Food Quality

 Dinner starts with a basket of fresh bread - pita and whole grain or
 wheat.  The whole grain had a solid chewy texture, although, surprisingly,
 on the second visit the pita bread was a little dried out.  For my
 appetizer - both times - I had taramasalata, a paste of red caviar and
 olive oil, eaten with the pita bread.  Some cooks make their taramasalata
 with a consistency like humus, and some with a smoother, creamier
 consistency.  The first time it was done like the later, and the large
 plate dotted with Greek olives and pepperocini was quite a substantial
 appetizer.  The second time it was more hummus-like in consistency, served
 in a big mound with a big black olive on top.  It was very enjoyable both
 times, although quite different each time.  The first time it was saltier
 and creamier, the second it was less salty and had more of a potato flavor
 to it.

 For my salad I had the horiatiki, a mix of just tomatoes, cucumbers, and a
 block of feta cheese in a vinaigrette Greek dressing.  My dining companion
 had the Greek salad, which is the standard with lettuce, cucumbers,
 tomatoes, onions, Greek olives, pepperocini, and feta.  Both salads were a
 little heavy on the dressing, but the large, homestyle chunks of
 vegetables were fresh and tasty.  The cucumbers were especially crisp.

 On my first visit I had the roast lamb.  It was a bit more well done than
 I like lamb (but I like mine *very* rare) but still very flavorful.  The
 was a substantial amount of garlic flavor to it.  The lamb was greasy, but
 not ridiculously so.  There were a generous number of slices of meat.  I
 had the rice pilaf, served with a sweet tomato sauce over it and stewed
 green beans for the vegetable of the day.  I thought the green beans were
 great, tender and with a nice mix of flavors from the longer cooking.
 Although, my dining companion found the beans too overcooked for his
 taste.  The rice was terrific, plump and tasty.  The tomato sauce had a
 touch of allspice which gave it a really interesting taste.  On my second
 visit I had the gyros, also with the rice pilaf and stewed green beans for
 the vegetable.  Unfortunately, the four strips of gyros meat were very
 dry.  The flavor of the gyros was excellent, but I kept coating the meat
 in the tomato sauce from the rice pilaf just to moisten it.

 On the first visit my dining companion had the sirloin steak.  It arrived
 medium well as requested, and was a pretty good cut of meat.  It had a bit
 more fat on it than you might expect in this diet conscious era.  On the
 second visit, my companion had the chicken souvlaki.  He really enjoyed
 the plump chunks of chicken on the skewer, he thought it was cooked well
 and seasoned just right, but didn't much care for the grilled veggies.  He
 found the rice to be a bit bland.  (This was his first time having Greek
 food, and he is a little fussy about what he eats, so I cut him some
 slack.)  I nibbled a bit of his kabob tomato and thought it was good.

 I choose to have the Greek coffee, which was excellent.  It truly is a
 caffeine experience.  The thick sweet coffee was not only full of flavor,
 it could possibly raise the dead.  For dessert I had the pastiki - a
 baklava-like pastry.  Although it was delicious, it was so sweet, that
 after the large meal I wasn't able to finish all of it.

 The food at Omania rates as solidly "good".  The weakest point seems to be
 the meats.  It's unfortunate, since the rest of the meal is quite nice and
 you would expect the stars of the entrees to shine.  Both meals I had
 there were enjoyable, although neither would be the best meals I've ever
 eaten.  I would certainly have dinner there again, and I recommend it, but
 this is one of those restaurants where service and decor is great, but
 food is just good.  I'm told by those in the know that the Greek food at
 Steve's on Newbury Street is much better, but everyone agreed that Omania
 was "nice".

 Overall

 If you like Greek food, you'll like Omania.  It may not be the best
 restaurant in Boston, but this relatively unknown, comfortable little
 place is certainly worth a visit if you're in the theater district.  The
 advantage of free parking makes it a gem for the area, and being only one
 block from the Wang is a plus for the theater crowd.

 Thor I. wrote:

 > Ms. M. wrote:
 >
 > >I wrote the review, but since then my Greek friends have told me that the
 > >Steve's location on Newbury Street is *the* place to go for great Greek
 > >food in Boston.
 >
 > I used to think that too.  But my last two meals at Steve's have been
 > _awful_ (not "not as good," but actually terrible).  I don't know if
 > there's been some sort of change in the kitchen or what, but I'm put off
 > enough to avoid returning without some good reviews.

 I had the same reaction to the Greek Corner in North Cambridge a year
 or two ago, after several years' worth of good meals...anyone know the
 current scoop there?