Greek Corner: the good and the bad

I finally got over to try Greek Corner. Service was frustratingly slow but it was only about 3 minutes between ordering and getting all the food.

GOOD:

* Gyro and souvlaki sandwiches. Tender meat, powerful tzatziki, nicely shredded vegetables. The bread on the gyro was a little over-toasted.

* Greek salad. Has all the basics covered. Just slightly wilted, like I like. The feta cheese used is of a higher grade than your usual Greek pizza place type.

* Galaktoboureko. Starchy pudding between filo sheets, topped with cinnamon.

BAD:

* Greek fries. This is actually the main reason I decided to go- fries topped with lemon, oregano and cheese sounds great. Unfortunately, I couldn't taste any lemon, the oregano was dry and unevenly spread, and the "cheese" was a shake of fake parmesan powder (i.e. Kraft from the green bottle). Melted cheese would've made this a lot better.

However, there was one reason we only ate about 3 fries off of the plate: THEY'RE ONCE-FRIED AND TOTALLY LIMP! Folks, you just can't make a good french fry with a single fry batch. You have to fry once at low temp, and then again at high temp. Cooking for a long time at low temp makes your fries simultaneously dry and soggy. It's the exact same problem at O'Sullivan's. Big slices of potato that suck all the moisture out of your mouth. So disappointing.

Go to Greek Corner and get a delicious sandwich.

[snoopdisc]

I too was disappointed the one time that I ordered the Greek fries. I had a vision in my mind of something very different, and needless to say, it is not an item that I would order again. But the gyro, tzatziki, and dinner plates keep me going back.

FWIW- I've been going to GC for years. On the whole the service is fine; it's not that big a place, you can get up and get a server if you think it's slow. As for the food: I love the egg lemon soup, salad, clamari,lamb shank and veggie plate, consistently good. The place is easy to sit with kids and have a relaxed meal with some Retsina. The owners are nice guys and the prices are low.

I've had the fries with their Gyro and souvlaki combo - always good and relatively skinny (maybe some skin on?). And with their cheap burger which isnt bad and can hit the spot if you're looking for a thin cooktop fried fix. And I'm a stickler for non-soggy fries. Dont like OSullivans at all. Maybe their could be more lemon on the greek version, but still good.

I agree with their service. I feel something strange when it takes a while to get an order then it comes a two minutes later. A bit puzzling.

In my experience, outside of higher end places, no one double fries the fries. When your meal costs $10 and there are people waiting, it doesn't make sense and costs more in labor. Are we expecting McDonald's to double fry too now?

I think you can have excellent fries without resorting to double-frying. Esp when you have thinly sliced shoestring fries.

As for GC, I agree it's sandwiches are the thing to get there. I've also gotten their grilled chicken and swordfish kabobs w/ rice and salad and both were good.
I've eaten there a few times and service was sort of slow, I think it's best as a takeout spot.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Fast Food Nation taught me that McDonalds and most other fast food restaurants get their frozen fries pre-fried. So, the single fry at high temperature in the restaurant is, in fact, the second fry.

BK

Yes, you are correct. Both McDonalds fries and your usual diner fries (that come in a frozen bag) have been fried before freezing and shipping to their final destination. The fries are then refried at a high temperature to add crispness.

People seem to always praise "hand-cut" fries but I'll take frozen, mass-produced ones (the crispy kind) over a dried-out, limp fresh fry any day.

The roasted lamb shank is good there too, in MUCH cooler weather.

I usually take away as well.

i love the homemade sausage sandwich (locanica) at the greek corner. one of my fave cheap eats around.

They have the BEST avegalemo (?) soup! Lemony, nice hunks of chicken + rice in a creamy broth. You Must try this!
Maybe when its cooler...