Aegean, sigh
Did a relative a favor and went to Aegean in Watertown last night. I've never liked it much, but it had been awhile so it was worth another try.
Still pretty disappointing, overall.
Started with "grilled" octopus, which was not grilled, stripped of tentacles, and rubbery. Not served with any seasoning to speak of. We asked for olive oil & vinegar and dressed it the Greek way and it improved a lot, but never got to good.
Also had sauteed zucchini, peppers & skordalia. The zucchini & peppers were pretty good, marinated (even though the traditional Greek way is fried). Skordalia lacked salt, and was lumpy in a way that suggested mashed potato flakes. Eeew.
Saganaki was just a plate of melted cheese. Not actually saganaki. Dad liked it but I thought it was just gloppy.
Salads were ok, nothing special, and I detected old lettuce. Forgettable.
Dinners were 3 orders of rack of lamb and one lamb loin chops. The rack of lamb was a bit fatty and had some strange floury sauce that didn't really let the lamb through. It wasn't bad, but not worth bringing home. Portions were huge, and price was only $19.95, so pretty decent. But since it wasn't that good, well, you decide the value...
The lamb loin chops were much better. Simply broiled, more meaty and less fatty. IF Dad wants to go back on another visit, I'll get those. I saw a few kebabs going by and they looked ok too.
Rice side was ok, Uncle Bens with a sauce. It was fine. "French Fries" were thick slabs of potato, fried. I'd complain more about these, but they're style common to Greece (just not as tasty) so I'll leave out the judgement.
We had galactoboureko and rice pudding for dessert. The galactoboureko was excellent. Hubby said the rice pudding was too.
Scruffy The Cat
Oct 04, 2006 03:21PM
Interesting- we went last weekend and had a pretty bad experience- at the Framingham location.The place is so huge it clearly is mass production. Our appetizers were good. We had the hummous, melitzanasalata and taramasalata dips. Huge portions and tasty- these are all things that can be made in large quanities ahead of time without suffering. WE also had the fried smelts which were excellent. The rest was awful. H had baked lamb with orzo. Overly spiced with cinnamon, mushy orzo and the lamb was very fatty. I had the lamb ribs which had a good flavor but were inedible as they consisted of fat and bones and you could not cut them because every time you try, you hit a bone. The accompanying roasted potatoes were barely roasted and had no flavor. The salads were old and soggy.
The loukomades for dessert were ok . Not going back. Really mass produced awful food.
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The Aegean is a good place for very large groups (I've been there with groups of 27 and 33 people in the past), but I tend to avoid it otherwise. There are better Greek places (Greek Corner, Dionysos, Farm Grill).
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Agreed - went there two weeks ago with a group of 13 for lunch. The service was good and the food came out fast and together. The lunches themselves varied, but the grapeleaves, kebabs, & lamb shank were all fine.
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I'm with you... definitely better places out there. I'm Greek so it's especially offensive to eat that mediocre food. But when Dad is buying, then it's his call. I should have thought of Dionysos-- Dad is old enough that he does want better atmosphere than Farm Grill or Greek Corner-- Dionysos really would have fit the bill better.
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If someone gets a hankering for the Framingham Aegean, keep going to Westboro. El Basha does not dissapoint. Greta kabobs, hummus, kufta and more reasonable.
I've never been a fan of Aegean. When dragged, I get apps and stop there.
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We like the Greek corner just fine; they're very nice, kid friendly, and the food is ok but nothing special.
Is there really excellent Greek food in greater Boston, haute cuisine or basse?
(drooling at the memory of a huge, heaping plate of deep fried baby smelt I had in Astoria, delicious)
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Meze was fairly haute Greek cuisine and that was my first fried smelt experience. They were great there. Now it's Prezza Jr. with some fairly high prices (no pastas <$20, entrees $24-36).
http://www.copiarestaurant.com/dinner...
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I was wondering if anyone's been yet? But I feel the same way about the menu; if I wanted to go to Prezza, I'd go to Prezza, not to Copia in Prezza drag. We've got more upscale Italian than we know what to do with and no upscale Greek, it's a shame.
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Ithaki in Ipswich is very good.
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