Olympia Pizza & Pasta Restaurant on Denman

Olympia Pizza & Pasta Restaurant on Denman
998 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC

There are some cuisines that, well, I sort of have put them on a side-line. Not that they are bad, just that I feel “attracted” to other options found nearby. One of such cuisines is Greek. While there are Greek restaurants around, the best known is Stepho’s, which I have blogged previously here. So, one day, for lunch, I wanted to go for Greek, instead of the usual Japanese/Chinese options that so abound in Vancouver Downtown/West End. That place ended up being Olympia Pizza & Pasta Restaurant on Denman.

In an unfortunate way, Olympia is better known for its trademark “fight” with the International Olympic Committee (an article describing it can be found here). While I have an opinion about the issue, this blog is not about trademarks and naming conventions but about food so I will skip that topic.

Olympia has a nice “patio” that overlooks Denman Street. For good or for bad, it was a cloudy day so it worked in its own way to take pictures. However, that caused an odd problem. Since the waitress (yes, there was a single waitress for lunch for the whole restaurant) couldn’t really see you, if she was busy, service would be almost nill. However, provided the basic was provided (menu, take order, bring food, drinks and bill), I won’t care about that at all.

Yes, being in a Greek restaurant, I would order that one stereotypical dish: roasted lamb. Well, I could have ordered other dishes; however, for comparison purposes, this was the dish. The first thing you would notice is the portion size. If we were to compare it to Stepho’s, it would be smaller; however, portion size is not everything. It was as tender as the lamb I have had in other places so, from that perspective, I won’t complain. It was also well seasoned… Wait, let’s try again: so far, no roasted lamb I have had so far has failed so, until then… ^_^;

The garden/Greek salad had some “bite” but that “shaved” feta lacked some bitter taste. Regardless, it was good. The roasted potato was interesting in the sense it was completely roasted to the point some charred pieces were on one side. That is always good. The most noticeable/different part was the tzatziki (aside from the fact it is in a plastic container). I didn’t take a picture of that but it had actual grated pieces of cucumber. Now, if it wasn’t because it was a bit too runny… The rice, well, let’s just say that, so far, no Greek restaurant makes the rice “good enough” (Asian standards?).

Overall, it was a satisfying meal. However, having using Stepho’s as a reference point it would be unfair. Would I come back? I will make that assessment after visiting the two other Greek restaurants in the area (but not in Davie). Until then, this place is an option.

Tagged under: Downtown • Greek • Vancouver • West End