My Big Fat Greek Restaurant
4218 N Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale, AZ
Somebody will have to explain to me where that phrase came to exist. I mean, I know of that sleeper movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” which was followed by a TV series “My Big Fat Greek Life”. And then there is an unrelated show called “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance” and “My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss”. I will not push that “My Big Fat” theme any longer, other than, when I saw the name of this restaurant, My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, all the worst cliches of the world came to my mind…
But, to be fair, I shouldn’t be judging a restaurant by its name (I will even give some allowance to a restaurant with Golden Arcs but that is another topic). Instead, I will put aside it is a chain restaurant and order the food as if it is was a regular restaurant. However, since I live in Metro Vancouver and (I think) most of my readers are from this area as well, I will have to self-impose one yardstick: Stepho’s. Now, in the case you are NOT from Metro Vancouver, Stepho’s is the most (in)famous Greek restaurant known for its “cheap” entrees and long lines. It is something to be seen… No, not the food but the line of people standing outside – sun, rain or, if hell freezes over, snow – for some cheap food. And, just for reference purposes, I have blogged about Stepho’s in the past – check it here.
One of the “funny” things about Greek food here is the motif. I am not sure if there is a reason behind it but most Greek places I have been seems to decorate the interior to the point it starts to feels odd, as if I was invading somebody else’s home. Yes, cozy to an extent (stretching it, though) but somewhat distracting as well. Anyway, unlike restaurants here, at least in the US, it seems every restaurant has a TV and a bar, almost to the point of it being a sports bar in addition to it being a restaurant. I chose to sit in the dining room because, well, the sports bar was quite dark (modern looking though). Unfortunately, similar to PF Chang’s, lightning conditions were barely better…
For drinks I asked for pop/soda and, bloody hell, it was a large serving! I did take a (bad) picture of it but did not put it up as it didn’t add too much value. It was a 32 ounce glass rather than the more conventional 12 ounce! (I know that nowadays, a lot of places have already switched to 16 ounces as “default” glass size). I mean, I had the option for refills but, was it really necessary to provide the full 32 ounce at once? Americans and their eating habits do not stop to amaze me… Anyway, for the dish above. I had the option to add a “Greek” salad to my entree and chose to do so. So, as seen above, their Greek salad with a mix of cucumber, onion, tomato, lettuce (?), green peppers and feta cheese. And, of course, the lonely olive. It was lightly dressed and had the option to ask for more olive oil. For the most part, it was good, heck, it is a simple dish! Two notes I should mention: Some of the vegetables were chopped a bit too small to my liking and I still can’t think the reasoning behind the lettuce other than to act as a filler to the dish. If you can come up with another reasoning, by all means, let me know!
One quick note about the picture. I know in yesterday’s post on P.F. Chang’s, I did some collage with pictures of the food and it seems I am having a bit too much fun with it as well. I must mention there is yet one other post with a similar collage. It is not easy work as I have to make sure it “fits” but does not forces me to go to large either. However, there was one reason why I did the collage: because the “normal size” pictures was a bit too blurry and the only way to “hide” it is by reducing its size. I know, I cheated here but…
Since I wanted to do a comparison with Stepho’s, I had to order that one item to do so: lamb. In this case, the dish was bone-in roasted lamb. According to their menu, “20 ounces of slowly roasted lamb, seasoned and cooked to perfection”, “all dinners served with roasted lemon potatoes, sauteed vegetables & rice”. The potatoes were decent though I did not taste that much lemon in it. Now foul, as I would have rather had some herbs than lemon on roasted potatoes. I had mixed feelings about the sauteed vegetables. It was good but it wasn’t sauteed, as it still had quite a bite on some of the vegetables. I have the odd feeling they quickly boiled it and tossed with some oil. The rice was, oh, well, disappointing as it had that taste and texture of parboiled rice but, then again, this is a Greek restaurant and I have never had any expectations of rice in such restaurants. Of course, the opposite can’t be said if it was an Asian restaurant…
Finally, the lamb… Not sure how to describe it other than mixed feelings. On one side, it was really tender and had that unique lamb taste (though not too overpowering). But, there were one and a half things that also distracted me – the half being the size. Now, normally, that would have been a “full” issue but I “scaled” it down to half as I wasn’t feeling like eating a lot. But, that did not look that much as a 20 ounce slab of lamb goodness (don’t try to pull that “weight before cooking” statement…). Worst of all? The pieces of fat still hanging. I know flat is flavour but I wasn’t expecting it there, specially if it has been roasting for a while! Despite all that, I think the lamb flavour won me over in this dish.
Overall, while my dinner was interesting, it is not a place I am in a hurry to come back. It is just that there isn’t that bigger “push”/”wow” factor I thought it could (and had some potential). As for the comparison, food-wise, they are about the same – unfortunately for My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, I live in Vancouver and you don’t have a location here. Also, Stepho’s food is cheaper than yours…
