Greek Flame Taverna ... Rewind, Please.

Greek Flame Taverna … Rewind, Please.

I’ll admit it … I’m a snob when it comes to Greek food. I lived near Tarpon Springs for nearly a decade, and cooked for boyfriends who were named Charalambos and Tasos and Vasilis. I’ve passed my infant daughter over my shoulder to smiling, cooing yayas (grandmas) at hours-long Greek Orthodox services and then went to their homes for the most amazing avgolemono soup and delicious roasted lamb and potatoes.

I was thrilled to find good and authentic Greek food at the Greek Flame Taverna and began eating at their Casselberry location when I moved to Orlando ten years ago. I loved the old location, where the family routinely hung out at the cash register, which was located near the front door. Friends and family would sit and talk at the bar, and greet the regulars. We were served by kind, pleasant, and genuine staff who were always accommodating and willing to help you out with the extensive menu.

My family would regularly go at least once every two to three weeks for dinner, and I went for lunch at least every two weeks with coworkers. Until the Greek Flame moved to the Dr. Phillips area, that is. No, this blog post isn’t a love letter to the old location, but my heart does hurt a little bit. My family and I went to dinner at the new location, which had their soft opening in August, to celebrate my daughter’s birthday (the little cannonball I used to pass around to the Orthodox yayas). None of us was impressed.

We made a reservation, which wasn’t necessary as there were only three other tables taken. The new layout is narrow, but gorgeous. Lots of stone and tile floors give it a warm feel. There aren’t any busy decorations to distract you from the food or the menu.

We received our menus, and wow. There were perhaps half of the items from the old location. No combination platters, either. We settled on an appetizer that was not on the menu, the Greek potatoes au gratin baked in a bowl. I’m incredibly thankful that our waiter recommended this, because I now crave this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’m on a mission to replicate this in my own kitchen because I’m not driving to Dr. Phillips every day. There were generous pieces of bacon and meat in addition to large hunks of perfectly cooked potatoes and delicious cheese. I swear to you, you’ll want to lick the inside of the bowl, it’s THAT good.

[I could be persuaded to sell The Birthday Girl for a lifetime supply of this]

We also got the saganaki, which was a disappointment. Too much ouzo was used to “cook” the fried cheese, and all you could taste was anise. Hopefully they’ll train their staff to only use so much in the future, because it’s a shame to ruin a good cheese like that.

[Opa! Well, just a little bit…]

My husband ordered the chicken kebabs, I ordered the moussaka, my youngest had the pastichio, and the Birthday Girl ordered a gyro. Except you can’t get a gyro for dinner, she was told (not even on her birthday). We asked if we could get a whole pita to go with the souvlaki, which is essentially an open-faced gyro. Nope. So she settled on the souvlaki, pretty bummed out. I had to remind her that we were in DR. PHILLIPS and this was DINNER. Not lunch. Sorry, kid.

The moussaka and the pastichio came with a small dinner salad, served with the dressing on the side (which I love). My husband, who was becoming more and more ravenous as the minutes ticked by, requested a small salad of his own. Nope. Sorry. That’s right … even though we offered to pay for it, we were told that he could not have a small dinner salad because it’s not on the dinner menu. Obviously, they were there, probably already made, just waiting for another dinner order of moussaka or pastichio. But because he ordered a chicken kebab, he was not allowed to have a small dinner salad. He could order a big salad, but that was “really big,” according to our waiter.

[No salad for YOU!]

That ridiculous salad actually became a point of discussion for a lot of the rest of the meal. The waiter obviously felt bad and told us he didn’t really get why we couldn’t have it, then came back later to tell us that the salad was being discussed by the owner in the back (and could we hear them talking about it?), and then hopefully by next week they’d have the menu “sorted out” or something. If I were waiting on a family and someone wanted a salad, I’d either 1.) make it myself, or 2.) grab one and offer to pay cost out of my earnings that night so my customer would be satisfied. There were only 2 other tables in the restaurant at the time the salad was requested. Stupid salad.

The moussaka was good, and large enough to where I had to take half of it home for lunch the next day. My husband’s chicken was cooked well, and my youngest wasn’t really in love with her pastichio, but they didn’t have what she usually orders on their dinner menu (surprise!).

[moussaka]

[chicken kebab]

[souvlaki]

We didn’t order dessert, although we saw someone else’s baklava, and it looked delicious. Overall, the food had its good quality. I’m very happy to have tried the potatoes au gratin, but that was the end of the positive experience for us. I miss the old location, where the servers were accommodating, the menu was fuller, and the service was faster. I guess you really can’t go back home again…