CAFE GRAIKOS IS GREEK TO YOU.Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic Northridge has only one Greek restaurant of note - until now, that is. Joining Alexis as a Greek spot in Northridge, Cafe Graikos is a neat, clean, comfortable, no-frills, smallish dining room in the busy Ralphs shopping center on the southeast corner of Rinaldi and Tampa. It took over the former Mini & Robert's/Wholly Cow space, serving lunch, dinner and snacks with a simple, direct menu of mostly under-$10 items. There are no booths or banquettes, no ouzo ou·zo n. pl. ou·zos A colorless, unsweetened Greek liqueur flavored with anise. [Modern Greek. or retsina ret·si·na n. A Greek white or rosé wine flavored with pine resin. [Modern Greek, probably from Italian resina, resin, from Latin r , no belly dancers here. Just food. If you want to splurge, you can go whole hog via the Cafe Graikos feast ($15.45) which brings forth warm pita in a basket, a cup of soup or small Greek salad followed by falafel fa·la·fel or fe·la·fel n. 1. Ground spiced chickpeas shaped into balls and fried. 2. A sandwich filled with such a mixture. , yalantzi (stuffed grape leaves Noun 1. stuffed grape leaves - well-seasoned rice (with nuts or currants or minced lamb) simmered or braised in stock dolmas dish - a particular item of prepared food; "she prepared a special dish for dinner" ), spanakopita spa·na·ko·pi·ta n. A Greek spinach pie made with layers of phyllo and a filling of seasoned spinach, onions and scallions, feta, and sometimes eggs. (spinach pie), moussaka mous·sa·ka n. A Greek dish consisting of layers of ground lamb or beef and sliced eggplant topped with a cheese sauce and baked. [Serbo-Croatian, from Turkish mussakka (layered eggplant and ground beef casserole), and gyros (thin sliced, pressed, seasoned lamb and beef mixture). The main feast platter is served with steamed vegetables, rice and tzadziki (yogurt, garlic and cucumber) sauce. Or you can do as we did and sample lots of things separately and share them. Yalantzi ($2.95 in appetizer form), by the way, differs from dolmathes in that it has no meat in it and the Graikos kitchen serves it cold. It has good taste and provides a nice small beginning option. Also served cold is a seasoned steamed spinach creation titled spanaki lemonato ($3.25), flavored with cilantro, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Both of these chilled appetizers are really warm-weather items. And because the sun shows up quite often in these parts, they're available year around. Two additional starters, cheese bourekia and marias ($3.95 each) look like small Greek pizzas. The bourekia, which was expected to be a turnover, instead comes forth as a pizzalike arrangement of seasoned feta fet·a n. A white semisoft cheese usually made of goat's or ewe's milk and often preserved in brine. [Modern Greek (turi) pheta, (cheese) slice, from Italian fetta, slice cheese and eggs with parsley and onion atop an uncut round of pita that has been popped into the oven. Likewise, there's the meat version - called marias - of the same circle of pita, however this time caped with an herb-and-spice-boosted mixture of ground beef, tomato, onion, parsley, garlic and pine nuts, then baked. Both hit the spot as starters or snacks. Spanakopita ($2.95) here, a wedge of Greece's famous spinach pie, is a respectable version, and other nibbles for spreading on pita are small portions of the sesame-flavored chickpea chickpea, annual plant (Cicer arietinum) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), cultivated since antiquity for the somewhat pealike seeds, which are often used as food and forage, principally in India and the Spanish-speaking countries. paste, hummus hum·mus also hum·us or hom·mos n. A smooth thick mixture of mashed chickpeas, tahini, oil, lemon juice, and garlic, used especially as a dip for pita. ($2.95); the Middle Eastern lemony eggplant and tahini ta·hi·ni n. A thick paste made from ground sesame seeds. [Turkish t mixture called baba ghanouj ($3.25); and the lovely garlic-laden mashed potato meld known as skordalia ($3.25). If you love garlic, you'll revel in the skordalia, which, in Greece, is often part of a fish dish. Speaking of garlic, tzadziki ($2.50), the yogurt, dill and cucumber sauce that comes with a satisfying main-course meal of souvlaki Noun 1. souvlaki - made of lamb souvlakia kabob, kebab, shish kebab - cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables (your choice of skewered lamb, chicken or filet mignon, $7.95 or $9.45) may also be ordered as an appetizer dip ($2.50) with pita. Two soups are cooked daily. The traditional Greek avgolemono chicken and lemon soup (cup $1.50, bowl $2.45) here is a creamier, thicker version than many, with orzo or·zo n. A pasta shaped like grains of rice, frequently used in soups. [Italian, barley, orzo, from Latin hordeum.] Noun 1. rice, in bowl form just about enough (with pita bread) for a small meal. The lentil soup, priced the same, and though seemingly well-crafted, tasted rather bland one day. Incidentally, either soup or a small, quite refreshing Greek-style salad, is served with any entree for $1.50 more than the a la carte price. One of the entree meals, pastitsios garides ($9.75), seems more Italian than Greek, emerging as a plate of skinny angel hair-style noodles with a white sauce and topped with grilled shrimp. Usually, pastitsios looks more like a layered noodle casserole. The Graikos no-nonsense kitchen makes main courses and sandwiches with gyros, falafel and souvlaki, all neatly handled and thoroughly acceptable. It is no taverna ta·ver·na n. A café or small restaurant in Greece. [Modern Greek taverna, from Medieval Greek tabern and doesn't seem intent on being one. Which is probably quite sensible. Who needs to break plates, anyway? THE FACTS The restaurant: Cafe Graikos. Where: 19346 Rinaldi St., Northridge. When: Open for lunch, dinner and snacks from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Recommended items: Yalantzi stuffed grape leaves, spanaki lemonato cold spinach with lemon, Greek pizzalike cheese bourekia or marias, potato skordalia, avgolemono soup, souvlaki, gyros, falafel, combination plates, baklava. How much: Starters from $1.50 to $4, salads and sandwiches from $3.65 to $6.25, entrees (with soup or salad) from $7.45 to $15.45, desserts from $1.25 to $2.45. No alcohol. AE, MC, V. Reservations: Taken for Friday and Saturday only. Call (818) 831-1187. Our rating: Three Stars for food; Two and One Half Stars for service. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Cafe Graikos co-owner Sam Nouneh, left, holding chicken skordalia, chef Jay Shahoud with Grecian platter and co-owner Rob Dergham with gyros plate. Bob Halvorsen/Daily News |
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