ETHOS
5/08/2010Bro and I have made eating out together almost a weekly event. It's hell on the wallet and on my gut, but I'm kind of addicted. This past week we went to Ethos in Midtown East near the United Nations, a Greek restaurant that caters to the local moneyed class. Many have become regulars there, chatting with the staff about their lives and friends. Hugs and kisses fly about inside of Ethos's fancy digs. Ethos isn't cheap, with almost all appetizers over $10 and almost all entrees over $20. At the same time, while the staff is friendly, the decor upscale, and the attitude just above business casual, the food is playing catch up.
I won't lie about being somewhat inexperienced with Greek food, so maybe it's designed to be mediocre, but somehow I doubt it. I started dinner with an order of Kalamaraki Tiganita, seasoned and "lightly pan seared" calamari. It turns out that lightly seared means fried. So I wound up with fried calamari which isn't really what I wanted. It was decent, run of the mill friend calamari. But I can get decent fried calamari at some pizza places. I was expecting something with more inspiration. Bro ordered the Spanakopita, spinach, leek and scallion with feta cheese wrapped in phillo dough. This was quite good. Far better than my fried calamari.
Two appetizers, two entrees and two beers, plus tax and tip was nearly $100.
For dinner, I ordered the Kotopoulo Souvlaki, chunks of grilled, marinated chicken breast and grilled vegetables served over rice. Again, I ordered something boring. The chicken itself wasn't bad, but it was way too dry and the rice was literally identical to the stuff I've gotten at Halal carts for lunch. I found myself asking why I spent $20 on it when five blocks away I could have spent $5, white sauce and hot sauce, please. And do you have Diet Pepsi? Bro went for the Moussaka, a baked dish with layers of ground beef, eggplant and potato and allegedly topped with a Bechemel sauce. Yeah, this was more authentic, I guess. But I didn't like it at all. Bro was more sympathetic, but he also likes pastitsio, which I think is an egregious waste of food.
We skipped dessert but were given something on the house. A cheese-filled pastry drizzled with honey. They didn't tell us what it was, but I think it was a Tiropita. This wasn't too bad and certainly tasted better after not having to pay for it.
Two appetizers, two entrees and two beers, plus tax and tip was nearly $100.
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