Restaurant Review: Koutouki Taverna
KOUTOUKI TAVERNA
10719 124th Street ~ koutouki.ca Instagram: @koutouki_its_all_greek_to_me ~ Twitter: @koutouki124 Co-Diner: Tim Golem
I've been a fan of Koutouki for many years, so when I saw that VUE Weekly named them the #1 Best Greek 2018, that made perfect sense to me. I've spent many dinners with them, celebrated birthdays, and even held my Engagement Party at their restaurant. Koutouki has always served some of my favourite Greek food. However, over the past decade ownership has changed hands and various locations have opened and closed. I was curious to find out where things were sitting these days. The original chef and owner of Koutouki used to be Yianni Psalios. He and his family were even featured on two seasons of the reality TV show The Family Restaurant. At this time in the mid/late 2000s, Koutouki was in its prime and they embodied the height of Greek cuisine in Edmonton. Unfortunately, the Psalios family is no longer involved, however I remained optimistic that the spirit of the restaurant had lived on. I visited the original location in Westmount, an Edmonton mainstay, on a Sunday evening. There are currently two Koutouki restaurants in the city, neither affiliated with the other, which is bizarre. However, the original location is quite iconic, from its giant mural on the outside wall, to the absolutely perfect (still!) ambiance on the inside. The dining room is dressed up as a quaint Greek isles taverna and it has always looked like this. I was happy to find that it still does. The colours are classic Greek white and sky blue. The art all over the walls depict dreamy Greek scenes. And there are twinkling lights and tangles of hanging plants all over the ceiling. The atmosphere is everything that you could ever want and it's lovely. Visiting on a Sunday, the restaurant was very quiet. However, I have very fond memories of Friday and Saturday nights in the past when the restaurant would transform into a raucous taverna complete with loud music, belly dancing, plate smashing, zorba dancing, and Yianni himself going around pouring ouzo down everyone's throat. Even on a subdued night, the space still feels very special though, with Greek music playing (at a reasonable volume). Our server was very friendly and seated us immediately. She explained the day's specials, took our order, and it wasn't long at all until the feast began. I decided to grab a glass of Tsantali Rouge ($8.00 for 6oz), a red wine from Greece.
A seemingly appropriate accompaniment to the meal, I enjoyed this wine a lot. It was light, juicy, and not too harsh on the palette. It captured all of the qualities that I enjoy in a red wine. I'm no wine expert but I know what I like and I liked this. For me, there is only one way to properly enjoy a meal at Koutouki and it's to order the Meze ($41.00 per person). It's a Greek feast that offers a dozen different dishes, allowing for an experience of Greece in the most traditional way. It's gotta be the meze, always. Once the food starts to arrive, it keeps coming like rapid-fire until you're stuffed and satiated. First to the table was the Horiatki, a classic beginning.
Simple and enjoyable, this salad was fresh and good. I especially enjoyed the bright red, ripe and juicy tomatoes. A kalamata olive is always a very welcome sight in my book! Next was Pikilia, a favourite every time.
I was glad to see the generous amount of pita bread provided and happily sampled each dip. First, Tzatziki (yogurt, cucumber and garlic), the true classic. In fact, I think of tzatziki as Greek ketchup. This one was very good, capturing exactly the flavour that one expects and loves. In fact, we ordered even more of it because we need more for all of our food. Second, Hummus (chick peas, tahini and garlic), which I found a bit on the nose. Everyone knows hummus. This one was good just not exciting enough for me. Third, Tirosalata (roasted red peppers and feta), tasty and interesting. I liked the punchy flavour. Fourth, Kopanisti (spicy feta), which packed a great heat. I liked this one a lot for its spiciness. In the old days there always used to be baba ghanoush included and I definitely missed it. Next up was Spanakopita, a near unavoidable Greek dish.
For a bit of a cliché dish, this was a really nice version. Served piping hot, the dough was a perfect golden-brown and delightfully light and flaky. The spinach and feta on the inside was flavourful. I enjoyed this. And of course, Dolmades.
I always refer to these as the Greek equivalent to the Eastern European cabbage roll. And these ones were excellent! The tender leaves enveloped a delicious mix of rice and beef but what really caught my attention was the nice lemon flavour to it all. Some of the best dolmades that I've had in a very long time. Calamari was next, and you can't have a Mediterranean meal without it.
The calamari was a hit! It's so easy to end up with rubbery, over-cooked squid and these ones were cooked perfectly and beautifully golden. (This is precisely when we realized that we needed a whole lot more tzatziki!) The breading was satisfyingly crunchy while the squid was nice and tender. Excellent! Next to arrive was a dish called Gigante Plaki, something that I'd never before tried.
I'm not even sure if I've ever really even seen lima beans so "featured." I liked the dish and the stewy texture of the legumes. The juicy chunks of tomato were some of my favourite parts. I found the dish a hint too salty but I liked that were was an effort to bring more vegetables into the meal. Speaking of vegetables... Rice, Potatoes and Veggies.
The rice was enjoyable and seasoned well. The vegetables (mostly green beans but also some carrots) were well-cooked and provided a good freshness component to the meal. But the potatoes are a thing of special, unique beauty. Till this day, I always dream of these potatoes and I was relieved to find that they were still almost the same. I'm not sure what Greek magic goes into them, but they're incredibly tender and the flavour of lemon permeates all the way through them. I've never been able to find these anywhere else. Our main course arrived consisting of Kotopoulo Skewers, Keftedes, and Arni Fournou.
The chicken skewers were okay. I liked the grilled flavour but I did find the meat quite dry. In the past this part of the meal used to include chicken thighs and I definitely preferred those a lot more. The keftedes (grilled Greek meatballs) on the other hand were delicious! I loved the mix of juicy meats and the seasoning was on point and very tasty. And finally, the arni fournou (slow roasted lamb). This used to be my absolute favourite part of the whole meal. It was probably my favourite preparation of lamb of all-time. It used to be called arni kleftico, and I was weary about the change in name. What I always appreciated about Koutouki and what I felt set them apart from every other Greek restaurant is that they served this gorgeous roasted lamb shoulder while literally every other place would serve their lamb as a chop. Which is way less good in my opinion!! The arni kleftico that I used to get with this meze was juicy, unctuous, and fall-off-the-bone incredible... The arni fournou that I got this time was not. We received a few sad slices of lamb (where was the rest of it?!) and while the flavour was generally good, it was a bit dry and overall quite lacking from what it once was. This was the greatest tragedy of the whole meal. We were asked if we wanted to order any dessert, which we declined. However, the server brought us complimentary cups of rice pudding anyway, which was very kind.
I liked this rice pudding! Creamy with a great cinnamon flavour. I feel a bit conflicted about Koutouki. While I still enjoyed my overall experience at the restaurant quite a lot, there were definitely a few aspects that seemed to cut me pretty deep. I found the value of the meze to be pretty good, providing a fair amount of food for a reasonable price. You simply can't beat the restaurant's ambiance and it did take me back to a time when I used to frequent the establishment often. If they could do something about the lamb I would be thrilled. I want to love you Koutouki but I do miss what you once were.