Mykonos is dependable choice for Greek meal

JOHN STARK - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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Mykonos is one of our old reliable dinner choices when we want a festive meal that is a bit less expensive than some of the newer, trendier local restaurants.

The place has a bright, attractive Greek-themed interior that makes a pleasant setting to enjoy the simple, hearty dishes of Greece. All the best-known Greek specialties are on the menu. The preparation is competent and the portions tend toward the Herculean.

We always enjoy the deep-fried squid here-kalamaria to the Greeks. It's available as a $15.95 dinner with salad and potato or rice, or in a $7.95 appetizer portion big enough for two or even three to share. The squid pieces are lightly breaded and mildly-seasoned, and are generally moist and tender. As a dinner, it goes well with the rice.

Another of our favorites is the arni psito, $16.95, a nice chunk of roast lamb that has been dredged in a mustard and lemon sauce and slow-cooked until it is flaky and tender. It pairs well with the big roasted potatoes.

On our most recent visit, we went with kalamaria as an appetizer and paired it with an order of saganaki, $7.95. It's two fried slabs of kefalotiri cheese-intensely-flavored, salty and pleasantly chewy. The server douses the cheese with brandy and sets it aflame before serving. Again, this is more than enough for two.

I'm at an age where one must be careful to avoid overindulgence in nostalgia, but the saganaki always lures me for reasons that have nothing to do with the heady flavor of the cheese. Saganaki also brings back memories of meals at the now-defunct Diana's Opaa restaurant in Chicago, during my fleeting year in that city as a grad student at Northwestern University. A dish of saganaki was all but obligatory at Diana's, and bursts of blue flame erupted every minute or two, it seemed. At each burst, everyone in the restaurant would yell "Opaa," which is Greek for "whoopee!" or something like that.

Regrettably, if you yell "Opaa!" at Mykonos, people will probably stare at you.

For dinner, we chose spanakopita, $13.95, and kota psiti, $14.95.

Spanakopita could be a satisfying choice for the vegetarians among you. It's a flaky pastry stuffed with spinach and cheese, richly-seasoned.

Kota psiti is close to half a roast chicken, with a simple lemon and herb seasoning. The dark meat portion was moist and enjoyable, although the breast meat was a bit dry and stringy, as it so often can be anywhere. Some people prefer white meat. Who knows why?

Greek food here and many other places comes liberally sprinkled with chopped raw onion. As I see it, Prometheus brought us fire so we would not have to eat raw onion. But tastes do differ, and picking the bits of onion off my food is no big deal.

This is food good enough to please the more discriminating palates, without being too exotic to discourage the meat-and-potatoes crowd. It's our favorite for three-generation family festivities when grandparents are in town.

I would only observe that this menu has been sculpted in marble from day one. How about some new menu choices, or some specials to enliven things a bit?

MYKONOS

Address: 1650 W. Bakerview Road

Phone: 715-3071

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; Noon to 10 p.m. weekends

Price range: $14-$20

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POSTED: Thursday, Oct. 02, 2008

Mykonos is dependable choice for Greek meal

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