My Greek Taverna

Recommended by a close family friend a few years ago, My Greek Taverna has been my family's 'special occasion' restaurant for a while now. They are known for quality and quantity Greek food. Come hungry, and leave with enough leftovers for your next meal.

My Greek Taverna is open for lunch from Monday to Friday and open for dinner every day of the week. The only difference in menu is that at dinner the plates are larger (as if one needs any more food...) and there are some large platters for big groups. The food is equally as good during both times of day. It is rare that my whole family can dine at My Greek on a weekday so we took the opportunity to have lunch there!

Kalamari Lunch ($10.95)

I ordered the calamari (they seem to spell it with a K) lunch plate which includes a pile of bouncy fried squid, a side of Greek salad, a hefty amount of seasoned rice, half a marinated potato and some tzatziki sauce. The calamari here is very good; the batter is thin and evenly coats the squid, there is a mix of tentacles and rings, and the squid is very tender and moist.

Mosaic Bar and Grill

There has been an increasing number of bloggers going to mosaic bar and grill @ Hyatt Regency recently, but that wasn't the reason why I visited this restaurant for dinner. My sister actually purchased 2 coupons on  Vaneats (check it out if you haven't!) which is basically a prix-fix three-course meal for only $20 instead of $40! 

I was pretty stoked since it was my mom's birthday, and I read that they give out their ever-famous chocolate cake for free on birthdays. However, I was kind of worried they wouldn't have a vegan option for me because the online menu was all flesh (sorry for those carnivores out there).

Coincidentally, the reservation was booked on the day of Eat! Vancouver, so I made sure I wouldn't over-stuff myself at the festival for the sake of enjoying a very special birthday dinner. Well, if you haven't read the post about Eat! Vancouver, there really wasn't much that you could stuff yourself with this year, which was disappointing for both Coconut Crumpet, our fellow "clumsy" friend, and me!

ANYWAY, When my family went into the restaurant, I wasn't surprised at the quiet ambiance. There wasn't a lot of people even on a Saturday night, which I liked. The waiters and waitresses were all very accommodating and very nice, and I give a thumbs up to the service.

Once seated, we were told that they had a special spot prawn tasting menu for $45 and $65 if you wanted wine pairing with it. Of course, as a shrimp-a-holic, my mother gave no other thought and ordered just that. My dad wanted to use the coupon that my sister got, but failed to resist the temptation of the menu. I, myself, didn't use the coupon because there was only the choice of fish or beef as the main course. That's okay though, because the coupon won't expire until July :)

I was so glad that they had a create-your-own menu, including the source of protein you want (TOFU OPTION AVAILABLE!!!), the way you want it cooked (grilled, sauteed, roasted, i-forgot-the-rest, etc.), 2 types of veggie accompaniments, way you want the veggies cooked, and the starch you want. I ended up ordering grilled tofu with olive oil mushrooms and summer greens, and sunchoke puree. 

My sister, with the coupon, had a pretty interesting menu. My dad says that it's a "very good deal", which is a big compliment on his part (he is one tough critic). 

After ordering, we received some complimentary mini sea salt biscuits along with a cube of butter to start our meal. Since the biscuits probably has dairy in it, I didn't try any. My parents thought they were a bit too salty, but gobbled them up nonetheless. 

Vaneats Menu Experience