Sunday, March 18, 2007

Village Kabob Greek Restaurant

My wife's work often means that our weekends start on Saturday afternoons- if we are lucky that this... This weekend we were fortunate enough to have the whole of Saturday afternoon and Sunday to ourselves, and thought we would celebrate the start with a nice trip out to lunch. Picking her up at her office near Old Town we contemplated where to go- Mexican food did not sound too appealing and so we decided to head to Ocean Beach an area we haven't really tried out much in the culinary arena. Passing over the OB Bistro (good but very overpriced from past experience), we headed right to the Newport strip, figuring that we would surely find something among this plethora of restaurants. As we headed down the street however we began to despair- everything looked so greasy and mediocre.Menu after Menu we checked walking all the way down to the beach and then back up the other side with nothing seeming particularly appealing- and then we hit on the Village Kabob Greek Restaurant.
Greek Food always used to be our favorite cuisine, and for some reason in recent year we have neglected it a little- perhaps because it is something we have done a pretty good job with in our own home. Nonetheless the diners tucking into a fresh Greek salad were tremendously enticing- and the clean airy bright interior of the restaurant was a welcome antidote from the crowded dingy bars of Newport Avenue. Contrast can be everything at times and it certainly helped this little Greek restaurant win our hearts, manifesting itself again in the appearance of the friendliest Greek waitress, so helpful and charming that she made the gruff waiter down the street, asking aggressively for our IDs as we checked out a menu, slightly embarrassing.
of the many menu choices available to us I chose the chicken kabob plate and my wife agonizing at first between the Spankanopitta and the falafel was thrilled to see she could have a little piece of both. Perhaps it was just our delight in having finally found a place to eat but everything seemed fantastic- the lentil soup that started welled with flavor, the salad was fresh and the tzatziki light and creamy, even the falafels seemed the best we had had in San Diego.
I'm not sure the Village Kabob Greek Restaurant is exactly somewhere I would go back to- hard to recreate the euphoria of the day- however if I am ever stranded in Ocean Beach looking for a good meal that is not deep fried I will know where to find it.

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