Greek town for my birthday

A group of my lovely colleagues took me out for some greek feasting as one of my pre-birthday fetes!  They knew that I loved being in Greece in the summertime and thought it would be an appropriate way to kick off my birthday celebrations!We chose Pappa's Grill on the Danforth being one of the landmarks in Toronto's Greek town and it's one of the more beautifully designed restaurants on the strip. 

We all settle in and of course I am already on top of ordering our table appetizers such as pikilia which is a plate of traditional greek dips.  It's a favourite of mine and usually I order it before looking at the menu as it has something for everyone.   I fell in love with pikilia during my days in Montreal where we would go to our favourite greek restaurants and they would not only come with dips but samples of spanikopita, dolmades, feta and olives.  In PG's version - it was a platter of dips including tzatziki (greek yougert dip), humous, tarama (red caviar dip), melanzano (eggplant spread) and scorthalia (garlicky and creamy potatoes) which came with pita of course to dip!  These spreads were amazing and a good way to get our appetites ready.

The second thing that I must always have at a Greek restaurant is Saganaki and of course I take the liberty to order that for our table- this is flaming deep fried cheese with ouzo on it.  It's a show stopper and of course very tasty.  Salty, rubbery and all pure goodness... the table quite enjoyed the spectacle as well as the taste.

For our mains - the majority of the table ordered the chicken souvlaki dinner which was heavy on the carbs with heaping piles of rice, potatoes as well as a salad.  The chicken was juicy and came with a helping of the tzatziki as well.  I had the lamb soulaki dinner to be different - the lamb was tender and honestly I couldn't finish the plate because the portion was huge and we had those appetizers!  Heather didn't feel like a traditional greek meal and chose a pasta dish instead which satisfied her cravings.  Sophia also didn't order souvlaki, she opted for a grilled calamari and greek salad option.  The grilled calamari was done well but the portion was small however she seemed satisfied.

Dessert was white chocolate mousse cake that came as a surprise with a candle for me to blow out- so very sweet of my co-workers.  However apres dinner my colleague Lily and I were insistent to go over to Athens Bakery for our very favourite greek dessert- loukamades!  They are golden pillowy balls of deliciousness dripping with honey (I have written about them in a previous blog and they are soooo good!!).  We bought a dozen and filled ourselves up with their goodness even though we were stuffed!  We couldn't help ourselves!!

OPA!!

*** stars 
Pappa's Grill  440 Danforth Ave. (at Logan Ave.)
(416) 469-9595

Hours of Operation:
Mon:	11:30am to 11:00pm
Tues:	11:30am to 11:00pm
Wed:	11:30am to 11:00pm
Thurs:	11:30am to 11:00pm
Fri:	11:30am to 12:00am
Sat:	10:30am to 12:00am
Sun:	10:30am to 10:00am

(416) 469 9595(416) 469 9595