Greek Town Restaurant Buffet
345 W. Main St.
El Cajon, CA 92020
(619) 441-9707
So generally, I've been trying to focus on positive reviews. The places that I've eaten at that weren't great simply haven't gotten my attention so I haven't mentioned them. Tonight that ends. Tonight, the wife and I decided to check out this "Crispy Fried Chicken" place. Alas, they were closed with a note on the door saying that they were closed for the weekend due to "a wedding in the family." That alone gives me much hope for this place. Though I was disappointed that we'd have to wait to check it out, I was impressed that they would shut down the shop for a wedding "in the family" rather than turn it over to others to run that weekend (and risk messing up the food). I did get a look in the place at the menu and I have good news for vegetarians. They offer hush puppies, corn bread, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, cole slaw, okra (I assume fried and probably breaded), and french fries. Plenty of options for the later day when we can check this place out. I'm definitely excited now.
Okay, on to the dinner this evening. Since we couldn't check out Crispy Fried Chicken tonight, I decided it was time to visit the other restaurant on my hit list. It's a greek buffet out in El Cajon that the wife and I stumbled upon while picking up a table and chairs we found on craigslist. To date, whenever we've craved Greek food, we've made a run to Zorba's of Chula Vista. Though I'm very satisfied with Zorba's, they have raised the rates on their buffet over the years and I was hoping to find a new, undiscovered diamond in the rough. I write this review because I want to tell people out there with the same idea of "hunting around" for a Greek buffet not to waste their money on this one. That's pretty strong language for me, since I believe in a lot of margin for experimentation and personal interpretations of dishes...but with the greatest stretches of the imagination, the quality of the food here is inexcusable.
I'll start with the high notes (don't worry, this won't take long). The tzaziki sauce was some of the best I've ever had. Big chunks of cucumber, plenty of dill, tangy and cool yogurt taste. Everything a tzaziki sauce should be and possibly even better than Zorba's. The pita bread was also quite good and possibly made onsite. The hummus was also passable.
Now for the bad. The overall theme here is that they tried to spice up these dishes but used all the wrong spices. It's as if someone gave them the recipes and left out what spices should go where so they just guessed (and guessed very wrong). The Baba Ganouj was extremely smoky (which it shouldn't be), to the point you couldn't taste any eggplant flavor. The spanakopita was seasoned with what tasted like taco seasoning...possibly cumin, hard to put my finger on, but decidedly NOT what spanikopita should taste like. I had four pieces of spanikopita just to try to figure out what it was, but couldn't quite get it. There was way too much phyllo dough and not enough filling (and the phyllo was chewy and tough not light and flaky on some of the pieces). The potatoes had no real flavor (they soaken in a weak tomato, vegetayeble broth) and some pieces were too undercooked and some too overcooked. The Greek salad was okay (it was quite fresh) but just okay. The feta cheese was bland (probably store bought). The green beans tasted as if they came straight from a can. The rice pilaf was cafeteria quality.
I had hopes that the dessert bar would have some saving grace for the buffet. It didn't. The two types of baklava and rice pudding were all that were Greek on it. It had two types of Jell-O (never a good sign), chocolate pudding and some cut fruit (probably from a can). The rice pudding had way too much vanilla. The consistency was good (sometimes it can be pasty) but it should have had a lot less vanilla and a lot more cinnamon. The first baklava was okay, but again had too much phyllo and not enough filling. It was also rather dry. The second baklava could classified as a personal interpretation of baklava. I say this because it had coconut in it...a lot of coconut. It was basically a macaroon inside phyllo. This isn't necessarily bad if you're expecting something new (and at this point, I suppose I should have expected something new) but I wasn't.
As if I needed further evidence that this place was worthless, everyone in the place looked rather ...white...and native El Cajon. I'm sorry if you live in El Cajon, as I do have some friends out there, but you have to admit, the lot of the people out there are...a little trashy. There's great Mexican food out there and I think El Cajon has a lot of potential (especially in their downtown area that they're focusing on) but they have some work to do on their Greek food if this is the best they have.
The buffet was $12/person ($9/person for lunch) and there's a coupon online on the El Cajon website for a free buffet with the purchase of a buffet and two drinks...and normally I would link you to that but I don't want to encourage anyone eating there! For that price, you could (and should...no...MUST) eat at Zorba's instead. Of course there are many other great Greek restaurants around San Diego, but if you want a buffet, I haven't found a better quality for the price of Zorba's (now at $13/person for dinner). It's a long drive to Chula Vista from El Cajon, but I can't see wasting good money on bad food.
Of course, I didn't have any meat (being that the wife and I are vegetarian) so the chicken souvlaki could be amazing...but I doubt it.
If you have a favorite El Cajon restaurant (preferably non-Mexican, I already know El Cajon had great Mexican food) you'd like to share with me, to redeem my hope for El Cajon cuisine, please submit a comment about it. I don't want to write off the city as a Mexican-food-only town, but I haven't found any diversity worth eating yet. I'm sure it's just hiding from me, and I need your help in uncovering it.
PS. Yelp mentions that this place has belly dancers on Friday and Saturday nights at 7pm but I definitely didn't see any. They may have suspended this or just had an off weekend. Zorba's charges extra for their belly dancing show but it's also a rather big production. For more reasons on why you should eat at Zorba's rather than this place, see my Zorba's post.
345 W. Main St.
El Cajon, CA 92020
(619) 441-9707
So generally, I've been trying to focus on positive reviews. The places that I've eaten at that weren't great simply haven't gotten my attention so I haven't mentioned them. Tonight that ends. Tonight, the wife and I decided to check out this "Crispy Fried Chicken" place. Alas, they were closed with a note on the door saying that they were closed for the weekend due to "a wedding in the family." That alone gives me much hope for this place. Though I was disappointed that we'd have to wait to check it out, I was impressed that they would shut down the shop for a wedding "in the family" rather than turn it over to others to run that weekend (and risk messing up the food). I did get a look in the place at the menu and I have good news for vegetarians. They offer hush puppies, corn bread, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, cole slaw, okra (I assume fried and probably breaded), and french fries. Plenty of options for the later day when we can check this place out. I'm definitely excited now.
Okay, on to the dinner this evening. Since we couldn't check out Crispy Fried Chicken tonight, I decided it was time to visit the other restaurant on my hit list. It's a greek buffet out in El Cajon that the wife and I stumbled upon while picking up a table and chairs we found on craigslist. To date, whenever we've craved Greek food, we've made a run to Zorba's of Chula Vista. Though I'm very satisfied with Zorba's, they have raised the rates on their buffet over the years and I was hoping to find a new, undiscovered diamond in the rough. I write this review because I want to tell people out there with the same idea of "hunting around" for a Greek buffet not to waste their money on this one. That's pretty strong language for me, since I believe in a lot of margin for experimentation and personal interpretations of dishes...but with the greatest stretches of the imagination, the quality of the food here is inexcusable.
I'll start with the high notes (don't worry, this won't take long). The tzaziki sauce was some of the best I've ever had. Big chunks of cucumber, plenty of dill, tangy and cool yogurt taste. Everything a tzaziki sauce should be and possibly even better than Zorba's. The pita bread was also quite good and possibly made onsite. The hummus was also passable.
Now for the bad. The overall theme here is that they tried to spice up these dishes but used all the wrong spices. It's as if someone gave them the recipes and left out what spices should go where so they just guessed (and guessed very wrong). The Baba Ganouj was extremely smoky (which it shouldn't be), to the point you couldn't taste any eggplant flavor. The spanakopita was seasoned with what tasted like taco seasoning...possibly cumin, hard to put my finger on, but decidedly NOT what spanikopita should taste like. I had four pieces of spanikopita just to try to figure out what it was, but couldn't quite get it. There was way too much phyllo dough and not enough filling (and the phyllo was chewy and tough not light and flaky on some of the pieces). The potatoes had no real flavor (they soaken in a weak tomato, vegetayeble broth) and some pieces were too undercooked and some too overcooked. The Greek salad was okay (it was quite fresh) but just okay. The feta cheese was bland (probably store bought). The green beans tasted as if they came straight from a can. The rice pilaf was cafeteria quality.
I had hopes that the dessert bar would have some saving grace for the buffet. It didn't. The two types of baklava and rice pudding were all that were Greek on it. It had two types of Jell-O (never a good sign), chocolate pudding and some cut fruit (probably from a can). The rice pudding had way too much vanilla. The consistency was good (sometimes it can be pasty) but it should have had a lot less vanilla and a lot more cinnamon. The first baklava was okay, but again had too much phyllo and not enough filling. It was also rather dry. The second baklava could classified as a personal interpretation of baklava. I say this because it had coconut in it...a lot of coconut. It was basically a macaroon inside phyllo. This isn't necessarily bad if you're expecting something new (and at this point, I suppose I should have expected something new) but I wasn't.
As if I needed further evidence that this place was worthless, everyone in the place looked rather ...white...and native El Cajon. I'm sorry if you live in El Cajon, as I do have some friends out there, but you have to admit, the lot of the people out there are...a little trashy. There's great Mexican food out there and I think El Cajon has a lot of potential (especially in their downtown area that they're focusing on) but they have some work to do on their Greek food if this is the best they have.
The buffet was $12/person ($9/person for lunch) and there's a coupon online on the El Cajon website for a free buffet with the purchase of a buffet and two drinks...and normally I would link you to that but I don't want to encourage anyone eating there! For that price, you could (and should...no...MUST) eat at Zorba's instead. Of course there are many other great Greek restaurants around San Diego, but if you want a buffet, I haven't found a better quality for the price of Zorba's (now at $13/person for dinner). It's a long drive to Chula Vista from El Cajon, but I can't see wasting good money on bad food.
Of course, I didn't have any meat (being that the wife and I are vegetarian) so the chicken souvlaki could be amazing...but I doubt it.
If you have a favorite El Cajon restaurant (preferably non-Mexican, I already know El Cajon had great Mexican food) you'd like to share with me, to redeem my hope for El Cajon cuisine, please submit a comment about it. I don't want to write off the city as a Mexican-food-only town, but I haven't found any diversity worth eating yet. I'm sure it's just hiding from me, and I need your help in uncovering it.
PS. Yelp mentions that this place has belly dancers on Friday and Saturday nights at 7pm but I definitely didn't see any. They may have suspended this or just had an off weekend. Zorba's charges extra for their belly dancing show but it's also a rather big production. For more reasons on why you should eat at Zorba's rather than this place, see my Zorba's post.
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3 comments:
I ate there a while ago as well. I think the mystery seasoning you refer to may have been sumac. Not sure, as I didn't go back for seconds on that one...
The problem with your review of this restaurant is that it does not cover the best features of this restaurant. Namely meat. I realize you are a vegetarian and your not going to review a restaurant on its meat, but Greek food is all about the meat as far as this omnivore is concerned. The Gyros is some of the best in San Diego, possibly the best with the closure of Theo's. The Souvlaki is very good as well. The Falafel (not purely Greek) were good as well. I also enjoyed their Fakes a lentil based soup. I will qualify my comments to some degree. First, it has been well over a year since I ate their last due to a move away from the area. Second, we went on Friday's and Saturday's when the belly dancing was being performed. I am a meat eater as expressed before and I realize that my opinion here may not be valid to you. - Brian
Have you tried Fairouz over on Midway? It's probably the Lebanese/Greek restaurant with the greatest amount of vegetarian choices in San Diego (including in its large buffet). They have numerous cooked vegetable dishes, usually with lots of garlic (eggplant, okra, broccoli, etc.--once they even had artichokes!), lentil soup, hummus, fava beans, fattoush, etc. in their buffet. The quality of the food is already great, and despite being in a strip mall, it has good ambiance! Sometime I need to try Zorbas though--see how it compares!
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