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| - Went to Mamakas on the recommendation of my Greek coworker for a friend's birthday dinner. Quick run-down:
- great service, attentive but not over-bearing
- great modern twist on classic Greek fare
- cute venue with interesting art, good for a date night
- would definitely go back
- $$$
I went here with a group. There was 8 of us and everyone loved their food. We pretty much ended up all sharing because it was all so good.
I'll start with what I ordered, which was the stifado (braised beef cheek). Holy crap this was amazing! The meat was so tender and whatever they marinated the meat in, it was superb. It came on a bed of what I think was potato puree with some sort of glaze drizzled on the meat and the puree. Onion, sunchokes and a few roasted baby potatoes. The dish looks rather small when it comes out, but the meat is surprisingly filling and I was at a good point when I finished. Perfectly content.
I also tried the mousakas, spanikopita (probably my second favourite dish), and the pork belly gyro. All were fantastic dishes. We got a few orders of the house dips, which came with freshly baked bread that was amazing on its own. Our waiter messed up and gave us an extra dip, we let him know and he let us have it for free. We also had their dark chocolate & tahini icecream. It was a very interesting combo. First bite, I thought "ehhhh" second bite, "okay, okay this is interesting" third bite "yeah, I like this" it has an almost peanut buttery taste that is slightly salty but decidedly good.
One of my friends has a pretty severe nut allergy and when we told our server he pointed out the dishes that didn't contain any nuts and when he brought the dessert menu he did the same thing. Which was very helpful.
I love Greek food and have been to a number of Greek restaurants on the Danforth that were on point and I would say this restaurant stacks up really well against them. I would also recommend making a reservation. We went on a Wednesday evening for 7:30 and the restaurant quickly filled up.
Final answer, I would most definitely go back. That braised beef cheek.... **sigh
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