| rev:text
| - Plaka Taverna is now my favorite Greek restaurants in Madison. I openly admit that I don't know how many Greek restaurants are in Madison but this one is far better than any "gyro stand", "gyro restaurant" or Mediterranean food spot trying to sell 2nd rate Greek fare. I haven't had much luck finding a restaurant that serves quality Greek food (although I'm not Greek, my best childhood friends were Greek and the family owned a restaurant - I feel like I have "expert" training as a non-Greek identifying good Greek food...) and Plaka Taverna hit a home run with their lunch.
I ordered the Taverna Platter for lunch which was $8.00. Pork Souvlaki (2 skewers), falafel (2 patties), a stuffed grape leaf, grilled pita, rice, tomato slices, feta cheese and kalamata olives. There was a small dish of homemade tzatziki sauce in the middle (don't let my picture fool you - I ate the olives and some of the cheese prior to taking the picture). Good amount of food for the price!
The pork souvlaki was really good. Great flavors that I was hoping for and cooked perfectly. Moist and easy to pull off the skewer. Great portion size for lunch and the price tag. Definitely what I was hoping for!
As I have mentioned in some previous reviews, I love falafel. The falafel patties were really good portions and satisfied what I wanted. This isn't the best falafel I have ever had but it definitely is in the top 15% of falafel I have tasted. One thing to point out is how fresh it was!
The other "accourtrements" (stuffed grape leaf, olives, tomato, pita and rice) were good. Nothing here that is going to wow you or make you want to come back specifically for but good enough to leave a positive impression. The rice was cooked very well!
The feta cheese was very good. I'd like to have had a couple more pieces on the plate! I get it that this is an $8.00 platter so understood that the price tag might prevent it.
Their tzatziki sauce is glorious. I wanted more - much more! Thick, flavorful, rich and fresh. This exceeds expectations in an extremely positive way. It may seem weird to highlight the sauce but it is highlight worthy! If you're a tzatziki fan you will LOVE this sauce!
My only two suggestions are minimal. I would have loved some olive oil on the plate somewhere (personal preference - it doesn't detract from the food) and they need to rotate in some new plates and remove the broken ones. I had a few decent sized chips in my plate. Absolutely nothing that impacts the food but one of those "attention to the details" things...
The interior of Plaka Taverna is fantastic. Clean and inviting. It definitely delivers a message that you are going to eat Greek food! The whole vibe is friendly and the service was top notch. The bar area looked like a great little spot to share that is probably way underutilized during evenings. At lunch (it was busy) we were checked on at least 3 times and had our drinks refilled each time. Food was prepared very quickly and we were in and out in under an hour.
Plaka Taverna is a great Greek restaurant that delivers great food and great service in a great environment. I'll be back to try just about everything on the menu and definitely take up the suggestions to try their breakfast. If you're a fan of Greek or Mediterranean food I think you'll be happy with what you find here!
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)