Tag: tzatziki

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Pantzaria Salata from Mezé

Pantzaria Salata from Mezé on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA

Pantzaria Salata from Mezé on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MATapa’s; what a wonderful invention. Small plates to be shared with the friends and family around you. Instead of a giant intimidating meal that must be conquered at a sitting, you have many small dishes to be enjoyed at your leisure. The key word here is leisure.

I love to sit and visit with my friends and family over the course of an evening. Mezé Greek Tapas Bar & Grille has created such a wonderful environment to do this. Your favorite people hanging out having some great conversation and nibbling on amazing food. Ordering only what you feel you need to enjoy the evening and imbibing some great drink. A great recipe for a wonderful evening.

I started out the evening sharing the Meza Plate. A combination of Homemade Tzatziki (greek yougurt), Taramosalata (a greek caviar spread), Skordalia (whipped potato spread), Tyrokafteri (a feta and pepper spread) and Melitzanosalata (eggplant spread). Quite a mouthful in flavor and pronunciation! Not having been to this restaurant before, I feel it’s a good idea to do a sampler platter to see what I’m getting into. Well, I loved it. The mix of flavors on my palette was a flavor buffet! Need I say more?

Next I moved on to the Riganato or Saute’d pork. I love me some pork. Greek seasonings with caramelized onions and a side of Tzatziki. Bite sized pieces that you can pop into your mouth. Tender and juicy. I admit, I like Tzatziki a lot, but I felt that I didn’t need to do the dipping into the yogurt at all.

Our next plate to be served was the Pantzaria Salata, or Beet Root Salad. Beets have been one of my “go to” dishes for years, so I had to order this to see how it was prepared and tasted. Served cold with greek seasonings, it was yummy! The plate was just beets, and lots of them. This serving was enough for at least 4 people. Keep this in mind if you want to order. Be prepared for a large portion.

Of course, I had to order the Dolmathes or better known as grape leaves. I’ve had many different types and these were great. Although I was I guess expecting some meat in them, I guess this version doesn’t use the meat. Great for vegetarians!

All in all, I had a great time and the whole group passed plates to share and enjoy. I was really pleased with the Paidakia / Greek Grilled Lamb Chops. This is from a guy that typically doesn’t like the taste of lamb, but the seasonings were wonderful.

The atmosphere was laid back and a bit noisy. Partially because there was not just our group of 12 people, but another group of at least as many in the same space. All having a wonderful time and enjoying each other’s company. The wait staff was wonderful and we had no problems with splitting the bills up and paying either individually or as couples.

To cap off the night, we shared a drink with the owner called the “Dirty Greek Flag!” We toasted and it was marvelous. It’s always nice to see a proprietor come out personally and great the guests and introduce themselves. As a small business owner, I appreciate the personal touch of hospitality that can mean a lot to an existing or new customer.

Due to the tapas style eating, photos may not match the foodies review or description.

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Soutzoukakia Smirneika from Meze Greek

Soutzoukakia Smirneika from Meze on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA

Soutzoukakia Smirneika from Meze on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA

Mezé Greek Tapas Bar & Grille is one of the newer restaurants and brings a Greek flair to the Shrewsbury St dining experience with their tapas themed restaurant. Having been here a few times in the past I was already familiar with their extensive menu of Greek favorites. After reviewing the menu I decided to have one dish that was a favorite of mine and one dish that I have not tried before.

The first plate I ordered was the Meze Pikilla Plate, which was a combination of five of their favorite cold dips. The dips included Tzatziki, taramosalata, tyrokaferi, skordalla, and Melitzanosalata. For most of us we are probably familiar with Tzatziki, but the other dips were equally pleasing. The Melitzanosalata was a roasted eggplant dip with garlic, oil, and vinegar that was blended into a smooth Smokey eggplant spread. The Skordalla was a similarly prepared dish but with potato instead of eggplant. The Tyrokafteri was a pleasantly creamy feta cheese spread with chunks of feta mixed in and last but not least was Taramosalata a Greek caviar spread that was a pink creamy caviar spread that was also delicious. The plate was prepared with a slice of tomato and cucumber separating each spread and a good portion of grilled pita bread. This dish is a perfect dish for sharing and sampling among friends. All of the spreads were worthy of being on this platter and would be a great start to the meal.

For my next course I strayed away from the traditional kabobs and dishes that I have enjoyed here before and opted for a dish called Soutzoukakia Smirneika. The dish was described as mixed ground beef and pork mini loafs, fried, and topped with homemade tomato sauce served on a bed of white rice. I’m not sure if it was my expectations were off or if the dish was suffering an identity crisis, but I would describe this almost as an Italian meatball (shaped like a sausage) and served with a red sauce and a small cup of sticky,cheesy rice. While the dish was well prepared and decent quality it did not quite hit the mark for me.

Overall, Mezé is a great place to go and sample a variety of Greek dishes. The food quality and service were great and the staff has always been friendly and helpful. Mezé is a great place to go with a group of friends and sample a great selection of Greek dishes.

Due to the tapas style eating, photos may not match the foodies review or description.