Kafe Neo in Long Beach: Good Calamari, Great Chicken Kebab and Interesting Falafel

I'm a big fan of Greek food, but have always found it hard to find good Greek food in LA. I first found Cafe Santorini in Pasadena that had very good grilled squid. Now I found a pretty good place in Long Beach called Kafe Neo. Behold the perfectly fried calamari!


I liked the lightly battered calamari and the only beef was that it wasn't as seasoned as it could be. In a way, this is good because everybody under the sun tends to over-salt things. And I'm assuming it was to dip it one of two sauces it came with, a aioli-like sauce and red marinara sauce that were a bit on the bland side. I also wished they had a grilled version available but still, it was good.

We also had the appetizer sampler that included dips like kalamata olive tapenade, roasted red peppers, hummus, tzatziki and an interesting addition of spicy feta in dip form.

I had hoped the feta would be spicier but it was pretty mild for a "spicy" label albeit different.

The spicy feta made another appearance, this time with none other than french fries. It was interesting but not sure I'd get it again. I mean, it's hard to go wrong with french fries, but it wasn't an ideal match. Plus, the feta could be spicier, but now I'm repeating myself...

I got the Horta, which is a hot salad of dandelion green sauteed with a motherload of garlic, lemon and topped with some crumbled feta cheese. I got chicken kebab on the side. The garlicky greens were really refreshing thanks to the tanginess from the citrus. I also liked that the feta wasn't the super salty kind most Greek restaurants here use. The chicken was also very juicy and charred just right on the edges from the flame-broil or grill. But I didn't get to eat much of my main meal because I had munched on the following starters.

Yes, spanakopitas galore! I had one but these weren't my favorite thing we had. Again, it's hard to go wrong with fried phyllo dough filled with spinach and feta. They were crispy but maybe it was their oddly large size that we had to cut into pieces to share that threw us off. They weren't bad but I've definitely had better.

I also had a falafel shared by a lunch companion that was very interesting. The flavor was good but what fascinated me was that when cut in half, I could see the whole chickpeas that hadn't been ground. What I liked was that it tasted freshly assembled and fried, as if it were made to order. I'm guessing the beautiful green color comes from parsley. I really enjoyed this what to me tasted like an unusual falafel. I'm not sure it went best with tzatziki sauce but I could always ask for a spicy sauce next time I go.

I got the fresh lemonade that I thought was too sweet. It would be good diluted with some spritz or plain water.

I also liked the space -- bright and airy, with a great outdoor patio. Perfect for breezy and sunny SoCal weather.

Cafe Santorini: Fantastic Grilled Squid

I was so stoked to find a place that served decent squid reminiscent of the gems I had in Santorini overlooking a beautiful, deep blue ocean. Ok, it wasn't as good, mind you, but it was one of the best I've had in LA.

Cafe Santorini in Pasadena is the kind of place that you'd miss if you blinked. Its sign is barely visible and it's one of those walk-ups like many of the places in Pasadena. But I'm so glad I ran across it in my research for spots to go to after a cool event at the Pacific Asia Museum nearby.

Let's start with the really solid grilled baby squid salad. The squid was soft, charred just right on the edges and while it was a tad on the salty side, it's one of the best squid salads I've had in a while. On top of that, it was great value with generous portions, which is more than I can say about some of the fine dining establishments I've been to over the past few years where the squid or octopus may be passable if not for the measly portions at higher price tags.


The greens could have used less dressing that was slightly creamy but nonetheless they had me at squid (Nothing that a few squeezes of lemon couldn't ameliorate). Will definitely be returning for more.

Even the bread was yummy. It was like flat-bread topped with roasted garlic bits. What's not to like? Plus it was nice and warmed up. Can we say Greek bread sticks? Anyhow, the vibe of this place was interesting. It has a banquet hall-like space in an adjacent room and a leveled private dining area that overlooks the banquet room. Our waiter was also straight out of a foreign film, an older gentleman who was passionate about his food and no-nonsense in an endearing way.


My next favorite item -- it was a toss-up -- was the kefta kebab, which was ground beef formed into patties with herbs and spices (some parsley mix I'm sure) that came with rice, a roasted tomato and roasted bell peppers. I've always liked kefta kebab in Lebanese restaurants but this one was juicy and grilled to perfection. I mean, check out those grill marks.

I wasn't crazy about the rice, which I expected to be basmati but it was too watery and didn't separate easily like I usually expect the rice to. The veggies were ok but the clear winner was the meat.



My third favorite was the cheese borek, an amazing mix of feta and mozzarella cheese with mint and parsley wrapped in filo pasty. It was ethereal and crunchy without being too heavy. Delicious.

We got the mezze sampler that included babaghanoush, cucumbers, stuffed grape leaves, olives, sojouk sausage, grilled hallumi cheese (sheep's milk cheese) and some unremarkable pita bread.
Everything on the sampler plate was just ok except for the borek. The sojouk sausage tasted like chorizo. There's definitely some kind of smoked paprika-like spice in there. The sausage was a bit overcooked so it was hard to taste it as much as I would have wanted to. The babaghanoush wasn't as good as Zankou, my go-to spot for this (called mutabal there).

The tzatziki yogurt dip was really good, creamy and refreshing at the same time. It made for a great dip for the kefta chunks I had one too many of.

The hummus was not that flavorful but I'm looking forward to returning and trying some of their more interesting takes on pasta and pizza, or even some of their kebabs and slouvakis. Yum. What a find!

Santorini, Greece: Who Knew a Meal with a View Could be This Good?

It's safe to say that I've virtually never had a good meal at a place with a view, much less a fantastic view. I was proven wrong in the beautiful city of Santorini in Greece, where the breathtaking views didn't hamper the quality of the food.

Archipelago, a restaurant perched on a hill (as most structures in this hill-y town are) overlooking a deep blue ocean set against the white buildings (see below) was outright excellent.

We got many dishes as we were a party of 12 and I would say most if not all of the dishes were stellar. Everything tasted so fresh and flavorful, including the humble tomato and cucumber in our starter salad. I was glad to see that Greek food wasn't much like the greasy Greek food we encounter in the US, a-la Papa Christo's in LA, etc.

Some of my favorites were the grilled octopus atop a bed of thinly sliced potatoes, the artichokes appetizer, oven-baked flat bread stuffed with tiny cubes of beef, tomato and spices, and lamb medallions stuffed with artichokes and cheese.

The octopus was perfectly cooked without being rubbery or tough. The octopus and potato "napoleon" of sorts (one thing stacked on top of another) was lightly drizzled with olive oil and some lemon and parsley, as well as some bright red beet strips. The chewy texture, soft potatoes and sweetness of the beets were a winning combination.

The artichokes were marinated in some olive oil, herbs and what they called Anthotiro, a local soft cheese that wasn't as strong-flavored as feta. It tasted so fresh and light.

The stuffed flat bread came piping hot, charred at the edges, as if straight out of a brick oven. The meat and tomato stuffing was, again, light without being bland. I could taste the tomato and spices. It came with a small dollup of a bean dip, which the menu curiously called "fava," described as "Santorinian chick pea puree with onion and capers." We also got a whole side of this dip, which wasn't diluted like many of the commercial brands of hummus found here. I could actually taste the chick peas.

The lamb dish was a pleasant surprise. I had ordered it because I had never had a dish like this before. Lamb stuffed with artichokes and cheese, all wrapped in grape leaves. The lamb was extremely juicy, and despite the fact that I'm usually not a big fan of stuffed meat or fish dishes because I consider stuffing a distraction to the main ingredient at hand (lamb in this case), this lamb was almost transformational.

While these were the best dishes in my book, the other dishes weren't too shabby either. Take, for example, the eggplant appetizer, which was baked eggplant in a ceramic pot with some parsley, the ubiquitous extra virgin olive oil and topped with two sweet slices of fresh tomatoes.





The salads were just what the near-100 degree weather called for. Fresh, crisp greens like spinach or romaine lettuce with sun-dried tomatoes and the soft cheese, which -- to my delight -- is added to nearly everything (If anyone knows where I get this cheese in LA, please holla!). I was surprised to see sesame seeds sprinkled on top as I hadn't realized the Greek used sesame seeds as well, which I loved for its addition of toasty flavor.

The tomato, cucumber, green pepper, onion, feta, capers and olive salad was equally good, just less exotic for this neophyte in authentic Greek cuisine.

We also had grilled fish kebab that came with rice and grilled vegetables, which was good but nothing to write home about.



I feel so fortunate that I got to at least taste the tip of the iceberg of Greek cuisine that I had always felt a bit skeptical about.

Although I've never been to Turkey until now, I've always liked Turkish food better than Greek food. Ironically, my first foray into Turkish food in Turkey (albeit in the tourist trap that is Kusadasi near Ephesus) was utterly unremarkable. Some spicy ground beef kebab with rice and grilled whole fish. Ok, but nothing earth.


I look forward to eating well in less tourist towns in Turkey and exploring more that authentic Greek food has to offer.

As a side note, I also discovered Vinsanto, an exquisite dessert wine supposedly only produced in two places in the world -- Santorini and Tuscany in Italy.

I love it when I learn so much about the local country's food and wine that I had no idea about before. Opa!

That's exactly what happened in Italy too. My latest revelations coming soon~