GREEK SPIRIT
Zorba’s features savory dishes, tantalizing desserts
Zorba the Greek. We all know and love him, that mad, life-affirming wise man who danced wildly in the face of life’s tragedies to a tune we will never get out of our heads. His message is: Embrace joy despite whatever life throws at you, one that inspired the Counelis family to give his name to its Northeast Heights restaurant.
Those who remember the avgolemono (lemon-chicken) soup, spanakopita (spinach pie) and moussaka (baked eggplant casserole) from the Olympia Cafe, the UNM campus-area restaurant on East Central, will find these Greek café mainstays unchanged at Zorba’s. Spiros, the original owner, is still behind the grill, and the man remembers and greets each of his old customers warmly. The spacious, lightfilled place with a patio and plentiful parking offers an expanded menu with the addition of beer and wine, including wonderful Greek wine.
Ordering at the counter and waiting to hear your number called in a voice that could have inspired a John Belushi “Saturday Night Live” skit was OK in the old days at the Olympia Café. Although at Zorba’s waiters deliver your meal to your table, ordering at the counter does not work in this setting with upscale aspirations.
The lack of full wait service detracts from the quality of the experience, particularly when you want to order another glass of wine and must leave your table — and conversation — to do so. At these prices, which are not in themselves unreasonable, we expect to relax while we dine.
The vegetarian-friendly menu, with falafel, hummus, Greek salad, spinach pie ($8.25 for a complete lunch), tzatziki (cucumber-yogurt sauce), baba ghanoush-like melitzanosalata (eggplant salad, $5.25-$8.25) stuffed grape leaves and more means everyone can enjoy a good selection of Greek flavors. Appetizer platters offer an assortment (around $17). A favorite of mine is the briam ($10.25), a tasty vegetable assortment slowbaked with olive oil and herbs that goes wonderfully with the pilaf.
A bit of menu navigation is necessary, as some items seem a bit pricey while others are more reasonable.
Spit-roasted gyros, emblematic of Greek cuisine, souvlaki, kebobs, and loukaniko (Greek sausage), served on pita (each around $7.00) call out to anyone craving meat prepared with savory Greek seasonings. Salmon, shrimp and calamari are also on the menu. But the lamb dishes rule, particularly the paidakia, grilled rack of lamb chops ($29.95) and the leg of lamb dinner ($17.95) — Zorba’s signature dish, stuffed with garlic and herbs and served with Greek roasted potatoes. Although in the movie Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates try to divine the future from a lamb shank,
no such feat is expected here when you order the wine-marinated herby shank. For a lighter meal, the lamb sandwich ($8.95) — slices of roasted leg of lamb on pita with tzatziki — is the ticket.
Lunch, served until 5 p.m., is a deal, with sandwiches on fresh pita plus choice of salad or fries for around $7-$8. One-quarter goldenbrown Greek chicken, one of my longtime favorites, served with salad, roast potatoes and pita, is $8.45. At dinner, the price is less than a dollar more.
Dessert, as always, is a challenge to select when you’re face to face with the pastry case. The signature baklava cheesecake ($7.25 and worth every crumb) is a towering hunk of rich, creamy cheesecake atop a layer of honeyed, crisp baklava and ought not be attempted alone. But the delectable custardy galaktoboureko ($3.95) is hard to pass up. They don’t make it easy for you, but you can’t really go wrong.