Taste of Greek
Last year, there was a buzz about Mythos Kouzina & Grill in JLT — my colleague sampled the food there and liked it. Recently, again, I came across praise for it, and was keen to tick-mark visits to all three places in the cluster — Nola, Cocktail Kitchen, and Mythos.
So, one Saturday afternoon, my standard dining companion and I made reservations for 1.30pm. Like terrible, boorish people, we only landed up at 2, but the staff was accommodating and the place wasn’t yet packed. First impressions: Décor? Check.
Real looking fake olive trees, brown paper place mats, and ‘nice’ plastered uneven walls — the look was fine, lovely in the afternoon.
The food I think was my fault. I ordered badly. I hope I’m wrong, but Greek food, I’ve begun to think, is wasted on me. I find feta too salty. I don’t love dill, not in Tzatiki, not in salad, and not as the mild flavouring on cheese crackers. I do love Moussaka, the eggplantcheese-tomato bake — the way my mother used to make it when I was younger (no beef), at dinner parties my parents would host at home. But, the Mythos’ Mousakka was out of bounds for me — no vegetarian option. I should have asked if they could do one without meat. But too often, similar requests have been met with a “Sorry, Ma’am, we only have…”
For starters, we had (sweet!) Roasted Beetroot Salad with leeks (Dh29)— came in a gorgeous white RAK ceramics bowl. Mains, the Gemista (Dh45)— tomatoes and capsicum stuffed with rice and fresh herbs. Thought I tasted dill. Dining companion though ordered a rack of meat, which was apparently so succulent and perfect, it was being talked about for days after. Dessert was a scoop each of homemade ice cream and sorbet —unlikely pairing of coffee and mango, but no crystals and very creamy. I’m just going to have to go back and redo my mains, and avoid that too-basic salad.