When it comes to choosing a dish to order at a restaurant, I flip-flop more than Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) during the 2004 presidential campaign. I just can’t decide! Do I want chicken, fish, pork or some sort of red meat? That pasta is probably good too, but damn, there’s no meat in it. And trying to select one appetizer and one dessert is as difficult as choosing my favorite album by The Beatles.
But I’ve found a solution to my indecisive nature: the small plates and family-style dishes at Mykonos Grill in Rockville.
This comfortable yet cozy Greek restaurant sandwiched between two strip malls never fails to tantalize taste buds with mezedes (Greek tapas) and platters ideal for sharing. Its menu, consisting of more than 50 dishes, reads like a greatest hits list of Mediterranean cuisine.
On my most recent visit, two friends and I went all out. We started with the dips: yogurt-based tzatziki, an eggplant mousse called melitzanosalata and a puree of cured roe called taramosalata. The taramosalata was especially tasty and reminiscent of lox and cream cheese spread, except it wasn’t as thick.
Mykonos’ vegetarian options are as flavorful and filling as its meat dishes. We enjoyed plump white beans marinated in olive oil, onions, lemon and parsley.
We also ate the flaky, savory spinach and cheese spanakopita, stuffed mushrooms and lots of feta. It came as part of a salad, in the mushrooms and without any veggie chaser.
Mykonos’ feta is the real deal: palm-sized cubes (not the crumbly, pre-packaged grocery store kind) of goat cheese just tart enough to cause a little lip-puckering.
Even though the dips, cheese, tarts and complimentary pita were off the hook, my carnivorous friends and I couldn’t resist the meat and seafood.
The grape leaves stuffed with rice and ground beef and the oregano-studded crab cakes got mixed reviews, but there were no disagreements about the greatness of the juicy chicken breast sautéed in a sauce of white wine, lemon and capers.
Our favorite dish of the evening was definitely the shrimp, which came with a chunky, tomato-based sauce that I couldn’t stop eating long after the shrimp were gone.
But this was more than just a plate of shrimp and sauce — there was something mysterious in the sweet bites. What was it? We questioned the waiter and got our answer: white grapes.
It was an odd yet ingenious addition: The sweetness of the grapes played well off the peppers, onions and umami nature of the shrimp.
When it came time for dessert, we couldn’t decide on just one pastry to share, so we got the classic baklava and a custard-and-honey stuffed filo dough tart. The latter, galaktobouriko, tasted a lot like kugel, that Jewish casserole dish our grandmothers made. And the baklava was a beastly portion, but we finished it and scraped all the honey and stray walnuts off the plate.
Even though all the food was delicious, my eyes bulged out like I was in a Rocko’s Modern Life cartoon when I saw the bill. It came out to about $40 per person with tax and tip.
At first I thought maybe I was wrong — that family-style is a rip-off, and we should have exercised some restraint.
But in actuality, I probably would have spent just as much, if not more, if I had gotten one entrée, most of which cost about $20, and we shared only a couple of appetizers and desserts. But I wouldn’t have gotten to taste as many different items if we hadn’t ordered mostly mezedes and appetizer platters.
Even though I ate more than my fair share of the versatile food at Mykonos, there are so many more dishes I want to try: roasted leg of lamb, kebabs, gyros, fried squid, marinated octopus and more.
The next time I want to splurge at Mykonos, I’ll take more enthusiastic eaters who are just as indecisive as I am.
rush@umdbk.com
