Hungrygrrl

Plaka Estiatorio was full of life last Saturday.

It probably didn’t hurt that the table next to us contained the owner’s family eating, drinking, and socializing. At one point we looked up and found the owner facing us, camera in hand.

“Can I take your picture?” he asked, “for the website.”

We smiled for the photo and then he wandered around taking pictures of the rest of the guests. The waitstaff and chefs posed too. It was like a birth.

Plaka’s interior is homey, with artistically exposed bricks, photos of the old world, and a lot of wood. The lighting’s so bright it’s like a deli, but somehow it didn’t detract. It just made it feel that much more like a family place.

They’ve gone with a classic greek menu–lamb, octopus, grilled seafood, spanakopita, and greek salad. But there are some rarer greek specialties on there too, like grilled haloumi (a cheese that stands up well to the fire), loukaniko (greek sausage), and yigantes (slow braised beans).

A greek salad was the first to arrive and it blew us away, with peppers and cucumbers that tasted straight from the garden. Even the tomatoes weren’t half bad. It felt like summer, with a topping of feta and sharp olives.

Roasted beets had a rustic simplicity, just tender and with a whiff of garlic.
The beet greens served alongside were long-cooked and silky.

Lamb chops were good quality, but needed more flame, they were missing that crispy char. The vegetables that came with were a mastery of the slow braise—onions and celery with a meaty richness, tomatoes that were fall-apart tender.

We were most disappointed by the papousakia, roasted eggplants stuffed with lamb and covered with béchamel. It was more creamy than we expected and missing the punch of the lamb.

As we sat there watching the tables around us cavort and drink wine, we felt totally at home. It would be a great place for a family dinner, or for someone’s birthday. And it was fairly crowded, for a place that’s just opened. We’ll be back. Next time I’m trying some of that grilled seafood.

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Plaka Estiatorio
(206) 829-8934
5407 20th Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
www.plakaballard.com