It may come as little surprise that essentially the whole point of the Greek Food Festival is the food.? There were plenty of things to eat there, as well as plenty of things to drink, but – what with a budget and all – I had to settle with one meal.
I had an $8 dish comprised of Greek sausage, rice and bread.? I also ordered a side of salad, which added an extra $3.? Add that to the $5 I paid to get in and the additional $2 I paid for my coffee, and you have a moderately pricey meal.? But, then, it does only come once a year.
The sausage was probably the best part of the meal.? It was surprisingly spicy, but that was balanced out with the moderately bland rice that it was served atop.? Although the composition of the sausage was a little questionable, it certainly tasted fantastically.
My serving of rice and sausage seemed to be a bit bigger than that of my friend, so I guess, if you want to get more bang for your buck, get the salad.? Or, at least, it looked like more when spread out on a plate instead of the bowl that the saladless order is served in.
And, speaking of, it was a good salad.? I mean, it was a Greek salad.? If you don’t like Greek salad, you probably wouldn’t like it, but if you don’t like Greek food you probably wouldn’t go to the Greek Food Festival.? It was basically your average iceberg lettuce, carrots and onions affair, but the difference between salad and Greek salad is the addition of feta cheese and olives.? Suffice to say, it was good.
And, of course, I had to have something to drink.? There was a stand advertising Greek coffee, so, as a coffee lover, I had to give that a shot.? The first time I went up to the booth, the coffee wasn’t ready.? The second time I went over, the woman behind the booth exclaimed, “Oh, the Greek coffee!”? She asked me if I had tried it before, and I told her that I hadn’t.? “It’s very thick – you’ll be dancing all night,” she assured me.? I have to say, this got my expectations up just a little bit.
It wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t bad.? I was expecting it to be an amazing pick-me-up, but it really just tasted like strong instant coffee.? There was something a little powdery about it. The most interesting thing is that, by the time I finished it, some sort of muddy concoction had collected on the bottom.? I spent the rest of the evening picking at it with my straw and wondering just what it was.? By the way, it was probably the least price-worthy thing I ordered while at the festival, being $2 and less than six ounces.
It took us a while to figure out where the baklava was.? Eventually my friend went off in the direction of the Greek Pastries booth, and when she came back she had two pieces – one for me, her treat.?
It wasn’t the best baklava I had ever had, but it rounded out the meal nicely and made the experience even more worth it.
Adding to the whole event was the live music in the background. I wasn’t about to get up on the dance floor and dance, but it did make the food seem just a little bit more Greek.