- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Coffee & Tea |
- All
Great Greek Souvlaki
Categories: Restaurants Food Stands Restaurants Greek Food Stands, Greek [Edit]
197 York StreetLondon, ON N6A 1B2
(519) 439-4397
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
One review for Great Greek Souvlaki
1 review in English
-
Review from Janelle W.
2/8/2010 6 photos
When my husband suggested we catch a hockey game in London, Ontario, the last thing that came to my mind was the idea that London may be a gastronomic destination. I even googled whether the city had a namesake Solar System body [1], but didn't even bother searching for restaurants there. That's how much I was resigned to a dinner of stadium nachos and arena hot dogs.
But a quick drive through London later, I was relishing in a wonderful culinary find--souvlaki stands on streetcorners throughout downtown. These shacks bring to London all that is golden and glorious about street food. While I presume an influx of Greek immigrants many years ago led to the establishment of these little souvlaki shacks, they are nowadays manned by perpetually-baked 19-year-olds, at least late at night. Doesn't matter--the food is dope.
The Great Greek is a white structure on the corner of York and Richmond, with blinking round bulbs framing the roof. The shack is painted like a carnival booth on Coney Island, with wooden signboards decorated in colorful cursive letters advertising gyros, charbroiled souvlaki, falafel, and poutine. There's barely enough room for the pitarista to skirt around the grill, the deep-fryer, the cash register, and the twirling spit of gyro meat.
Here's how it works:
-- Stand on the sidewalk
-- Order and pay {{CASH ONLY}} through a window
-- Retrieve your food through another window
-- Retreat to your car or brave the cold to eat on the street corner
This is street food at its finest. Half the enjoyment comes from the anticipation of waiting in front of the shack, while the meaty aromas overwhelm your nose, and your fingers and lips begin to numb in the blistering cold winter night.
The best cure for cold lips is Great Greek's gyro ($5.54). A fluffy pita is grilled to acquire crisp char marks that will tickle the palate. It's swaddled around luscious sheets of tender spiced beef-lamb gyro meat, which has been shaved off the rotating spit with delicate ease. The gyro is dressed with seasoned tomatoes and onions not unlike Hawaiian lomi-lomi tomato, and it's finished with a generous swab of smooth, creamy tzatziki and a shake of spicy paprika and salt. Truly exceptional.
And then there's the poutine ($6.19). Holy hell... the poutine!!! Canadian potatoes are so robust and--for lack of a better word--potatoey. Great Greek's fries are fresh-cut from the best Canadian 'taters and fried to a deep golden brown. They're crisper than starched sheets at an expensive hotel. Great Greek doesn't use cheese curds [2]; they opt for shredded cheese instead. But the cheese melts into a creamy pasteurized river, and when it's braided into the savoury, beefy gravy, the result is a salty, gooey rope of richness that stretches from the mound of poutine to the fry you're pulling toward your mouth.
I never imagined I'd be anxious to go to London, Ontario. But Great Greek proved to me that London is, in fact, a gastronomic destination. I still won't bother searching for restaurants there--I'll just eat at Great Greek every time.
____________________
[1] In fact, it does: the main-belt asteriod 12310 Londontario
[2] Not being Canadian, I don't know whether this is unforgivable, but the poutine was damn tasty nonetheless
