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Koutouki Taverna
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11 am - 10 pm
Fri 11 am - 11 pm
Sat 4:30 pm - 11 pm
Sun 4:30 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
10 reviews for Koutouki Taverna
10 reviews in English
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Review from Laurel P.
3/13/2012 1 Check-in Here
A friend of mine arranged a dinner here for a large group of people to celebrate my birthday. We were seated in a little section that was somewhat separated from the rest of the restaurant. This was nice for us since it gave us a bit of privacy and nice for the rest of the patrons since we're not the quietest group (which is ironic considering most of us are librarians).
We had a bit of a scare when the waitress told us that as a group of more than 10, we were obligated to order the "meze" which sounded good but also rang in at $38 per person. Ouch! Plus considering I don't eat meat, there's no way I'd be getting my money's worth. Luckily they were able to make an exception for us which saved the night.
I ended up choosing two appetizers rather than an entrée and this was just the right amount of food. I wasn't all that enamoured with the spanakopita. I prefer larger pastries with more filling rather than smaller ones with more crust. However, the gigantes plaki (beans in tomato sauce) were delicious.
They have a belly dancer on Friday and Saturday nights which is always entertaining. I don't really like how loud they turned up the music for her though. When she's off performing on the other side of the restaurant you want to be able to comfortably continue your conversations. They also apparently have plate smashing which unfortunately, being in our special section, we could hear but not see it.
Overall I had at great time at koutouki. I'll definitely be back, but because of the "meze" rule for parties of 10+, I probably will only come with smaller groups.Listed in: Omnivore Restaurants that…, Treat Yo Self!
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Review from Lauren S.
7/13/2011
This was my first meal in Canada. I was pleasantly surprised! The hummus was probably the best hummus I have ever tasted. I'm a fan of garlic, and that hummus sure packed a garlic punch!
I ordered the lamb skewers which were not gamy at all (I don't mind gamy, so there was something to be desired). The zucchini in tomato sauce was excellent. Also got to try some meat balls with minty cream sauce. Not really into the minty mouth wash flavor in sauces or drinks, so I wasn't digging into them as much.
Over all this place was very good and I would highly recommend it. -
Review from Aditya R.
5/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
I've been here just once but did, in fact, have a great time. Neither have I been to Greece, nor would I consider myself an expert on Greek food, but I've got to say that the food I ate here was delicious and seemed nearly authentic.
Of course, like everybody else under the Sun, I've eaten Greek food at expensive restaurants, fast food joints and things in between. But I really haven't had a better experience of Greek food than I did at Koutuki. Also, the ambience adds a certain amount of romance to the whole experience with slow Greek music in the background and creeper plants all over the ceiling (actually, they may have not been creepers, but forgive my lack of botanical interest).
We were a group of six and we shared several small appetizers. All of the appetizers were delicious. The tzatziki was really quite yummy with the sour greek yogurt hitting the right spots. Hummus has become an everyday commodity and people tend to have a lot of expectations of how it should be, etc. I like that the hummus was tasteful yet not overpowering or something that's standoutish, like a store bought 3-pepper hummus, not that there's anything wrong with that! Of course, I don't want to harp on about the appetizers. The meat balls were tasty and so were the dolmades (yumm, my mouth is watering as I type of the "e" and "s" in "dolmades"). Nice shrimp that we ordered and everything was par excellence, to be honest.
The restaurant is split into two sections and we went into the section that was more seafood based, probably more emphasis given to Mediterranean islands of Greece. I drank a glass of the (white) Santorini wine with my meal.
The service was okay. A couple of glitches. They got out the wrong dish at one point and left it at our table and ended up charging us for it. One of us (certainly not me, for lack of courage) ended up rectifying it. Also, the servers were a little impatient, waiting to clear up plates and almost ended up picking my plate up before I was done. It's okay.Listed in: Edmonton's High Street
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Review from Jasmine F.
Edmonton, AB
3/2/2011
I have to say, I had one of the best night-out experiences at this place.
It's cramped and vintage-feel coupled with fabulous Greek food and a cultured atmosphere would never be expected by looking at the restaurant from 124 Street.
I joined a party of around 25 other people to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday.
And man, did they show us a fabulous time.
A 12-course meal spanned out over three hours kept our bellies happy and an outrageous belly dancing woman kept us on our toes.
Somehow, she managed to get our entire party out of our chairs, arms draped around one another, as we danced in a circle around the restaurant to a traditional dance called the "Kola"....the whole time an employee poured alcohol down our throats.
We weren't complaining...never argue with culture traditions!
Alcohol was later poured onto three plates that were placed on a small end table. The plates were ignited and as the sounds of Greek music and cheering people filled the restaurant, a man bent down bit the table and lifted the furniture with it's flames atop it.
He then proceeded to dance to the music with a table in his mouth that balanced the flaming plates.
The tab was reasonable and the food was fantastic.
The energy of the restaurant is nothing but pure happiness.
For a dinner experience filled with surprise and true culture, I recommend Koutouki to anyone. -
Review from Jessica D.
Edmonton, AB
8/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
Can we say HUGE Greek party?!
My mom was in town and me and my boyfriend wanted to pick somewhere interesting to go eat since she lives in Fort McMurray and has BP's or Moxie's to choose from. Just walking up 124th to the restaurant we heard really loud music and couldn't figure where it was coming from.. as we got closer.. we found out it was coming from where we were about to go eat !
When we walked in we were greeted by an extremely friendly hostess with a belly dancer shaking her everything behind her in the background. We sat on the small cute patio and definitely had to lean in and talk quite loud to hear each other. After looking over the menu and realizing we didn't know what anything was, we asked our waiter for recommendations which he shot off quite quickly and let us choose from that.
I don't remember any of the actual names of the dishes but.. We ordered hummus(garlic to the max), spicy meatballs, calamari, beef and lamb skewers and a huge Greek salad with a crazy amount of feta on it. Everything was amazing !! The only things I wasn't too crazy about was the tzaziki that came with the calamari, a bit too much lemon for my liking and the beef skewers were dry.
To end off our night we got to see alot of plate smashing and dancing. One guy even smashed a plate on his head ! I'd definitely recommend coming here with a huge group of people so you can share everything! -
Review from Jack G.
Edmonton, AB
2/5/2010
Koutouki Taverna is an authentic Greek restaurant. At first glance the place doesn't look like anything special. I remember always driving by and thinking the place didn't look all that great from the outside. I started hearing so many good things about it and became intrigued.
Koutouki is a family restaurant and it really amazed me. When you are inside you do not feel like you are in any old restaurant. I have never been to Greece so I can't comment on how it compares but I felt like I was there. My favorite here is the prawn souvlaki, I haven't really tried much else but I would love to go back.
The place is an amazing experience.
Did I mention the belly dancer? -
Review from Maria F.
10/21/2009 1 photo
Koutouki's124th street location is on my everyday route so I ocassionaly order some take-out from them. The food is somewhat simple but delicious. Since I only order take-out, I cannot recommend on the service there but my take-out was always ready in a timely manner.
I find Koutouki's menu somewhat limited, so I always stick to my favorites: chicken and pork kebabs, spanakopita (pie with spinach and cheese), prawn souvlaki and of course pita bread with humus. Everything is reasonably priced and portions are big.
Although I never had the chance to sit down and enjoy Koutouki's decor, I love it nonetheless. Feels very authentic, Greek and creates festive mood.
Koutouki is a family owned business, and the owners definitely take pride in their restaurant - decor and food are indicators of that. -
Review from Bernie G.
Edmonton, AB
12/8/2010
I've been here a couple of times. I usually got the appetizers, as three appetizers are like a meal for me. Last time I went, it was early in the evening, and there weren't many people around. It took a while to get seated, and then we could see the two wait staff members arguing about who was going to take our table! They didn't bring us water, and finally we just left and found another restaurant. I mean, we were trying to figure out if they didn't want to serve us in particular, or it was just a disagreement between them over how many tables they got. Either way, we were well aware of it, got bad service, and in the end had a wonderful meal... elsewhere.
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Review from Amanda C.
Fort McMurray, AB
3/5/2011
For the prices they were charging, and the reviews I'd read from others, I expected a top notch experience. Unfortunately, this is not a Greek restaurant for those familiar with Greek food.
The service was ok, but from where we were sitting, we could hear what was going on in the kitchen, and I don't find details about the people cooking my food's sex life particularly appetizing. The waiter fell over himself when we first arrived, but as soon as he realized we weren't ordering alcohol, he seemed to loose all interest in us.
We ordered saganaki and calamari to start. The calamari was obviously cooked from frozen, but the spicing and texture were slightly better than average. The saganaki, which is much raved about on their website was absolutely dreadful - by far the worst I've ever had. It was under cooked, and I was highly disappointed that it was not flam-bayed at our table.
When the mains came, our server took our plates, but left the cutlery - which may seem like a minor detail, but when you are paying 30-60 dollars a person for your meal, I expect a certain standard. Next we had the Greek salad, which was under seasoned, and mostly featured onions and cucumber. The beef souvalki was well seasoned, but at least half of my skewer was badly burnt. My husband had the lamb, which was very grissly and tough. The potatoes were under seasoned, and undercooked - mine were still hard in the centre. Portions were well below expectations. -
Review from Jessica L.
Edmonton, AB
10/24/2009 2 photos
Koutouki is locally famous thanks to a little show that aired on the Food Network a couple years ago called The Family Restaurant. All the family craziness aside, the other thing that stood out on the show was the FOOD! I first went to Koutouki (southside) during their first season's run and was thoroughly impressed. I always wanted to try the 124st restaurant so I could compare and I finally got my chance on Friday night.
My mother and I were looking for a place to eat and decided to see if we could get a table for 2 here. We were lucky, they had room, although the table was not ideal, a bit small and by the kitchen/speakers, but what can you expect with no reservations? We waited a bit for our server to come and by the time she did we were able to order everything at once. Shortly after our Dolmades arrived still warm, the music suddenly started blaring and we heard a bunch of hooting and hollering in the room by the door. I completely forgot about the belly dancer! The beautiful lady sashayed through the room for about 30 minutes, dancing with whoever would leave their seat, and at one point even came up and put her scarf around my neck while she danced for my table. It was a lovely experience, but would have probably been nicer if we had been having a couple drinks, but with a party of two drinking water and the music blaring right above our heads and it got a bit too loud after 10 minutes or so. Thankfully the music turned down just in time for our meals. We all ordered lamb kabobs with pita. The lamb was perfectly done, smokey and just a bit pink on the inside. It came with a generous portion of potatoes and Greek salad. None of us could finish it and we were more than happy to take it home for an evening snack. Just as we were finishing our meal, the music got louder again and suddenly there was a line of customers and staff dancing all through the restaurant and outside and through the kitchen. There was shots of ouzo being poured directly into people's mouths and people laughing and working off their dinners. I joined in on this one and came back out of breath and smiling.
Total bill for 3 people without drinks: about 100$ with tip.
This place is great if you are in the mood to party Greek style on Friday and Saturday nights. The ouzo flows freely, the plates break, and the dancers dance. A great thing to try if you have a group of more than 2 people and time to spare is the Mezza which is a tasting menu that lasts for a couple hours. Days during the week are a bit quieter with no belly dancer.
