The Frugal Foodie: The Fat Greek

Yesterday I went with Lauren and my dad to The Fat Greek, which I consider to be one of the better and more consistent Greek restaurants in Vegas. I tend to order the same things every time I come here because I love them, but in my visits with people who have ordered various other items, I haven't heard many negative opinions voiced, if any. We definitely ordered too much, which I tend to do, but I know how much my father likes to indulge me in my passion for food, and leftovers are always a plus.

To start we had a cold appetizer sampler platter ($14.95) that was so plentiful they had to bring it on two plates. The nice thing about ordering the sampler here as opposed to other places is that you get to pick which four appetizers you want to have. They always seem to be out of the fasolada, or stewed beans, which Lauren and I enjoyed on the one rare occasion it was available. We replaced the fasolada with melizanolata, which looked great (see above photo) but was just so-so when it came to taste. The other appetizers were much better. The hummus was well-balanced and had the right amounts of tahini (sesame paste) and garlic, and the tzatziki (pictured below) was thick and cooling with lots of shredded cucumber and a touch of dill. Our fourth appetizer was tirokefteri (the menu is full of tongue twisters), a peppery feta cheese whip. Although it was quite strong in flavor, if you spread just a little bit on a piece of their plentiful toasted pita bread it wasn't overpowering and was something I'd never been exposed to before.

My dad and I each ordered a cup of soup for $3.50 each. I had the avgolemono, which is a comforting and traditional chicken and lemon soup thickened slightly by rice, and my dad had the lentil soup, which wasn't bad at all but had a bit too much tomato for my taste. We then all shared the Fat Greek Salad with gyro meat ($9.50), a personal favorite, and the falafel plate ($6.95). Gyro is made by grinding pounds and pounds of meat, usually lamb and beef, together with spices and then packing it heartily onto a metal pole attached to a rotisserie in copious amounts. The gyro meat here is better than most, partly because it comes with plenty of the outer layers of the meat that browned well and acquired a nice crust. The falafel, a blend of chickpeas and spices that is deep fried into patties, was tasty and served right from the fryer, but is not the best version I have had. That honor will go Maoz flafel in Amsterdam, and my opinion can be backed up by Az and Jenny, who joined me in dining there three times.

I apologize that the pictures of the salad and falafel don't show how the plates look when they come out but sometimes the I get very excited when the food comes and forget to capture the presentation before it is destroyed by my fork. I hope the pictures will still entice you nonetheless because I would advise anyone to go to the Fat Greek without reservations.

Today's Food Rating: 7.5
Ambiance: 7 (the Fat Greek has surprisingly tasteful decor for a Greek restaurant, which I hope I can fairly say without offending anyone)
Would I go back? INDEED