By Michael Minorgan for Curtains Up minorgan@yahoo.ca
Greek cuisine, like that of Italy, depends primarily on the quality of its ingredients and the abject simplicity of their preparation. When you combine these qualities with their proven potential health benefits how can you go wrong and not enjoy eating them.
There are several types of Greek eating establishments and all of them specialize in certain foods and traditional cooking methods. There is the ‘esiatorio’ more upscale than the ‘taverna’ serving foods primarily cooked in ovens or ‘magereftas’, the ‘psistaria’ where meats are spit roasted, grilled or cooked rotisserie style, the ‘tavernas’ that usually offer much smaller menus and serve ‘long meals’ suited to night time conversation and the consumption lots of local Greek wine, the ‘psarotaverna’ where the main item is fresh grilled fish and finally there is the ‘ouzerie’ that specializes in smaller ‘tapas’ style dishes shared and enjoyed with copious amounts of locally brewed ouzo.
Montreal’s large Greek community assures us of some of the best examples of all these traditional foods and restaurants.
One such example is Molivos now situated on Guy St, just below Sherbrooke. I was a regular visitor to its previous incarnation and have very fond memories of it when it first opened in 1980 and was located on Park Avenue taking its much honoured place among the many other Greek restaurants on this busy thoroughfare. This was my first visit in almost 25 years to its new location which, I understand, has been completely redone due to a major fire about a year ago.
The ambience at Molivos, like most Greek restaurants, is casual with whites and sea blues dominating the colour scheme, highlighted by dark wood beams, paintings of the Greek Islands and several models of Greek fishing boats artfully displayed throughout the restaurant.
From the moment you enter the warm Greek hospitality is present making you feel entirely at home.This congenial and professional service was prevalent throughout our meal.
First up, when you eat at a Greek tavern or psarotaverna don’t expect fancy plates or elaborate plating designs, but do certainly hope for top quality ingredients simply and expertly grilled over real hardwood charcoal (not gas). Believe me it really does make a difference!
The menu at Molivos offers up all the typical Greek dishes with an array of appetizers that includes: Saganaki, Skordalia, Dolmades, Pikilia Plate and Octopus to name just a few ($6.95 – $16.95 for the octopus) and main courses featuring grilled Lamb, Chicken, Steaks, Soft Shell Crab (in season) and a good variety of fresh fish sold by the pound and grilled over charcoal ($21.95 – $38.95 for the scampi platter)
We started our meal with a decent sized platter of one of my favourites, Grilled Octopus ($16.95). It was composed of nuggets of octopus that were not only wonderfully tender, but had the distinct and delicious barbecue taste that you can only achieve when grilling over hardwood charcoal. It was accompanied with grilled sweet red pepper, red onions and capers and lightly dressed with a drizzle of fresh lemon juice and a fruity Greek olive oil that I eagerly soaked up with some of the grilled rustic white bread they served with the meal…Delicious!
For main courses, I chose the Grilled Swordfish ($25.95) which came with an excellent rice pilaf and grease free chunky New York style fried potatoes. Swordfish is not a fatty fish like salmon and if it is over cooked you can be left with a slab of dried out leathery meat. My swordfish was perfectly grilled preserving its juicy sweetness and it literally melted in my mouth. Again it was simply dressed with the same olive oil, lemon, capers and a hint of fresh dill…Superb!
My companion tucked into another Greek specialty, lamb, this time in the form of four deliciously charred and tender chops cooked to a perfect medium rare. It was accompanied with the same rice pilaf, potatoes and an additional small green salad. The chops were devoured to the bone! We were also served, free of charge, a side dish of Gigantes (Greek Lima Beans). These are the largest variety of the lima bean and the ones we had were lightly sautéed in onion, tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. They had a wonderful rich creamy texture and were lightly perfumed with garlic.
To accompany our meal I chose a dry and fruity white wine from the Aegean Islands, Argyros Atlantis 2013 ($40)
We ended our meal with two Greek favourites, Baklava ($5.95) that wonderful honey drenched pistachio concoction baked in phyllo pastry, oh so sweet, but oh so good! Molivos’ version was much creamier than others I have tasted. My companion had a small plate of Loukoumades ($5.95) those delicious little fried Greek donuts drizzled with honey syrup and chopped nuts… Very addictive.
Molivos certainly didn’t disappoint, in fact I think it actually excelled since my last visit those many years ago. Rest assured that a return visit will not wait as long….”stin iya su! (Cheers!)
Our meal came to $160 (including taxes, cocktails and wine)
Molivos
2310 Guy St
Tel: 514 846-8818
Website: www.molivos.ca
Email: info@milvos.ca
Hours: Mon – Fri 11.30am – 10pm
Sat & Sun 4.30pm – 10pm
