Okeanos

bklynnewbie

I went to this place last night. I love Greek Food and go to Astoria often. This is definitely a good addition to the neighborhood. The grilled octopus served over potatoes was really tender. The mussels in a white wine were really tasty. The mixed spreads plate was good, but I didn't love the tzatziki. I am pretty picky with that though. We also had the saganaki which was really delicious. They were very friendly and eager to please. You also get a few samples of various greek desserts at the end. I wouldn't say it will end my Astoria visits, but it definitely satisfies a greek food craving. Way better than Athena on 6th Ave.

pitu

nitcomb wrote: flat screen TV's on the walls?

This has some possibilites for World Cup and other sports broadcasts, no? Or award shows...

bradedward

Subject: Not kind of bad....REALLY bad.

Checked out Okeanos today...

Sat down with my wife and marveled at the quality of the construction inside. However, quickly into our meal I noticed an elderly couple not happy about their food and the gentleman sent back his order. The manager came over to speak with him and apologize. At first I just blew him off as a grumpy old man, but then some other diners seemed pretty displeased as they ate near us as well. For a second I thought the entire place was going to start keeling over and dying ala "Airplane" from the bad fish.

My wife and I ordered the mussels as an appetizer. There were four that hadn't opened because they were dead. We asked the waitress why they weren't open (knowing full well why) and she said, "Yeah you shouldn't eat those, that means they are dead". Um okay. Do we have to then ask why you brought them to our table????

My wife got the crab cake sandwich which as she said "was okay", but she basically filled up on the fries it came with. I however made a dastardly decision and ordered the Bouillabaisse Stew. No flavor, the potatoes had a strange metallic taste, the shrimp tasted like rubber, and one of the lumps of fish which I couldn't identify had to be spit out because it tasted like it was rotting. It was disgusting. I have never sent back a dish in a restaurant before, but this was just absolutely unbearable.

The only redeeming thing about the experience was the manager was very nice and comped my meal for us. He said the fish was fresh and, as he put it, was "the real deal". But I'm sorry, I've had plenty of seafood in my day, and what is currently tossing and turning in my stomach is not how seafood is supposed to taste.

scarlett

Oh man that sounds horrible. Have been meaning to try this place but am hesitant now!

brooklyngigcenter

Don't be hesitant, we had a really wonderful meal there two weeks ago, and the service was excellent.

I had the lamb shank, my wife had the red snapper....both fantastic.

propellorhead

i am new to this, but i felt the need to reply to bradedward regarding what he wrote in his review..

firstly, i must assume that if four mussels were dead, then you must have been given at least 20 - or you would have complained that either a half, a third, or a quarter of your meal was inedible.
then i must ask you, do you want your wait person to poke through your dish before they bring it to you? should that not be for the kitchen staff to look after as they plate your meal?
and why do you want to ask 'trick questions' of the wait staff?
do you not suppose that the restaurant people felt that perhaps your opinion on their seafood dish was not very valid, when coming from someone who gave the impression that they had never encountered mussels before?

i have not eaten there yet, but i do know someone who has, who said that they were quite satisfied with their lunch.

and in case you are wondering - yes i have waited tables in the past!

pastoralia

So he didn't tip well propellorhead?

belzjm

it doesn't matter how many mussels were dead.

YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SERVED DEAD MUSSELS!

i've eaten wonderful mussels in the area recently...at Lot 2 and at The Vanderbilt and guess what...NONE of them were dead!

propellorhead

[quote="pastoralia"]So he didn't tip well propellorhead?

again - i no longer wait tables, and have not done so for several years..

and my point was simply that it is surely more to do with the kitchen staff than the wait staff. i am not trying to excuse the fact, just qusestioning the angle of that part of the review.

xlizellx

belzjm wrote:

never seen dandelions as a side before.

This is super exciting to read -- takes me back to driving to long island for my great grandma to cook dinner ... haven't had them since. Yum.

zebra

Propellorhead,
One normally complains to the wait staff, not the kitchen staff, because that is who one sees. It seems like it was the kitchen who gave the impression that they'd never encountered mussels before.

eggcream

BrooklynGigCenter wrote: Don't be hesitant, we had a really wonderful meal there two weeks ago, and the service was excellent.

I had the lamb shank, my wife had the red snapper....both fantastic.

Same here, 2 weeks ago. Our party had the red snapper, the whole fish of the day, tuna steak and the eggplant pasta. We started with a mix of hummus etc. Service was friendly and excellent. We'll go back.

veets

I had lunch here with four other people. The bread and olive oil were the best part of the meal. Just to go over a few things I tasted.. The mashed potatoes with olives was just ill conceived. The color purple was lovely but the proportion of spuds to olives was off so the dish was salty. Considering how over salted the food was in general perhaps they thought the salt in the olives was not enough and added in more. The sardines were dry. The potatoes(side dish) that were described as boiled and then sauteed with lemon and oregano were over boiled and the oregano was from the jarred spice rack. The potatoes that came with the fish were under cooked. The greek salad was over salted and wilted down. It is hard to wilt a cucumber.

Most of the time if I have nothing good to say about a restaurant I will pass on saying anything at all but I am just so disappointed. the place is well located, well decorated, wait staff... but the food was just so lack luster there will be no re-visits.

willregistersoon

Veets - have you tried Istanbul Grill across the st? I've had a number of great meals there. If you're craving something Mediterranean give it a shot. They have their liquor license now as well and carry a few Turkish wines and others.

belzjm

istanbul grill is TERRIFIC!

one of the big surprises in the neighborhood. really great turkish food.

veets

I haven't tried Istanbul Grill yet but will put it on the list.

veets

Ok just 2 more things that come to mind because I just read the beginning of the thread.
The Dandelion greens were absolutely horrible. I am sure there aredelicious ways to prepare these greens but not in this restaurant.. On those flat screen movies they were playing old black and white films. >> think Bette Davis, Cary Grant,Bogart. Now that was charming especially on a cloudy, cool early afternoon where the color of the day was shades of black and white.

zeebee

Finally ate here at lunch time and wanted to throw in my two cents.

Underwhelming.

After being seated and handed menus, we waited close to 15 minutes before a waiter came by (and it was not crowded at all). He took our food order - beetroot greens salad for two and fish soup - and was walking away before we asked HIM about ordering drinks. "What whites do you have by the glass?" sez we. "White wine. Good wine." "But what kind?" "Good white." It was good, but there has to be a better description, no?

The bread and olive oil were very good. The salad, less so - greens, beets, toasted walnuts and feta chunks in a nondescript dressing. Many of the greens were yellowing with age. The fish soup was watery and the broth tasted of low-sodium canned chicken broth. They've obviously overcorrected their earlier oversalting problem, because this was bland beyond bland. Included in the soup were a few mussels, shrimp, one scallop and various chunks of white fish and salmon.

I'm willing to give it one more try, but they've got to step it up food- and service-wise if they plan to make it to their first anniversary.

MOD

Any new reviews of this place?

http://www.okeanosnyc.com/menus.php

veets

Mamacita... After reading my own review from 2 years ago I am sitting here laughing. No wonder I never returned! Hoping that this restaurant has gotten their act together and am curious if someone has eaten there recently.

MOD

Yeah, maybe I'll finally check out Istanbul Grill -as mentioned on this thread. I think there are just so many restaurants in PS that if a place doesn't wow the public in the first year, then maybe it just gets forgotten.

reader

The last time I ate there was in June and my reaction was

mixed. The place has so much potential, but the menu is limited and the food is inconsistent. Fried calamari appetizer was great. The platter of mixed hummus, baba etc was nice, warm bread etc. We split a salad that was fresh but needed a bit more dressing and our server's answer was that the chef had put the dressing on in the kitchen, perhaps we had an language disconnect, but I was less than pleased. My husband had some fish of the day, he said it was very good, but the portion was very small for the price. I had mousakka, which I had there previously and throught was good in the past. This time it was stuffed into a shell of an eggplant, which was stringy and tough. The filing was tasty but I had expectation of a nice traditional square of layered savory meat, potatoes, eggplant and bechamel which was they way they had done it on previous visits.

I've been there a few times, but my last experience was less then optimal so I doubt that it will be a destination for me again. Each time I went I wanted to like it more than I did, which is too bad since it it so close to where I live.

Istanbul Park. I'm on the fence on that one also. We had a extremely awful expericne there the about a month

after it opened, but I always give a place the benefit of the doubt when they are working out the growing pains. On subsequent visits things improved. The food is okay, service is generally decent, but I have a particular peeve about a resturant serving food on chipped plates. The last time a group of 4 of us went, there was not a course that was served from appetizer to dessert that one or two of us had a plate that was not chipped. That is plain sloppy.

bkchickie

I went to Istanbul Grill about four (?) years ago, and I had a good experience. We haven't been back, only because it fell off our radar. I haven't been to Okeanos, if only because when we want Greek food we usually make the trip to either Bay Ridge or Astoria. And for Middle Eastern, we've been liking Black Iris (Ft. Greene) a number of places on Atlantic Avenue, or Tanoreen.

If you haven't been to Tanoreen in Bay Ridge, you really owe yourself a trip.

MOD

Not to derail a thread, but BKChickie can you list your favorite spots in Bay Ridge? Tanoreen for Mid Eastern?

(I'm been wanting to explore that area)