Greek Paradise: A Taste of Kalamata

(pic source)

These past few weeks have been full of construction and nasty paint fumes in our 'new' house and as a result, we haven't been in any sort of an eating schedule. I can't say we haven't been eating well, because it has all been delicious, but we've been seriously lacking in the home-cooked-meal department.

On day nth of eating out, M and I wanted to have something a little healthier: I had a craving for a big salad and grilled chicken. Eating at home wasn't really an option because of the paint fumes (no low-VOC here unfortunately... arg.) so we decided to check out a local greek place M's cousin told us about on the weekend.

There's no need to venture up to The Danforth for good Greek. Kalamata is located along the Lakeshore just past Kipling in Long Branch (one of the last neighbourhoods east of Mississauga for all you downtown folks) and what a find. Home to a former Fox and Firkin (Fiddle??), Kalamata offers delicious home cooked Greek cuisine with all the fixings. The room itself is on the large side, but was quite cozy nonetheless because of the warm and welcoming fireplace, low lighting and comfortable furnishings (not to mention the various bouts of Saganaki being flambéed at tables around the room). Large banquet-style seating is offered in some areas in place of chairs, while patrons can also opt to sit in a cozy corner booth.

For dinner, M and I opted for appeys: we each started off with a Greek Salad ($7) which was fresh and tasty and had the perfect amount of mouth-watering feta, olives and splash of lemon. Olive tapenade ($4) came next, which was pure olive heaven (that's if you like olives -- not for you Mom); followed by an order of grilled chicken Souvlaki Skewers ($4 for two), and Zucchini & Eggplant ($8), seasoned and lightly pan fried served with a side of skorthalia (a fresh garlic, whipped potato and extra virgin olive oil combo - delish!)

We only had water to drink, but there is a pretty extensive wine and cocktail list available.

According to the cuz, Kalamata offers a yummy brunch on the weekends. I'll be trying that out for sure in the next few weeks.

The best part of the night though was the owner. Unfortunately, I didn't catch her name but she was super friendly, down-to-earth and chatted with us about the restaurant and the area for quite some time. I can't wait to go back!