LITTLE ROCK — Dinner at Taziki’s didn’t exactly make us feel like we were transported to another continent, although the artwork on the walls - in window-like frames over Greeklike scenes - was an honest effort on someone’s part.
There were only a handful of other customers when we arrived - good news for us, because we didn’t have to wait, always a burden with a toddler in tow.
We bestowed the honor of choosing our table on 5-yearold Beans. It was a tough decision for him, and we ended up playing musical tables for a little while. No one batted an eye - that is to say, no one even noticed.
At Taziki’s you go through a line to place your order, but we decided to grab menus from the slot by the door and sit down to figure out what we wanted first.
That was another tough decision for Beans. Did he want something from the kids’ menu called a “Feast” or did he hear someone mention chocolate cake? Let’s just say I helped him make that choice.
We started our meal withthe Mezedes Platter ($7.25), which includes two dips, hummus and Taziki sauce (creamy yogurt with cucumber, dill and lemon), with pita chips and dolmades (grape leaves stuffed with seasoned rice, onions and herbs).
The Dad and I had a tough time wrapping the long shreds of cucumber around our chips. Still, it was refreshing and I liked it. The Dad preferred the hummus. And he relished two of the three dolmades, too, after summoning the courage to pick up the lump and bite through the grape leaves. Beans poked one with a finger but there was no way he would have willingly put it in his mouth. He had no problem with the pita chips, though. I tried the last one but wasn’t a fan of the herbs.
The server who brought the appetizers to our table was also nice enough tobring a high chair, but 15-month-old Tallulah, without actually sitting in it, decided it was evil and shrieked every time I moved her toward it. She rotated among sitting in my lap, sitting on the bench-style seat next to me and sitting between me and her beloved big brother. He might be beloved, but he didn’t seem to appreciate being loved by a little sister who wanted to snatch the action figures - Red Skull, Demon and Silver Surfer - he had brought along to keep us all company. There might have been a scuffle or two among the little people, but again, there was really no one around to hear it.
The “Child’s Feast” ($3.75) is made up of cubed grilled chicken, basmati rice and a fresh fruit cup. Beans initially refused to eat anything but the fruit. The rice didn’t taste right, he complained, and he just didn’t like the chicken. But by the end of our meal, there were only a few pieces of chicken and a few spoonfuls of rice, which leads me to believe he didn’t exactly hate it.
I was torn between dinner selections. Did I want a grilled chicken gyro($7.25) or Greek surf-n-turf ($12.95 for pork loin and shrimp or $10.95 for chicken and shrimp)? I settled on the roasted pork sandwich ($7.50), which I know is nothing like the other things, but I can tell you it was unexpectedly delicious.
The pork in this sandwich isn’t pulled pork, but sliced, grilled and marinated and topped with a dollop of tomato-chutney aioli. Even Tallulah, our quasi-vegetarian, liked this pork. She liked thekaiser roll part of the sandwich even better. My sandwich came with chips, which suspiciously disappeared without my eating them - I think Beans might have been the culprit - and tomato-cucumber salad, which was just the right kind of tangy.
The Dad ordered the lamb and skordalia gyro ($7.95), but thought the skordalia (a hearty puree of roasted garlic and bread with a white wine vinaigrette) was unremarkable. He would rather havetried the grilled lamb gyro with Taziki sauce instead.
We finished off our meal with a piece of that chocolate cake Beans had been dreaming of. The cake was coarser than most chocolate cakes restaurants serve - and the icing was just a thin layer, nothing overwhelming. Beans usually avoids sugary icing, but he was a big fan of this. He even let us have a couple of bites.
Most of our meal was quiet - really, as serene as it can be with two small children - but two women showed up and sat just two tables away from us as we were finishing. Their language was anything but serene, and we made a fairly hasty exit in hopes that Tallulah’s first full sentence wouldn’t be a replay of what she heard from those fine examples.
Having not yet been to Greece, I can’t say whether the food at Taziki’s is authentic. I can say that it seemed fresh and it was fast and that we were satisfied when we left. As an added bonus, our trip home was quicker - and far cheaper - than any flight from the Mediterranean might have been.
Taziki’s
Address:
8200 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, (501) 227-8291
Hours:
Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For the parents:
Lamb and skordalia gyro ($7.95), turkey and egg sandwich ($7.25), grilled eggplant with tapenade ($6.50), chargrilled lamb ($9.25), baklava ($2.50).
Kid-friendly fare:
Ages 12 and under can choose from Sneaky Taziki (create-your-own chicken roll-ups with chips or fruit), grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly (with chips or fruit) or the Child’s Feast ($3.75 each)
Highchair report:
Standard wooden ones
Hire a sitter:
Not necessary
Family budget:
Reasonable.
- Kimberly Dishongh
Family, Pages 32 on 09/22/2010