Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Mad Greek

Just What the Doctor(s) Ordered
By Lowell Chang, MD and James Tarbox, MD

The Mad Greek
2466 Fairmount Blvd
Cleveland Heights, OH 44106
(216) 421-3333
http://madgreekcleveland.com/

Outside of the usual gyro shop, it is hard to find Greek food here in Cleveland. If one is near the Clinic, there is actually a place close by in Cleveland Heights, The Mad Greek. The restaurant has been around in the area for many years, but has had trouble with the food until recently.

At first glance, you will see a vast menu and realize it’s not only Greek food, but also Indian food. Although you will not find a fusion of the two ethnic foods, there’s plenty of choices for your taste buds. We visited this restaurant to test out the new items on the menu and started out with the three dip combination (hummus, tzatiki, baba ganouj) for appetizer. Overall the dips were fresh, but not as strong in flavor as other places. For main entrĂ©e, I ordered the gyro house plate consisting of herbed lamb meat, grilled vegetables, pita, and tahini. The lamb was fresh and had good flavor. The grilled vegetables improved on the usually raw onions and tomatoes for gyros. The tahini did not go well with the gyro, but I still had the tzatiki sauce from our appetizer to accommodate. For dessert, we tried the baklava, which was excellent and probably one of the best I’ve had in Cleveland. The baklava was slightly warm, moist, with a good nutty flavor, and not too sweet, drizzled with some chocolate sauce.

Overall, the atmosphere was comfortable with airy seating area and friendly service. Quantity of the food may be lacking a bit given the price that we were paying. I have not tried their Indian cuisine, but Dr. Tarbox can speak more about it.

Scale of 0 to 5 (0 equals “Naan of your business”, 5 equals “Opa”)
Food and drink: 4 (Overall fresh and solid in flavors)
Atmosphere: 4 (Comfortable)
Service: 5 (Friendly)
Bang for the Buck: 3 (Gyro quantity is not as much as one will get at other places)
TOTAL: 16/20

-Dr. Chang

Dr. Tarbox's two cents:
Back when I first moved to Cleveland, I probably ate at this restaurant at least once a month for two years. I showed up mostly for the Indian food, and would occasionally eat Greek food for variety. Sadly, it seemed like their quality of food started to decrease, thus I went on a two year sabbatical. I’m glad to have since returned. I’ve enjoyed two meals there in the last month and plan to add Mad Greek back onto the rotation.

Scale of 0 to 5 (0 equals “Naan of your business”, 5 equals “Opa!”)
Food and drink: 4.5 (The roast leg of lamb was tender with every bite, and the tomato red wine sauce on top complimented the dish well. From the Indian perspective, I went with an old stand by, the lamb curry, and I wasn’t disappointed. The tender lamb was in a spicy, flavorful tomato curry sauce that compares favorably with the traditional Indian restaurants in town. Awesome baklava as mentioned above. The Greek menu is more expansive now as well.)
Atmosphere: 4 (Two spacious dining areas, and a nice bar if you need it.)
Service: 5 (Always cheerful, helpful, and promt.)
Bang for the Buck: 3 (A little on the expensive side, but well worth it when the quality is high.)
TOTAL: 16.5/20

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas for restaurants to visit, please e-mail us at: tarboxj@ccf.org and changl@ccf.org. Also, you can visit our blog at starboxmd.blogspot.com. Thank you.