Acropolis

Today was Shannon's birthday. To celebrate, we went to our favorite restaurant in town, Acropolis. We typically get the best service here and have never had a complaint about the food. When we were seated, we were presented with freshly printed menus. I was ecstatic and eagerly opened the menu to see all the new dishes that they'd added… only they hadn't added any dishes. The only thing that changed was the prices, with a considerable increase.

No matter, the prices had been the same for as long as I could remember, it was about time for an overhaul. We decided to order saganaki to start and a bottle of zinfandel. I've only had saganaki a couple of times, but I'm starting to realize that I don't particularly like it. I'm not sure if it's the whole flambé thing that makes the saltiness more potent or what, but I find that the cheese is just too salty and bitter to really enjoy it. We got fresh rolls instead of pita bread, which I thought was a bit odd.

I really wanted to order the dolmades, but for some reason I wasn't allowed to substitute the meat ones for the vegetarian ones, which I prefer, so I ended up ordering the lamb. Actually, the reason was because they apparently come prepackaged and the vegetarian ones are now only available with the vegetarian platter. I found this quite disappointing because I was really looking forward to them. Previous times I've visited I actually received both for the price of one order. I thought the lamb was too salty as well and fattier than normal, but I was basically full after eating the salad, potatoes and rice and took most of it home.

Shannon ordered the moussaka, which is something we'd be planning for her birthday dinner since before A Food Year actually started. Originally I intended to be more ambitious and make it myself, but this is where she originally had it on the first birthday I celebrated with her, so we decided to go there instead. After hearing about the pre-packaged dolmades, we were skeptical that the moussaka was made in house as well. It was still enjoyed, but I kind of wish I'd made it myself now.

For dessert I had the chocolate pate and Shannon had tiramisu. I'm a sucker for chocolate pate, but this was a little too rich. By the time dessert rolled around I'd already finished half a bottle of wine though, so it didn't particularly matter. This tiramisu was much better than the one at Barcelona’s, but it was far from the best ever. When the bill rolled around I was a bit disappointed to pay 0 for our meal and that our wine had actually doubled in price, but it was nice to have a night alone with Shannon because we haven't had much time to spend together lately.