May 19, 2006
Has decent Greek food finally arrived in Shanghai?
Aegean occupies the villa vacated by Cantonese restaurant Secret Garden. The location was also one of the spots considered for the new Tang Hui. And it may or may not be a good place to buy stuff for expectant mothers.
Shanghaiist is admittedly excited about tonight's meal ... but we're also a little scared. Aegean is really close to our apartment, and the last time we lived that close to Greek food for an extended period of time -- 1994, when we studied in Athens for a semester -- we gained 15 pounds.
Image of the Greek island of Santorini from Zola Chen.
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Can we get an update please? I imagine you'll do a full review at some point, but for now, a simple "yea" or "nay" will do...
Yea.
It is officially "the best Greek restaurant in Shanghai."
Cool setting. (We have to correct ourselves -- Secret Garden is very much still there ... anyone know the backstory? Aegean occupies a large stand-alone sunroom of sorts behind Secret Garden, next to the big patch of grass, which we suppose is the "secret garden." Aegean has outdoor seating which would be a great place to hang out when weather allows.)
Greek owner and chef. (Marios, the young, enthusiastic and talkative chef, knows what he is doing and is trying to work around the obstacles that come with preparing Greek food in China. Grape leaves are hard to come by, so until he has a reliable source, he is experimenting with a stuffed cabbage leaves recipe. He can't find the right yogurt to make tzaziki ... so he's making it himself, a several day process. Feta cheese is expensive here, and he's trying to make due the best he can. Etc. Etc.)
Reasonable prices. (Entrees go from 50 something to 100 or so. Most are around 60. There is nothing Greek about Sam Adams beer, but we were excited to see it for 28 a bottle, although we were warned that that price scheme may not last long.)
Awesome moussaka. (We were kind of surprised to see no gyro or souvlaki sandwiches on the menu. There's a souvlaki, but it's more of a knife and fork affair. The moussaka made up for those omissions, however. Delicious. Spinach pies were great, too. Marios said he has already changed the menu often in the six weeks the place has been open, so it could change again soon. He calls a lot of it homestyle Greek food, and would love it if people started treating the restaurant like a second home. Call ahead and order something -- like pasticcio, also missing from the menu -- and he will be more than happy to make it for you.)
Definitely a yea. And I think it will only get better. Let's just hope they decide against changing the beer prices.
The restaurant has a website. And you can email them at aegeanshanghai@gmail.com. For reservations, call 54031850 or 13601668257.