Yanni's Mediterranean & Opa Bar

I've been to Yanni's on multiple occasions but recently it was the first time for dinner. The restaurant is very well done, but I think it used to be a garage of some sort, like so many other establishments along Route 66. It feels like a Mediterranean restaurant meets old school mechanic shop, one of the dining areas can become a patio when they open the white garage door that faces Central Ave. The dominate colors of the restaurant are blue and white. The restaurant is clean and the restrooms are small, but clean as well.

The bar offered a great variety of wine, spirits, and a fairly decent beer selection both on tap and in bottles. They only have a handful of beers on tap, but they were decent choices (read more than Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Light). My companions and I begun the evening with a round of adult beverages and Saganaki Flaming Greek Kaseri Cheese. This cheese dish was really interesting due to how it was served, texture, and taste. The server brought the appetizer over on two dishes: one loaded with bread and the other was the cheese covered in Ouzo, the Greek anise flavored liquor. She then proceeded to light the Ouzo with a Bic cigarette lighter. The put the lighter down and with one hand held a butter knife while holding the plate with the other. She then moved the flaming cheese around to allow the Ouzo burn off to caramelize the cheese and form a crust all around the sliced round piece of cheese that was about a quarter of an inch thick. When the Ouzo began to run out she then squeezed half a lemon onto the cheese. This added a tart citrus flavor to the cheese as well as cooling the cheese post Ouzo cooking. We cut the cheese, yes we cut the cheese, into small pieces and then ate it with the crackers and bread. In concept, this was a simple appetizer, cheese and carbs, but the Ouzo cooking added great texture and showmanship, in this case show(wo)manship.

We then had salads with after our appetizer. We had the Greek salad with different dressings. The salad was good, but not great. This is a great salad if you love huge blocks of Feta cheese. The dressing was OK. The dressing was light in flavor and not very viscous for Greek dressing. The ingredients were fresh and colorful, but the texture could have been better. When I say this, the lettuce could have been more cool and crisp, not that the lettuce was bad, but it could have been better.

For the main course, we ordered the Lamb chops and the Combo Greek platter. The Lamb chops were excellent. I ordered my lamb rare and they came rare. The texture and flavors of this dish were great; there were a lot of different layers in the lamb: oregano, garlic, and lemon. At first, I was a little sceptical about the combination of these flavors, but the combination resulted in many great flavors at once. The Greek combination platter was a generous serving that seemed like the Greek kitchen sink. It was a cross section of so many Greek favorites like dolmas, chicken, roast potatoes, and so much more.

All in all this was a good experience. I would rate this as three and a half stars out of five. Better than average, but the certain parts were good, but not worth of four or more stars.

http://www.yannisandopabar.com/

Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro

This is not a new restaurant for me, but one that I went to a few months ago. I know this place is definitely good review worthy. This restaurant has been opened since 2003 and I have been about a dozen times since then. Their food is very consistent and their menu rarely changes unlike Savoy, which is owned by the same group. On my most recent visit, I attended this establishment with a few friends on a Wednesday night. The restaurant was moderately busy, but our server was very attentive, knowledgeable about the menu, and personable. The wine selection here is excellent and it seems like the entire staff are wine sommeliers, in addition to their normal job functions like bar tending or servers. I didn't take advantage of the great selection, but I did look the wine menu over. I did have a few great martinis, Chopin vodka up with a twist, there though.

We began the evening by sharing an appetizer of seared Ahi Tuna. The tuna's texture and taste were great. The tuna was still cool in the middle, while the thick cut chunk of fish was evenly seared. This dish was presented with avocado, sprouts, and thinly sliced tempura veggies; a spicy mustard that was worthy of a Herculean wasabi; and a sesame soy glaze that was slightly less viscous than new motor oil. Our server then politely and tactfully suggested that we get salads, which is not a bad way to boost sales, we each had the simple mixed green salads with various dressings. The veggies that were served the the salad were fresh and crisp. I had the vinaigrette dressing that was flavorful, not over powering, and light in portion. For my entree, I had the sliced tenderloin of beef. This dish is made unusually for a tenderloin; it's cooked by rotisserie and then sliced up. I'm kind of a bloody savage and love my beef cooked rare. I asked for my dish black and blue or Pittsburgh, which is charred exterior and as rare as possible interior, and the server returned promptly to inform me that due to the methods of cooking this was not possible. I appreciated the fact that she was so courteous and attempted to get my order correctly despite my crazy methods of eating, so I got my tenderloin as rare as possible, which turned out to be pretty rare. This was served with Maytag blue cheese mashed potatoes and green beans. The mashed potatoes were phenomenal: the texture, moisture, and taste of the side dish was amazing. In mashing the potatoes, the use buttermilk that made the potatoes light yet moist. The green beans were average. We then ordered a round of coffee and split the red chile flan. I was skeptical about a red chile flan, but I was surprised by how the spice of the chile complemented the flan. The dessert was spicy while sweet and cool. This unusual combination made one of the best deserts I have ever had. This dining experiences was amazing. Do not attend Zinc for brunch, I paid far too much for burned marginal pancakes, but overall, this is a fantastic restaurant for other meals. I would give this experience a four and a half out of five stars.

http://www.zincabq.com/