Date Dined:
Can’t remember, let’s say September 14, 2014
Overall Rating:
3 Stars
Café
Natasha has a lot going for it. The wait staff is friendly, the outdoor patio
is very open, and the menu has a decent assortment of food. While not the most
authentic Mediterranean food, it’s better than your local Pita pit. So why the
average rating? Let’s dive in shall we?
Décor Rating:
3.5 Stars
Nothing fantastic, but it’s not tacky. Think mom’s kitchen, Greek style, with a gigantic bar! The entire restaurant looks pretty tiny, but once you get to the back you notice an entire other eating area which is a little more fancy. I couldn’t quite get a picture of it since the owner was giving me strange looks, but it might be a nice place for a private party.
Price Rating: 3
Stars
Price
is run of the mill, one might even say a little on the pricey side for some of
the entrees. That being said, the gyro will only run you $6.50, the falafel
only $6.00, and most of the kabobs $8.50. The entrees are where this place
loses some marks for price. $18.00 for lamb chops? Maybe for quality chops,
but… well we’ll get there.
Service Rating:
3 Stars
Average
service, friendly, but a little slow. If you aren’t ready to order right when
you sit down, they might make you sit for awhile. Not that that’s always a bad
thing, but if you’re in a hurry it might become a time crunch. One thing, and
it’s my big pet peeve if you’ve been following along, is the lack of a check
back. After our food was brought out, the server didn’t check back for at least
fifteen minutes. What if there had been hair in my food? What if my chicken was
raw? What if the rice was secretly an alien waiting to strike and had begun to
attack me? Just ask me how things are doing!
Food Rating: 3
Stars
So
hard to rate! Jess got the falafel and our friend Chantal got a gyro and both
were pretty darn good. I’ve had bad falafel before, and it makes you die a
little on the inside. I’m unsure whether this was made in house, but it was
still tasty. Crispy on the outside, nice and chickpead on the inside, it was
really quite tasty. The gyro was likewise pretty good. Not, 3 am, on the
streets of Barcelona, in a dirty hut, on a large rotisserie good, but good
nonetheless. For the price, you’ll be satisfied. The ingredients blended well
together, with the tzatziki acting as a saucy paste.
Now
my entrée… the “famous lamb chops” was just… just plain disappointing. Look at
the above picture. Look at that wonderful strip of meat. A little on the small
side, but doesn’t it just make your mouth water? Well it did mine, until I started
eating it. Half of that dish was fat, half of it gristle, and the third half
bone. Wait… too many halves… but still, if you want to see just how much of it
was inedible look below. That’s the remains from three of the four chops. For
this price, shouldn’t the cut of meat be more tasty? I will say, what little
meat there was, was good. Think sweetness of Teriyaki meets char-grilling Greek
style.
As
for the salad and rice, just eh. The rice was a little dry, really more of a
filler than anything else. Could easily have been from a box. The salad was
surprisingly good. They found some quality spring mix, and they didn’t skimp on
the feta which I appreciate. The tzatziki was a nice touch. Now for the super
weirdness.
The
beef kabob. Now I don’t know if they have a regular looking kabob if you order
it as an entrée, but what I got looked like… well… it looked like it had been
dropped out of an end of some animals. However, you can’t judge a dish, but it’s
odd appearance. I mean, this coming from the guy who loves chicken feet. But
this thing was… just bad. Like a really greasy breakfast sausage, that was
super salty, kind of dry, and made me a little queasy. It was… just plan bad…
I
will say the most disappointing part of the entire meal was the lack of some
free pita and hummus. It’s almost $6.00 to order an appetizer. I have a hard
time believing their profit margins are so thin they can’t bring some out for
the guests to enjoy. Come on people, a man needs his hummus!
In Conclusion
Stick
with a wrap and you won’t be disappointed. The bar menu also looked
interesting, but with the huge variety of fancy mixeries it’s not a main draw.
I would say that if you’re craving Mediterranean then this place is certainly
better than nothing, but it won’t wow, which is really a shame.
