Café Natasha – Some Ups, Some Downs, Some Weird Looking Stuff

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.