St. Spyridon's Greek Festival 2007

In keeping with my attempt to be as up to date as possible, I sacrificed my precious....ummm, precious....ummm... aww forget about it! If you've been checking out mmm-yoso over the last two years, you'd know that we almost never miss St. Spyridon's Greek Festival. So to spare you, you can read about it 2005 here, and 2006 here.

But for us, this year was a bit different. The Missus had to work the entire weekend, so I was on my own. Luckily for me, I found that this year St. Spyridon's started on Friday, and to kick things off had what they called the "TGIF" which stood for 'Thank Greeks it's Friday'. For me it was a double bonus. Not only was admission waived on Friday, but I felt better knowing that I'm not the only person in the world who spends his/her time formulating bad puns!

As with every year, there's the "dining room" with ala carte items presented in a more "refined" environment.

But it's always the wonderful fragrances outside that draw me in....

But in case you need more info, the "menu" is available here.

This year, I felt a bit out of place, since it was a solo visit, and the Missus was working......as they say "guilt, it's the gift that keeps on giving" or something like that. And yes, it's true, I felt guilty being here without Her. Which I've just realized can turn out to be rather rewarding for Her in the long run.... take the long line at the "Taverna" which is where we usually get our food.

I think She'll be rather happy with what I got...

And of course there's the pastries. On this day there was only the courtyard line, but everyone was smiling and having a good time.

And hopefully, I've done a good job for the Missus in absentia...what do you think?

Here's my dinner for the evening, I didn't recall a booth selling Souvlaki(2 for $5) and Fried Calamari($5) last time. So I decided to check it out.

The Calamari was nice and hot when I got it, and the seasoned breadcrumbs added some nice flavor. I swear that there some "cheese" going on in there....there was a bit of "stringy-milkiness" going on. But maybe I was just hallucinating????

Check out the meat...two people asked me if it was "beef"...but it's chicken souvlaki, very mildly seasoned, but moist. This was decent chicken on a stick. You gotta remember, it festival food!

Here's some of the other "stuff"....

Just so you're prepared for all the pastries, here're the prices:

Why do I enjoy this festival? Other than the food and the upbeat atmosphere, St. Spyridon does a great job on logistics, like traffic control and free parking and shuttle service (At Roosevelt Jr HS - Upas and Richmond St), plus everyone has always been very nice to us. Most of the other info can be found on this banner:

St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church's Greek Festival
3655 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92103

Comments

[Captain Jack]

Hey Kirk,
That Festival was a blast. Sorry I missed you. I have lots of bakery items left over.
Cheers

[Pat]

Kirk,

I tried the Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ up on Convoy last night...WOW! You weren't kidding when you sang it's praises. The wait was about 45 minutes for two so we had a beer at the Wings 'n' Things next door while waiting for a cell phone call from the manager.

They were out of the "Cap" Rib-Eye, but the "regular" prime ribeye was fantastic. My favorites were the Tongue with Plum & Shiso and miso-chicken -- a real bargain! Only thing that disappointed was the seafood plate...the mussels and the squid were a little 'fishy'...and the shrimp took a little too much work!

But again, thanks for a great recommendation!

[Pheth]

Hey Kirk - Hubby & I were at the festival! We went on Saturday though. So, like Captain Jack, we were sorry we missed you too. :o( Would have been nice to see another Asian there. No worries though...we managed to strike up a conversation w/ Rachel (visiting from Greece!)... Olympia...and all the nice Pastry Ladies & Grillin' Guys. Snacked on the lamb plate (not that great...meat was too well done and cold) and chicken souvlaki (good - moist & flavorful). Got one of each of the pastries (filled 2 boxes!). Sampled a few of the pastries and found most to be too sweet for us. Needing a different kind of sweetness, we headed down to Hogetsu Bakery...yum!...got 3 boxes of goodies there. And that was only the beginning of our Gluttonous Weekend! ;op

[Kirk]

Hi CJ - Sorry I missed you too! You gotta watch, those $$$s on the pastries can pile up fast!

Hi Pat - Good stuff, huh?

Hi Pheth - It would've been nice meeting you.

[Annie]

good job! the pastry pack looks good!!

[Kirk]

Hi Annie - Thanks so much! Ths Missus tells me it was quite good.