Mykonos Kuzina is a new Greek restaurant in Naples, FL. After 30 years as restaurateurs in Ohio, the owners decided to pull up stake and ply their craft here. The restaurant has been open for about one month.
There were 5 of us that evening, a good number to get a representative slice of the pie from the establishment’s menu. The restaurant has an ample amount of outdoor seating and of course, seating indoors.
Before ordering, a basket of hummus and pita triangles was brought to the table. The hummus was quite good and a nice beginning to the meal.
Flaming saganaki cheese plate, Mykonos Kuzina
My dining companions and I ordered a number of appetizers to start off with. We started with saganaki. This was a plate of kefalograviera cheese set ablaze after a dousing of 151 rum. Kefalgraviera is a somewhat sharp, hard cow’s cheese that holds it’s shape well when heated. Apart from the theatrics of a flambeed dish brought table side, this was a plate of heated cheese good for spreading on bread.
I love octopus, and had to try Mykonos Kuzina offering. A very nice portion of this Cephalopod was marinated in olive oil, basil, oregano and bay leaf for 24 hours, then grilled. It was served with lemon and a dollop of humus. Quite good.
Marithes (smelts)
Next was the marithes, or smelts. This is at the very least, a rarity on local menus. The fish was coated with flour seasoned with oregano, basil, salt and pepper and fried. It was served with a sauce of mayonnaise, white vinegar, oregano, basil and dill, not a traditional Greek sauce but a concoction of the proprietor. It was delicious and although an item from the starter menu, was the best of what was ordered that evening.
We finished our tour of the starter menu with a serving of melitzanosalta, an eggplant dip, similar to the Arabic dish baba ganoush but without the addition of tahini sauce. It was served with pita triangles. The melitzanosalta was not bad, but I really missed the savoriness of it’s Arabic cousin.
Food in a clay pot seemed to intrigue our group, so we tried a couple of these items from the entree menu. Trying to mix it up a bit we ordered the lamb yiouvetsi (giouvetsi) and the shrimp Mykonos, or shrimp giouvetsi. Both of these dishes are classic Greek casseroles, with aromatic vegetables, tomatoes and orzo cooked in a clay pot.
In this case, kefalograviera and feta cheese graced the lamb and shrimp versions of this dish, respectively. Both choices were good, but unfortunately, the only difference in taste here was mostly in the different cheeses in the dish. A bit disappointing. We probably should have ordered only one version of this dish.
Gyro plate
How could anyone go to a Greek restaurant and not try their version of a gyro plate and moussaka. The gyro plate was deconstructed and served with gyro meat topped with onions in addition to fries, pita triangles andtzatziki sauce. Tzatziki is that classic Greek sauce made from strained, chopped cucumbers, yogurt, lemon and garlic. This menu item was good but no different from most other gyro dishes I have ordered elsewhere.
The moussaka was good too, the layers of eggplant, meat sauce and Bechamel sauce blending well with each other. Unfortunately, the moussaka here fell flat on it’s seasoning making a dish that could have been great, good.
We finished up with a couple desserts. I do not have much of a sweet tooth so I usually do not like to comment on desserts when eating out. Our table shared a galactoboureko and a kataifi dessert. The former is a custard filled filo pastry, the latter made from shredded filo, walnuts, honey and cinnamon.
Kataifi
As said, I do not have much of a sweet tooth but loved the kataifi. The walnuts, honey and cinnamon were not only a sweet, but a winning combination.
The food at Mykonos Kuzina is good, solid Greek food. I think with the addition of better spicing, some of the items we ordered could have gone from good to great. On the whole though, I think diners will enjoy their experience at this establishment which again, serves good, solid Greek cuisine.
