Dio Deka

On Tuesday, D and I went to check out the newly one-starred Dio Deka with some of my work friends.  I didn't bring my camera but luckily one of my friends did. He has much nicer glass than I do anyway.

Some thoughts...

The prices are quite reasonable; there are lots of entrees in the $30 range.  We mostly ordered steak though, as we'd heard those were really good, and they were significantly more expensive.  All of the food was good, with the exception of one side dish of mushrooms that was a little too sour and a little too dry.

We ordered the "Kounoupithi" baby cauliflower and "Gouronopoulo" suckling pig to share as appetizers.  The cauliflower was cooked with feta and peppers, and had a nice tang to it:


The suckling pig was amazing; it was prepared a bunch of different ways and all of them were super tasty:


I ordered the "Paithakia" lamb chops as my main course, while the guys went for the ribeye and the bone-in filet mignon.  Both the lamb and the filet were tender and juicy, but I liked the ribeye the best; it was beautifully marbled and the most flavorful.  I'd never had bone-in filet before, and it was interesting in that it went from medium (at the end) to rare (at the bone).  The end was just okay while the rare part was much better.

lamb chops:


30-day dry aged ribeye:


30-day dry aged bone-in filet:


For sides we had the aforementioned mushrooms and a creamed corn which appeared to be spiked with mint.  I'm not a big creamed corn person (too sweet for my taste) but it was definitely creative.

We asked the waitress to recommend a red wine that would go with our menu selections.  When she suggested a Greek wine, several of us were skeptical, but she promised we'd like it, and we did.  She brought us a 2006 Gaia Estate Nemea Agiorgitiko, which was initially light and fruity but got deeper as it sat awhile.  I liked that it wasn't too spicy.


Overall the service was excellent; at one point D's empty wine glass was literally cleared away seconds after he put it down.

We finished the meal with three desserts: the Milopita (apple tart tatin), the Mill-Fay (puff pastry with cream and candied almonds), and Loukoumathes (traditional Greek beignets).  Both pastry crusts were extremely well-executed and nicely light and crunchy, making the desserts both tasty and easy to split.  The beignets were good too, but mostly because they were soaked in delicious thyme honey.

apple tart tatin:


mill-fay:


beignets:


My verdict: highly recommended!