REASON TO SHOUT ‘YASSOU!’ : Belly Up to a Good Time at Huntington Beach’s Athenian

THE ATHENIAN

5874 Edinger Avenue, Huntington Beach.

(714) 840-6518.

Open for lunch Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. through 3 p.m.; dinner Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 to 11 p.m.

All major cards accepted.

The purist in me balks at the idea of belly dancing at a Greek restaurant. The party lover in me says “ Yassou! “ and reaches for a shot of ouzo.

Belly dancing, after all, is Middle Eastern, and Greece, despite centuries under the Ottoman yoke, is a Balkan country with its roots firmly in Europe. Besides, in Greece men are the ones who dance in restaurants.

In this case, the purist in me is just going to have to put a sock in it. The Athenian, a smashing new Greek restaurant in Huntington Beach, brings out everybody’s party side. It’s nothing more than a slightly boxy, almost claustrophobic restaurant located in the corner of a shopping mall, but there is so much atmosphere you get caught up in the place almost immediately.

Everything seems to be either blue or white--colors of the Greek flag--all the way down to some blue and white sailing banners that give the restaurant the look of a basement rec room gone island-happy. The banners take up a lot of space, too . . . there’s barely room for the belly dancers to gyrate.

After the belly dancing finishes, the Greek dancing starts. That’s when chef and co-owner Aristedes Deslis leads a troupe of his guests around the room, Pied Piper-style. (At least on Saturday nights, sit in one of the heavily padded booths and avoid the long tables in the middle of the dining room if you don’t want to caught up in the dancing.)

Deslis parades around his dining room in a frenzy, pulling surprised suburbanites, men and women, up by the hand to join the syrto , or circle dance. Just seeing this shellshocked group holding hands and coming to life while traipsing around the dining room is enough to make even the most curmudgeonly dining guest snap his fingers. It’s the purest form of enthusiasm you will find in a restaurant, and an infectious part of the Greek spirit. Most of all, it’s fun.

Deslis cooks with spirit, too. He is one of Southern California’s best Greek chefs, and if you don’t believe me, just ask him. (He’ll probably tell you even if you don’t ask him.) Until recently he was cooking at Greek Cuisine, a very good Greek restaurant in Tustin. Now he has teamed up with Angelo Hioureas, a fellow native of Kalamata (where Greek olives come from) and opened this restaurant. It’s a sorely needed addition to Huntington Beach’s somewhat attenuated dining scene.

Greek food is filling, so you may want to do a bit of dancing yourself before the evening is through. Start with one of Deslis’ heavier appetizers, perhaps the melitzanes , a thick eggplant dip not unlike the dish called imam bayildi found in the better Middle Eastern restaurants. It’s slightly sweet with the smallest hint of garlic, and it makes a perfect marriage with the incredibly soft home-baked pita bread.

I can’t say enough about the restaurant’s fluffy, flavorful bread. It’s as fresh as can be, and deceptively easy to fill up on. Enjoy this bread to the fullest with taramosalata , a wonderfully creamy dip made from carp roe, or skordalia , sort of a garlic puree with mashed potatoes. You may not want to dance real close after eating one of them.

Dinners here come with soup or salad, and that is a tough choice. Deslis’ egg lemon soup ( avgolemono ) is the thick, peasanty sort that a Greek grandmother would be proud to serve. It’s generous with egg yoke and the essence of fresh lemon, and further enriched by shreds of chicken breast and fine-grained rice.

Deslis’ version of horiatiki , the well-traveled Greek salad, is one of the best I’ve tasted anywhere. The onions are minced, then mixed with a good olive oil and crumbled Greek feta and used as a dressing. The lettuce is cool and crisp, the tomatoes ripe and the authentic Kalamata olives juicy. I couldn’t resist beginning with both soup and salad.

All of the traditional favorites are found on the long list of entrees, and a few surprises. Moussaka , the eggplant casserole made with ground meat and topped with a baked bechamel sauce, is served in a dense square and is aromatic with clove and cinnamon. The same goes for the macaroni casserole called pastitsio , which uses the same meat mixture and the same bechamel topping.

Chicken skordalia is one of the chef’s signature dishes. It’s half a chicken marinated in lemon and oregano, smothered in a heap of chopped parsley and then baked. Just before serving, it’s doused with a heady garlic sauce. Perhaps the biggest seller here is arnaki kleftiko , a specialty of the chef’s home turf in central Greece. It’s sliced tenderloin of lamb with dill, garlic and scallions, wrapped in filo dough and then baked. I actually prefer the lighter arnaki psito , which is simply roasted spring lamb, served in thick slices. Whatever you choose you can’t go wrong here.

There are three desserts. The baklava is a rich, syrupy one. Galaktobureko is like eating your Cream of Wheat in a pastry wrapper with honey poured all over it. Finally there is rizogalo , a finely textured rice pudding with plenty of cinnamon.

Now all you need is some muddy Greek coffee, a shot of ouzo and a healthy pair of pipes with which to shout “ Yassou !” Or a good pair of dancing shoes.

The Athenian is moderately priced. Appetizers are $2.95 to 7.95. Entrees are $7.95 to $14.95. Desserts are $1.50. There is a limited selection of wines on a Greek-dominated list. Try Robola, from the island of Cephalonia, a dry white priced at $16.95.