Appetizers Are the Ultimate Delight at the Greek Tycoon

A mere decade ago, the briefest of vocabularies sufficed when ordering at any of San Diego’s limited number of Greek restaurants. Anyone who could manage to say avgolemono , moussaka and baklava could dine copiously on the classic standards of Greek-American cuisine.

In the same way that choices at Italian, Chinese and French houses have multiplied, the Greek menu at several restaurants has expanded so that one now needs to be able to enunciate such tongue-twisters as pickilia mezedakia , kreatopita , hilopites and horta vrasta . The rewards for the effort will be, respectively, an immense hors d’oeuvres platter, meat-stuffed pastries, pasta with shrimp and tomato sauce and a dish of chilled, boiled seasonal greens seasoned with lemon and olive oil.

The Greek menu, although perhaps less capable of transporting one to gastronomic Nirvana than the better examples of French and Chinese cooking, meets the situation better than either when diners are in the mood for robust, definitively seasoned food served in more than generous quantity. The newest place to find it is at The Greek Tycoon, a rechristened, updated place that features competent cooking and a menu more extensive than at the great run of Greek houses.

The Greek Tycoon’s predecessor on the unique restaurant row at India and Washington streets was called the Athenian Gardens. The name is new, but the look of the place is virtually unchanged. Belly dancers, virtually a requisite at such eateries, perform on weekends.

Besides the usual moussaka, souvlaki , stuffed grape leaves and roast lamb, The Greek Tycoon serves a wide and excellent selection of starters, such reasonably complicated entrees as lamb youvetsi (shanks braised in a spiced tomato sauce) and a fair choice of pastas. The range of pastas perhaps reflects the continued rage for such dishes, but is based as much on fact as on fashion: Macaroni long has played an important role in the Greek diet, and these dishes are authentic rather than Hellenized adaptations of Italian favorites.

By far the most attractive and rewarding sections of the menu are the cold and hot appetizer listings. These run from the familiar feta cheese with olives and grape leaves in lemon sauce to tiny meatballs flavored with mint ( keftedakia ) and the tiny fried squid popularized by Italian restaurants, here called calamarakia .

The ne plus ultra of starters, however, is the pickilia mezedakia , a vast platter of assorted tidbits served for no less than four guests and sufficient to feed as many as twice that number. The general agreement of a group that tried this platter was that it not only sufficed as dinner, but that it was worth a return visit in its own right and far outweighed the entrees that followed.

Something of a buffet on an oval dish, the pickilia included plates of the lemony and rich red caviar spread called taramosalata , of the pungently refreshing tzatziki cucumber dip and of tabouli , the cold salad of cracked wheat and parsley most widely associated with Lebanese cooking. A basket of unusually fluffy pita bread (notable perhaps because it was not only hot but fresh , which is too rarely the case) joined the platter as both an edible utensil for the dips and as foil to the assorted offerings of feta cheese, seductively fleshy Kalamata olives and pickled peppers. Less exciting but also served in quantity were triangular packages of phyllo dough stuffed variously with cheese, chopped spinach and spiced, chopped beef.

The saganaki , or melted kaseri cheese basted with lemon and butter and flamed at table in Greek brandy, must be ordered separately but is rewarding. A bit of it scooped up on a wedge of pita would be reminiscent of pizza with a sharp citrus edge.

The entree list offers greater than usual variety, although those dishes sampled failed to rise above the norm. Perhaps the most successful was, in fact, the moussaka, the dish by which--fairly or not--American Greek restaurants typically are judged. This one offered a moist, well-seasoned layering of ground meat and sauteed eggplant under a smooth, cinnamon-flavored white sauce. Some moussakas offer much higher-rising, souffle-like crowns, and, when the filling also is good, these are best.

Another typical preparation, souvlaki, or skewer of chunked lamb alternated with peppers and onions, featured tender but unseasoned meat and was quite uninteresting. A little garlic, a little oregano, a little imagination would have aided this dish greatly. The shrimp “Aegean Isles,” although happy with their sharp accents of feta cheese, herbs and tomato, were overcooked and chewy.

Among the pastas, the pastitsio , a sort of gratin of macaroni and spiced ground meat baked under the same white sauce used in the moussaka, is the most familiar. But a serving sampled on a recent visit was dry, and gave the impression of having been reheated one time too many. Other choices in this category include linguine seasoned with cream, feta and dill, an herb every bit as Greek as oregano, and the interesting-sounding fides piquante , or angel hair noodles with fresh tomatoes, smoked ham, basil and capers.

The dessert list is limited, but, according to management, sometimes includes galactobouriko , a phyllo-wrapped custard in clove-scented syrup that slides down the throat just as gracefully as the word slips off the tongue.

* The Greek Tycoon 3731 India St., San Diego, 295-0812, Dinner nightly, Entrees $7.95 to $11.95. Dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $30 to $50, Credit cards accepted