Some Solid Greek Fare Despite Flashy Flambe

The sound and light show that dramatizes the service of the shrimp flambe at Grecian Gardens in San Marcos isn’t bad.

You hear the sizzle almost before you see the dish, when the waiter, a protective cloth wrapped around his arm, stops midway between kitchen and table, splashes a shot of Greek brandy over the metal plate, touches a match to it that sends blue flames shooting a foot or two into the air, squeezes fresh lemon juice into the midst of the conflagration and shouts “Opa!” This word is a Greek exclamation that implies a sharp degree of pleasurable excitement, which in this case, unfortunately, fades with the flames.

When all is said and done, the diminutive crustaceans turn out to be nothing more than flour-coated shrimp that have been crisped in butter, and, except for the mild lemon flavor, have a neutral, wishy-washy taste that suggests some other entree might have been a wiser choice.

Although the shrimp flambe probably offers the most entertainment value, the rest of the menu is more stolid but also more solid and certainly reads in the expected Greek idiom that specifies such standards as moussaka, pastitsio , stuffed grape leaves and roast lamb and chicken.

The list also mentions lamb chops, quite a number of steaks, the Greek-style lamb kebabs called souvlaki , pit-barbecued lamb (which you would not ordinarily expect to encounter in a Greek restaurant) and, on a daily basis, a supplementary list of specials that offer a wide variety of fish, mostly broiled, and such savory Greek items as keftedes , or highly flavored meatballs.

If a strong suggestion of Zorba the Greek emanates from the names of the dishes and their flavors (Greek cooking makes better use than most cuisines of herbs and goes in a big way for dill, oregano and mint; among spices, cinnamon and cloves turn up frequently), the decor suggests a Zorba who has taken a time-machine holiday to Sutter’s Mill in the era of the California Gold Rush.

Grecian Gardens is one of the dozen or so specialty eateries in the Old California Restaurant Row. The row includes cuisines from Italian to Japanese and has a generic sort of decor overlay that specifies heavily beamed wooden ceilings and other elements suggestive of the Golden State as it existed a century before ribbon-cutting ceremonies were held for the Golden State Freeway.

Below the ceiling line, the restaurant offers a typical Greek restaurant decor of travel posters and murals of village scenes; the blue and white of the Greek flag repeats in the white tablecloths centered with blue napkins stretched out under impermeable plastic covers. The guests use paper napkins. Traditional Greek music plays over the sound system (guests who sit near the wall shared by the adjacent Earthquake Cafe will occasionally hear modern rhythms pounding through). Musicians and a belly dancer perform on weekends.

The appetizer list is very attractive and, depending on the individual diner’s mood, a couple of these might substitute very well for a more traditional meal.

It starts with saganaki , a dish of kaseri cheese that gets the same brandy-lemon flambe as the shrimp mentioned above, and goes on to cheese pastries, grape leaves stuffed with herbed rice, the fish roe salad/dip called taramasalata , pan-fried smelts and marinated octopus.

Typically light and refreshing, the tadziki , or herbed yogurt, is offered with both cucumber spears and triangles of hot, unusually fluffy pita bread.

Starters, however, should be viewed as optional, since meals are large and include a choice of the lemon-flavored avgolemono soup of rice cooked with shredded chicken in chicken broth, or an ordinary green salad enlivened by the oregano that is generously sprinkled over the top.

The best way to taste as many Greek flavors at once is to order the “special combination,” an entree plate that combines a slice of roast lamb, squares of moussaka and pastitsio , a stuffed grape leave, good rice pilaf, a greasy length of oven-roasted potato and rather lovely, long-simmered peas, which may have begun their journey in a can but come to table stewed in a nice combination of tomato, dill and other herbs.

Overall, the hand that does the cooking seems to have a heavy touch, and the similar pastitsio (a casserole of macaroni, chopped beef, cinnamon flavoring and custard) and moussaka (spiced chopped beef and eggplant baked under custard) both were undistinguished.

The pastitsio , in fact, was tough and rubbery, qualities generally not sought in pasta dishes. The best item was the dolmada, or stuffed grape leaf, which was simple, but well-flavored and very light in its effect.

For dessert, there is baklava studded with cloves and thickly stuffed with ground nuts and a Greek-style caramel custard.

Grecian Gardens

Old California Restaurant Row, 1020 San Marcos Blvd., San Marcos

Calls: 744-3790

Hours: Lunch and dinner daily

Cost: Entrees $7.95 to $14.95; dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $35 to $50