Feta, Ouzo and Greek Dancing

Last night M. and I went to dinner at one of our two favorite neighborhood restaurants. It is a Greek restaurant that from the outside looks very innocent and quiet. Once you walk inside, however, the atmosphere is quite different. Every table is full and the noise level reaches an almost uncomfortable level at times.

This was the first time I had been there on a Friday night and it was even rowdier than normal. Friday and Saturday nights are 'all you can drink' wine nights for 5 euro. So we walked in and the owner greeted us as always with a big smile and strong handshake and put us at a cozy table for two, complete with a candle, a rose and an open bottle of frosted ouzo. We made a toast to Friday night and being back in Munich and ordered up.

They had two appetizers that looked very appealing, tarte aubergine and seebasse. We ordered one of each and shared. The food in this restaurant never disappoints. We also took advantage of the wine special and next thing I knew we were probably a little more on the drunk side than sober.

While we were waiting for our main course, there was an abrupt change in the music from the quiet middle eastern atmospheric music they usually play to some very loud Greek dance music. It was clear something was about to happen.

We didn't have to wait long to find out. Two Greek belly dancers came out from the back of the restaurant, one male and one female. They worked the crowd, teasing and taunting. I almost fell out of my seat laughing as this seemed extremely funny after the ouzo and the wine. The wait staff was running around breaking plates all over the floor and throwing napkins in the air to make improvised confetti. At one point the female dancer decided to grab me and M. and make us join in the dancing. I don't think we had enough ouzo for that but we gave belly dancing a try anyway.

After awhile the chaos settled down and our dinner arrived. I don't know what they put in their food but everything is so tasty and perfectly seasoned. Whether you like it or not you get some dessert, always something with honey and yogurt, fruit and nuts. We wandered back home after dinner and I came to a conclusion. The Germans did their best with their salsa dancing on Monday and it was a solid effort but the Greeks definitely take livening up the atmosphere to a completely different level.

Posted from Munich