I had read positive reviews elsewhere and was eager to try this place last night - particularly in light of negative experience at Souvlaki Pit (across the road from Captain George's) the night prior. I have come to realize that overly positive reviews of Peterborough and area restaurants really have to be taken with a proverbial grain of salt, and I'm starting to wonder if that is because Peterborough's experience with good food (certainly with fine dining) is so limited that even something new opening and serving mediocre food is big news and welcome on the local 'culinary scene.'
We went on a holiday (Family Day) and the place was busy, but not overly. They appeared relatively well-staffed, although the staff did come across as hurried and somewhat frazzled. The 'wait to be seated' and take-out area (the same area) had, on my first trip in (to place order) one person ahead of me placing a take-out order and no one waiting to be seated, and on my second trip in 15 mins later (to pick up order) 2 people waiting to be seated, and 1 other waiting to place or pick-up take-out. This was good that there was not too much going on in the takeout/wait area, as it was crowded and there was a bit of jostling just with the few that were there (particularly with winter coats, ladies purses, etc.)
We had pondered eating in, but as is common with many restaurants in Peterborough and area, the average age of the eat-in dinner was somewhere over 60. Nothing against over 60's, but this crowd was not the active over 60's ... this was the struggling to keep dentures in and feed themselves over 60's crowd. It was like a nursing home dining room - just with a lot of dish clatter (open kitchen) and hurried young staff.
We ordered the 2 piece haddock dinner (with fries and coleslaw). At $10.49 (for 2 large pieces of fish and lots of fries) this was excellent value, well-prepared and tasted great. It is VERY unusual that the 20 year old that had this is not able to finish everything and then some, but he was not able to finish either the fish or fries.
I had the pork souvlaki dinner. Unfortunately there were no roasted potatoes (traditional Greek), so I opted for mashed. It also came with rice pilaf, Greek salad which was over-dressed, large pieces of grilled green pepper and a soggy grilled piece of lemon, warmed pita triangles, and tzatziki. The pork (single skewer - there was a 2 skewer option) was adequate in portion size for me. The meat was well-cooked and juicy (not dry). It was not browned, however, and almost .... steamed in it's grayish appearance. It was served on the skewer, and I tend to believe it should be off the skewer, particularly when it is in a take-out container with the rest of the meal. I don't see any point to the customer having to pick it out of the rest of the food and pull the pieces of meat off the stick. However, the meat did come off easily which was nice, as it certainly can be a case of having to struggle and then having a chunk of meat fly away onto the floor.
Regarding the souvlaki dinner: The mashed potatoes were horrible. They had no seasoning whatsoever, or at least none that my palate could detect. As potatoes suck up salt like sponges, a bit of a heavy hand is required in seasoning them. They were also dry and pasty (not enough liquid used). The large pieces of grilled green pepper were superfluous, not to mention that who really wants huge mouthfuls of nothing but green pepper. If they were going to be used, they should have been in smaller pieces and interspersed with the skewered pork, however, this would then make it not a traditional souvlaki. The tzatziki was sour with non-detectable garlic flavour.
We would go again for the fish and chips. I would not have the souvlaki dinner again. There was nothing else on the menu that I would go there to try. read more
