For dinner I found myself back in Wallingford. While I’ve covered quite a few Wallingford restaurants recently and have wanted to visit other parts of town; there are two reasons why I decided on dining in this neighborhood again so soon. One was because of a restaurant that I had noticed opened just last week. And two, well, I was feeling particularly drained of energy at the end of my Thursday workday. So as a light drizzle fell from the sky I arrived at The Golden Olive on 45th Street.

The Golden Olive celebrated their grand opening on July 5th. While there are other Mediterranean eateries in the area I had high hopes that a newly opened restaurant would have something exciting to offer. Unfortunately that was not to be the case. Once inside the restaurant, having taken a few moments to review the menu, it struck me that the offerings were much the same as most Greek restaurants. Greek burgers, gyros, souvlaki, Greek salad and Italian pasta dishes given a Greek spin. Rather disappointing for someone who was expecting a bit more but I made a selection and waited for it to arrive.

The service was quick and I was promptly served my order of Mediterranean Shrimp Scampi ($12.99). More like Mediterranean shrimp spaghetti my dinner arrived as fettuccini noodles covered in a fresh tasting tomato sauce dotted with medium-sized shrimp and sliced mushrooms. The shrimp were fine, though a tad overcooked but the mushrooms were totally bland and tasted like they came from a can. The fettuccini was cooked al dente and was helped by a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese. The cheese melted and mixed with some of the pasta water still clinging to the noodles to make something of an Alfredo sauce. All of this was piled with tangy, briny feta cheese crumbles on top. In my opinion it was the addition of the feta, along with the parmesan, that helped to keep this dish out of blandsville.

It’s a shame that The Golden Olive choose the route of bland, cookie-cutter Greek food for its menu. In a neighborhood with two other Mediterranean restaurants one would think you’d open a Greek restaurant with flair to help it stand-out. As it stands my prediction is that The Golden Olive will sink into the background with the other mediocre Seattle Greek eateries.

In a part of Seattle that’s known for its Thai restaurants, finding a good place to eat, that is reasonably affordable, can be a bit of a challenge. Fortunately not far from the “Center of the Universe” in Fremont there is a Greek restaurant by the name of Costas Opa.

An unassuming restaurant from the street it isn’t until once someone is inside that the its true size is made apparent. The main dining room is a slightly raised area under a large skylight flanked on two sides by booths. The overall feel is a warm hominess, with Costas Opa’s blonde wood furniture and high-backed booths and soothing Greek instrumentals piped in through a hidden sound system. It was in one of these booths, that abut the windows of the restaurant, that I was sat. If ever you are in Fremont looking to kill some time, a booth here is a perfect place as it gives you a great vantage point for people watching.

Costas Opa serves breakfast on the weekend while during the week the focus is on lunch and dinner for Fremont workers and residents. I had stopped in for an early dinner, which starts at 4 PM, and ordered their Gyros ($10.75) plate.

The Gyros plate comes with a cup of soup for a starter and I from my four choices I picked a Beef & Vegetable. This may not have been the proper choice while having a goodly amount of celery, carrot and white beans the soup itself was bland needing heavy salting. Plus, to steal a quote from the 80’s, “Where’s the beef?” There was a shocking lack of any sort of meat from my Beef & Vegetable soup. While I furrowed my brow at this I didn’t let it have too big of an effect on me. After all, I came here for gyros, not soup. But I was to see that my Gyros plate was to fall not too far from the tree, speaking from a culinary standpoint, from the soup. The overall plate was attractive looking but most of the dish lacked any significant flavor. The one standout was the vegetables. Well really vegetable as it was mostly zucchini with a few pieces of green bean thrown in here and there. But the tomato sauce with mint and oregano that they were cooked in was very flavorful. By contrast the potatoes needed a good dash of salt and lemon; while the gyros meat, which arrived lukewarm, was helped by a healthy slathering of the provided tzatziki sauce. The mixture of ground beef and lamb that is typical the typical gyro meat was moist and tender though. If you were looking to make an actual gyro sandwich from your Gyros plate you would be well advised to order an extra pita. While the one provided is crispy, golden and buttery it was also well hidden beneath the meat and was a half piece at that.

While not the most outstanding of Greek dinners, mine from Costas Opa was none-the-less filling and overall satisfying. Though I may never be a regular I will at least know that there is one more restaurant in Fremont that I can turn to that isn’t Thai.