Pantheon Restaurant, Toronto ~ Nooschi

I've been sitting on this post forever...mainly out of fear. When I was in Toronto back in January, my Greek friend, K, who used to live in Toronto, gave me a list of recommended restaurants to try out. Almost all of his recommendations were bang on, except one. It's not that I didn't like it, I just didn't love it like he did. He felt that Pantheon served the best Greek food in Toronto. I questioned that statement. He was absolutely insulted that I felt that way, and I've been afraid to post since then.

Well, I've had 7 months to get over my fear. Anddd, because K has not lived in Toronto for quite a while, it turns out that Pantheon had switched owners since. I like to think that we were both right in our opinions.

Pantheon has a very extensive menu and like all Greek food, it is best when you have a big group of people to maximize the number of share plates. Unfortunately, it was only CK and I. We had a good meal nonetheless.

We started with a hot pepper appetizer. I expected the hot peppers to be hot, but they were quite mild. The hot peppers were drizzled with oil, and topped with fresh capers.

Hot Peppers

Next came the spanakotiropita. These were humongous and delicious! The phyllo was crispy, and the filling was plentiful. Very very nice! Anyone by any chance know the difference between spanakotiropita and spanakopita? Is there even a difference?

Spanakotiropita

My main was under the light piato section: charcoal octopus with Greek salad. I thought that this would be grilled octopus with a side of Greek salad, but it turned out that it was a salad mixed with pieces of octopus. The octopus was tender, but I was slightly disappointed because my meal wasn't what I expected. I guess that was partly my fault.

Grilled Octopus Salad

What CK ordered was what I really wanted. I had major food envy. He ordered the grilled calamari dinner. This was seasoned whole calamari served with veggies. The calamari was good but was tougher than what I normally like.

Grilled Calamari

CK ordered a Greek salad on the side. The Greek salad here isn't quite the traditional 'no lettuce' Greek salad. Again, it wasn't what I expected, so I wasn't a fan of their Greek salad.

Greek Salad

After our dinner, we were handed a complimentary piece of honey cake topped with chocolate sauce. The cake was moist and had just the right amount of sweetness. Ironically, one of my favorite parts of the meal was free.