Metaxa Restaurant in Ramstein

Hello, folks. I have been mulling over the idea to start a new blog - one just for reviews on restaurants, businesses, etc. But, since I have a hard enough time updating this blog, I don't think I'd be very good at managing two blogs. If you haven't noticed, I'm kind of a procrastinator.

But, I do still want to review restaurants, and other places we go while we're here. Businesses around here don't have websites like they do in the States. If they do, it's more like an early 90s Geocities website or something. It ain't pretty. So, you really never no what you're going to get from a restaurant, except by word of mouth. And I have a big mouth that likes to eat, and likes to express strong opinions. So who better to review restaurants, eh? Also, I'm a vegetarian, and the hubby isn't, so I can cover both aspects of the food world.

I know these restaurant reviews don't really help people who don't live here....but, tough. Besides, all two people who read this blog will probably end up visiting us here in the not-too-distant future, and they may want to see what there is to eat around here.

Saturday night, Josh and I decided to go out to eat. I had a hankering for Greek food, so we tried this restaurant called Metaxa, in Ramstein (the town in which the Air Force base is located). I think Josh misread the name of the place, and thought we were going to a Mexican food restaurant. ;)

Anywho, it was a cute, family owned restaurant. I'd say 90% of the customers were Americans, which isn't that surprising, since we were probably 1/4 mile from the base entrance.

It was freezing outside (I think -1F?) so we were so thankful when the waitress seated us right next to the radiator. Soooooo cozy. And we only saw two people working the floor there - one lady who seated us and took our order, and then one guy who was our server.

Now, I love Greek food. I love strong flavors like feta, vinegars, olives, and also fresh veggies like tomatoes & cucumbers. Unfortunately, there weren't a ton of vegetarian choices. They did have pizzas, but who wants pizza from a Greek restaurant? Most of the appetizers were vegetarian, though, and they had a large selection of salads as well.

We ended up ordering tzatziki for an appetizer. I ordered the Greek salad (actually, it was just called the Farmer's Salad, but it was what I think of when I think of a Greek salad), and Josh ended up getting the "spezial" plate. It was basically schnitzel, with fries.

Right after we ordered our food, the waiter came over with two cups of some kind of chicken noodle soup. Josh said it was really good, and he ate both cups. (one, because I don't eat chicken, and two, because I didn't want them to think that I was being rude by not eating what they gave us for free. good thing he was really hungry that night)

After the soup, they brought our tzaziki. It came with a basket of bread slices, and also a cup of some kind of red pepper puree. The puree was just pure red bell pepper - very, very fresh flavor. And the tzaziki came drizzled with olive oil, and garnished with pepperoncini, kalamata olives, and cucumber slices. Oh em gee, it was soooo goooooooooood. Very fresh tasting.

Then, the main dishes. I am always a little worried when I order "just" a salad from a restaurant, because I never know if it's going to be adequate enough for a meal, or if I'm going to leave the restaurant feeling slightly hungry, and slightly cheated. Let me tell ya - this salad was more than adequate. It was chock-full of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, olives, and feta. There were easily two whole tomatoes on this salad - in fact, I didn't even KNOW there was lettuce in the salad until I was 2/3 of the way in. That's my kind of salad. The dressing was some sort of Greek vinaigrette - I LOVED the dressing!! Tangy, highly seasoned, and not heavy at all. It also went well with the tzatziki in which I couldn't keep from dunking my tomatoes. ;) I will say one thing - I normally LOVE feta. I love that sharp, salty tang. However, this was the strongest feta I have ever had. I felt like I had literally licked the sheep that produced the milk. I only had a couple bites, before I just felt a little too...."knowledgeable" about what sheep nipples taste like.

Josh's meal was basically a schnitzel, covered in some kind of sauce, and cheese. It also came with french fries (the really thick-cut fries that are popular around here). He said it was pretty good, but he didn't rave about it. Although, he did eat 90% of the meal. I thought the fries were really good. :) After seeing some of the other, "real" Greek dishes come out of the kitchen, I think that he wished he had gotten something more along those lines.

While we were eating, we kept seeing the waiter go around to every table, taking shots of ouzo with everybody. Sure enough, at the end of the meal, he brought us shots as well. Man, that was some good stuff. It was a real shot, too, not a teeny "freebie" shot. (although, it was free)

The whole meal cost us €38 (almost $50). Now, I know that is kind of pricy, BUT, Josh and I had two drinks each, plus we had an appetizer. So, really, you could definitely eat there for way cheaper.

All in all, we had a really awesome time at Metaxa in Ramstein. The customer service itself was worth going back. Free amuse-bouche (the soup), and free shots of ouzo?!? Yes, please! We will definitely go back.