Restaurant Review: Messini Authentic Gyros

Messini Authentic Gyros
445 Danforth Ave.
Toronto, ON M4K 1P2
www.messini.ca

I've been wanting to goto Messini for a very long time and take some pictures at this place.  I've been going to this restaurant for many years and the food quality and service has been really consistent.  Out of maybe 50 times, I remember one instance my food wasn't so great.  During the taste of the danforth they are one of the places with the longest line ups.  As I was on their website, they go through the history of what Gyros is and have pretty extensive website about how Messini came to be, but one fact I did not know was that they were open till 4am on friday and saturday night to serve the younger crowd after their late night out.  This place has been reviewed by many places and always come out as one of the best Gyros place in Toronto which I strongly agree with.


Photo: Chicken Gyros

I've had almost everything on the menu, but their most standout item is their gyros.  It is different from many places I've eaten it, and which is the addition of fries inside the Gyros.  The chicken is my favourite but it does come with other variation such as lamb and pork.  They are never cheap with the toppings and everything is always fresh.  One minor thing that I would like to mention is the way they wrap it, as the juice from the toppings do fall out, please becareful as you make your way to the bottom, but they do wrap the gyros pretty well, and much better than many places where I forgot about the sauce dripping through the foil and onto my clothes.  After each bit into the Gyros, its like an addiction and you just want to take another bit.  The combination with the fries with the chicken makes it outstanding.


Photo: Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Today me and my buddy decided to get something new for an appetizer.  We went through the list and saw that I've never had Spanakopita (Spinach Pie).  When that arrived it came with Pita.  The Spinach Pie was very good.  It was crispy out the outside and had cheese and spinach on the inside.  As you bit into it, it was soft and crispy but it didn't fall apart.  The only thing that would of made it better was if it was freshly made and straight from the oven to my plate.  We originally thought it would just be a single piece but it does come with 2.  I did enjoy this very much.  The Pita was hot and toasty from the grill and was served with and olive dip.


Photo: Greek Salad

My friend got the Chicken Souvlaki single stick with rice, it also comes with a Greek Salad.  These meals come in big portion, and my friend offered me half his salad.  Messini Greek Salad is composed of cucumbers, onions, olives, cheese, green peppers and tomatoes topped off with an oil.  I remember the first time I had it and thought it was weird, a salad with cucumbers, but I'm glad I tried it and since then became a fan of it.  The taste is exactly the same as when I first tried it, very crunchy and fresh.  This dish seems very home made and doesn't have a fast food feel to it.


Photo: Chicken Souvlaki

Althought I didn't have the Souvlaki, My friend commented that when he was having the skewers the chicken is very tender.  Lots of flavour on the inside and not dried.  He was very impressed with it and it was grilled to perfection.

I guess this review was a little different from my other reviews.  Didn't start with an appetizer,  and seems like all over the place.  Service is good, they have lots of staff but they are pretty busy.  The place is not big like Jack Asstors but can sit maybe 50 people.  Take out is very popular and you see people walk in and out all the time.  Everytime I went, during dinner time, I've always needed to wait for a table.  The washroom is decent but you do have to make a trek downstairs to the basement of the store, personally I do not like washrooms that are located to an area where it seems where only staff attends to.  One of the things I learnt early was that I was pronoucing Gyros wrong, its more like E-row.  The food is great here, they pride themselves on freshness it seems, and from the crowds that march in and out, you can tell this is a very successful restaurant.  Almost everyone I took to Messini came out loving it and wanted to bring their friends there as well.  The price is also not expensive at all.  Usually 2 Gyros, Fries, Salad only would cost $14 with taxes and gratuities.  As my dinner today costed around $32 which included one pop.

I would give this place 4/5
Would Give a perfect 5/5 if washrooms was located in a different place and if it had a larger seating area

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Greek Coffee

Photo: Greek Coffee Foaming

A few weeks ago, my coworker comes out of the kitchen holding a propane cooking device.  I was then intrigued of what it was and what it was used for.  She said coffee.  Then I was like thinking why do people who make specialty coffee use devices that you find in science class.  I thought it would be great to try what greek coffee is.


Photo: The coffee Grinds

She was explaining how the greeks drink their coffee with the grinds in the beverage, which is the complete opposite of an espresso.  She took a spoon of coffee grinds, a spoon of sugar, and just added 2 mini cups of water, and let it sit on the burner for a few mins.  The interesting thing about this is that it automatically would start foaming.  I liked the taste.  Its suppose to be taken very slowly as it comes out very hot.  It was sweet and had a unique taste.  I'm usually use to the lattes and beverages you find at Starbucks or Second Cup.  When you get to the bottom of the cup, you will see all the grinds settle at the bottom and my mistake was that I was drinking too much near the bottom, so my colleague told me that it usually comes with water in the restaurant so if you drink too much near the bottom of the cup, its to rinse down the grinds.  Amateur mistake I made. Oh well.  I enjoyed this and would invite you to give it a try.  Other than gyros and souvlaki this is what comes down the list.


Photo: The final result

For more pictures, click here

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