I got to visit this Greek/Mediterranean restaurant for a fun event. This restaurant just opened up a month ago, this spot used to be a steakhouse called Village Prime. Now, it is a new delightful addition to the village that people are welcoming with open arms.
The first think you see when you walk in is a full bar to the left, and table seating to the right. They have a nice window seating for a larger group, with a great view of the street.
The interior is heavy with light wood, lighting fixture with metal wires, and lots of white and blue elsewhere. That gave great feeling of Mediterranean with old ships out on a blue ocean and white clouds. Simple but yet warm and welcoming. They removed most of tables and chairs in the middle for our event, so that we could walk around, but normally, they have lots of white and blue tables.
Right after the bar to the left is a wall decorated with white and navy plates. Very fitting with the rest of the interior, creating the feeling of clouds in the sky, or bubbles under the ocean. I Really liked it. At this event, we got to taste three kinds of Greek wines, Red, Rosé, and white. The staff providing the wine was very knowledgeable about all the wines and super helpful.
What I learned about the Greek wines is that Greece has the longest recorded winemaking history in the world, over 6,500 years! And they have the second largest number of indigenous grape in the world, and lastly, Greek wines are known for their acidity, vibrancy, complexity and versatility. So, here are the three wines we got to sample; Agiorgitiko, Stamnaki, 2015 was the Red, bold and flavorful. Agiorgitiko Assyrtiko, Monolithos, 2015 was the Rosé, very high quality, smooth and fruity. Assyrtiko Sauvignon Blanc, Organic, Pancleia, 2015 was the white. It was clean, smooth, easy to drink. They were all really good wines, I enjoyed them all, but Rosé was my favorite out of the three.
To the other side from the wine tasting table was beautiful indigo colored wine bottles installed on the wall. They had some interesting artworks on the walls as well, looked like sort of abstract ink paintings. At the very end of the dining room was a large table, enough to seat up to 8 people, with a lit sign that says The Life Aquatic. Perfect sign for this place!
For this event, we also got to sample some of their offerings. They first brought out some spreads on small pieces of breads. They had melitzanosalata (eggplant), tirokafteri (feta cheese), skordalia (potato & garlic), tzatziki (yogurt & cucumber), and fava (bean). They were all very tasty, but the eggplant was my favorite, which was a bit surprising. They were creamy, high quality, velvety and addicting.
Then they brought some real food, which was a total delight!!! They had lots and lots of offerings: Spanakopita (spinach, scallions, leeks, dill feta cheese wrapped in handmade phyllo), Greek Keftedes (beef meatballs), Lamb Sliders, Lamb kebab, Crab cake, Stuffed Mushrooms, and fried ham and cheese ball (not sure what the name of this one item is…)
The beef meatball was super juicy, packed with flavor. It was really great! The Lamb kebab was also awesome, but it had a nice kick to it. Meatball was not spicy, a bit more on the sweet side. The fried ball, which we were told ham and cheese ball, looked just like arancini, but it was not filled with rice, it had more of a macaroni consistency. It was almost like fried mac and cheese in a shape of a ball. Whatever it was, I liked it. It was creamy and tasty.
The Crab cake was awesome! It was on a piece of thick leaf, which provided nice crunchy texture. The crab cake itself was a good size, very moist, packed with flavor. It was meaty and super flavorful, it was one of my favorite, but yet, everything was so good, for instance, stuffed mushroom which was big, super juicy, and very yummy. So, it is hard to choose one favorite. My least favorite was the Spanakopita. I think, because everything else was so amazingly flavorful, that the spinach and feta cheese just could not win.
The staff here were really nice, friendly, and welcoming. I also got to meet the chef who was also very nice. We had a super fun time here at Nisi, I am so happy we got to go to this event. Now that we discovered a new, delicious Greek restaurant to go to in the near future! If you are looking for a tasty Greek or Mediterranean food in the Village, now you know where to go!
Nisi Estiatorio – 302 Bleecker St., New York, New York 10014