Authentic Greek – Italian Restaurant La Casa Ouzeria

Over the holidays my hubs and I decided to take a little break from shopping and decorating.

We found ourselves in Penticton, British Columbia and we chose to have a lunch at La Casa Ouzeria – Greek & Italian restaurant.

La Casa Ouzeria is located at 1090 Main Street in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada (Okanagan Valley).

On the first look it is very nice and somewhat cozy restaurant.

After we entered we were greeted by “Wait To Be Seated” sign.  After standing there for about 3 minutes without any acknowledgment I looked around and saw 2 tables inside. No crazy lunch rush so I didn’t see the reason why we are still standing there.

Suddenly a person appeared, but she seemed to ignore us as she squeezed by my hubs to go and read the reservation book located on the table beside us. She left just as she came without smile, hello and maybe “Someone will be right with you”. After standing there for 6 minuted I was debating of leaving when the waitress/hostess showed up and announced that she’ll in fact be right with us.

Few more minutes after that we were finally led to our table.

One of my biggest pet peeves in restaurant? Wiggling tables. I can’t stand that and there is no reason why restaurant tables should wiggle. This wasn’t just a little wiggle. It was more like rocking.

After the waitress appeared again to take our drink order I mentioned the wiggling rocking table to her and her response was: “Don’t you just hate that?”. Yes, I do and that is why I am telling you. She was nice enough and fixed the problem with a folded napkin.

To start our meal the waitress served us 2 multi-grain heated buns with Olive oil & Balsamic vinegar for dipping. I didn’t enjoy that very much. I like fresh Italian style bread, Focaccia or baguette with my dip. Also the dip could have less Olive Oil and more Balsamic vinegar.

We didn’t have to wait too long for our meals as the restaurant wasn’t very busy.

My hubs decided to go with the lunch special – Avgolemono soup and Baked Lasagna. I decided to start with Caesar Salad and Beef Souvlaki.

Avgolemono soup – light chicken & egg lemon soup with orzo. The soup was nice, but it was little blend for me. My hubs enjoyed it.

Baked Lasagna – my Italian hubs gave it 2 thumbs up. There was no leftovers since it was lunch special so I didn’t get the chance to taste it. The sauce was very nice and not acidy.The pasta was almost Al Dente, not mushy and overcooked.

Caesar Salad – on the scale of 1 to 10 I give it almost 7. The dressing was very nice with just the perfect amount of garlic. There was little bit too much dressing for me (I don’t like my lettuce saturated with dressing), but lots of people like that. The romaine lettuce was pretty fresh and crunchy for most parts. The hot peppers on top of the salad might be nice touch for someone who likes hot peppers, but I am not a fan (my hubs ate them and according to him they were not that hot).

Caesar Salad

Beef Souvlaki – was served with Greek salad, rice pilaf and roasted potato. I was very dissapointed with the Greek salad. It was very blend and all I could taste was watery vegetables without flavor. If there was any dressing on my salad it was less then minimum. The sprinkled Feta cheese on top didn’t make it any better.                                                                        
The beef souvlaki was done to medium-well even thou the waitress told me that they make it medium (just the way I like it). Out of 6 pieces of beef I could not chew 2 of them. Not the best cut of beef by any means.                                         The rice pilaf and roasted potato were tasty. I love the Greek roasted potato with lemony flavor and I was little dissapointed with that, but it was tasty regardless.

Overall the experience was good. The service was  friendly, but very slow (it took forever to seat us and get our bill). The food was average and came out quickly. The price was acceptable for sit-down lunch. Our final bill was around $35.00.

On the scale of 1 to 10 I would give La Casa Ouzeria “5″.