Up close and personal with the Gyro Platter from Best of Crete

By Brooke A. Brown

It’s not too often that I make it to the food court of the Charleston Town Center for lunch. But seeing as how I was already there purchasing a birthday gift for my Lovely Miss S, I thought ‘What the heck?’ I can recall a time when the food court nearly covered the entire third floor of the mall, save for a really cool video game arcade. There was even a bakery located in one of the corner lots that served excellent French crullers.

These days, only about half of the space is dedicated to food vendors. We’ve seen fast food icons such as McDonald’s and Long John Silvers come and go. I’m pretty sure there was even a Wendy’s at one time or another, but that’s neither here nor there. This post is dedicated to a Town Center food court mainstay.

The Best of Crete is not your typical fast food joint. You’re certainly served quickly, but there’s nothing quick about the food preparation. There’s the lemon-infused baked chicken; rice and beef-stuffed dolmades; and the Bechamel-topped pastitsio (a dish I often times refer to as ‘Greek Beefaroni.’) Each of these offerings, and countless others on the menu, are clearly prepared with great attention to detail and an overwhelming sense of pride in heritage.

My favorite dish, and undoubtedly the most popular, is the gyro, which is probably the most often mispronounced food item in the world. Some call it ‘jai-ro,’ others say ‘gee-ro’ or ‘jee-ro.’ Not that it’s terribly important, considering it doesn’t affect the taste at all, but the correct pronunciation is ‘yee-ro.’ Now you can order with complete confidence.

With that cleared up, let’s discuss this wonderful little specialty sandwich. A Greek gyro is constructed of thinly sliced, well-seasoned strips of a combination lamb/beef loaf of sorts which is slowly cooked on a rotating, vertical spit. The meat is served in a warm pita, garnished with onion, tomato and lettuce and finished with a sour cream cucumber sauce. It is the perfect meal in and of itself.

But considering I am me, after all, I had to go and order up the gyro platter, which adds a small Greek salad and rice pilaf to the plate. The gyro is consistently delicious at Best of Crete. The meat is tender and flavorful, and the pitas they opt for are of considerable taste. They are thicker than most varieties found locally and greatly benefit from a quick warming up on the flat-top grill. The cooling sauce is a nice complement to the somewhat peppery, but in no way over-seasoned meat.

As for the platter’s side dishes, the rice pilaf is perfectly cooked and earns a great flavor boost from a spoonful of broth from the pan of baked chicken. The salad, on the other hand, could be much better. Sure, there’s plenty of crumbly feta cheese, a mildly spicy pepperincino and a couple of salty Greek olives (pitted, even). But iceberg lettuce? C’mon, already. Spring for a case of romaine and add a bit of parsley and some cucumber for something a touch more authentic.

Any disappointment with the salad is quickly forgotten with a single bite of baklava. This honey-drenched pastry consists of several layers of phyllo dough and nuts (walnuts in this case, but pistachios are common to other recipes) and is a delicacy at Best of Crete. They offer a number of homemade pastries, actually, but the baklava is easily my favorite. It is one of those unusual treats that makes you question the loyalty to your own heritage, unless you’re already Greek… or Middle Eastern, of course. (Several ethnic groups claim baklava as their own.) All I know is that when it comes from Best of Crete, it’s all Greek to me.

IF YOU GO: Best of Crete, Picnic Place Food Court, Charleston Town Center Mall, Charleston, W.Va. (304) 343-3292

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.