Parthenon

We have probably been unfair to the Parthenon in avoiding it for so long. It may be they have actually improved since the last time we went there some years ago, but I thought it was just fine for a neighborhood restaurant when we went last week. The Yelp reviews, for what that's worth, tend to be better in the more recent postings, while the older ones are closer to the somewhat negative opinion we have had.

In any case, I sometimes get a hankering for a kebab and the lamb kebab I got at Parthenon filled the bill. It was tender and flavorful from the marinade, with the seared grilled taste of the lamb and onion that are so essential, and served with rice and those great limp Greek green beans. Andrea got a baked lamb with orzo that I tasted and it was also delicious. The taramosalata I had as a starter was also quite nice, though I've had similar fish roe dishes in Greek restaurants in Europe that were somewhat stronger. I had an ouzo and the house cabernet, a Greek wine, that was good, inexpensive and generously portioned.

Many of the complaints in Yelp and other reviews were about price, but when Jake's American Grille is charging $14 and $18 for a hamburger, it might be time to adjust our notions of what is overpriced in a classic Greek restaurant -- $17 for the lamb kebab was not really overpriced on that scale. Yes, the menu at a classic Greek restaurant like the Parthenon is boring, and yes, the decor is tacky. But we like the tackiness of some of the oldline Italian-American restaurants in Bethesda and this has the same flavor.

In short, we won't go there once a week but we will definitely go back within months rather than years. It will be after the weather cools down since their air conditioning clearly was not up to last week's 100+ degree temperatures.