Topo's 403

I really enjoyed dinner last night at Topo’s. I had the scotch cocktail, the dates stuffed with goat cheese, and the special main course of mussels with spiced lamb. I also shared the donuts dessert. My wife had the pastichio (and shared the appetizer and dessert). Our friends had different cocktails, the lamp chops and the souvlaki , the squid and Greek salad as appetizers, and the donuts as dessert. We all loved our dinners and the venue—which is very comfortable and relaxing. We didn’t think the prices were at all out of line and feel very fortunate that Bloomington now has this restaurant!

Our table tried just about every one of the mezedes: the portions were too small, the prices were high, the appearance was so-so and the taste was quite simply bad to average. I mentioned to the waiter that some of the food didn’t taste Greek, he said it was “fusion”—well, that certainly sounds sophisticated, but taking great traditional Greek recipes and making them taste lousy is ill-advised. Unless they change the way they are cooking their food, I won’t be back, nor will any of my friends.

Beautiful space, fairly good service, but the food is meh. It bears no resemblance to the food I’ve been served in Greece, where the emphasis is on quality ingredients, prepared simply. This was someone’s fantasy of Greek food, but not well-prepared. Won’t return.