When Greek Pete organized a dinner outing at Myrnaki restaurant for myself SWMBO, Shagger, Phoenix, Steve and himself I wasn't really sure what to expect. Growing up in Sydney I had experienced Greek food before but a Greek restaurant in the back blocks of Perimeter Road, owned and operated by a Dutch National and his Filipina wife, I was a little bit dubious of. I am glad to report that my initial hesitation was misplaced and we all had a thoroughly enjoyable meal there. This is a quaint little restaurant that gives its customers that homely sort of feeling and the food in my opinion is excellent and the prices are very reasonable. This is a good restaurant that I recommend visiting.

Location:

Address: Lot 2. Makiling Street, Clarkview, Angeles City

Open: Daily, 9am to 9pm
Phone #: 0918 574 5745
URL: www.myrnaki.com

Menu

Myrnaki in its own way has a slight edge in that it is the only Greek restaurant in Angeles but if our meal was any indication of Greek cuisine I can easily see it will become very popular and expand with maybe even some more Greek Restaurants appearing.

According to the blurb on their website the Filipina lived and worked in Greece along with her husband which is where they learnt how to cook Greek cuisine. On the website they proudly state that the lady still has many contacts in Greece who supply her with the harder to get ingredients. I thought a good test of this would be to order a Greek salad as this simple dish is actually quite deceiving.

Grilled pork with Greek salad

Pork Souvlaki with Greek salad

Mousaka

Beef Tekia with Greek potato

It is easy to make but hard to make well. The Greek salad is very dependant on black olives fresh lettuce and of course feta cheese. I am really glad to report that the Greek salad was excellent and very authentic and best of all it was a huge serving at a great price.

Another thing I liked about this place was that they had a sort of fusion going on where they present traditional Filipino dishes with Greek influence. I think this is important to note because most people will take a Filipina with them when dining at a restaurant in Angeles and lets face it the Filipina enjoys the experience a lot more when they can eat food they are used to. But it is not strictly Filipino there are a few Filipino dishes with Greek touches which in my opinion is a clever way to introduce Pinays to this delicious cuisine.

Myrnarki was first started back in 2006. Back then it was located in a small nippa hut on Makling Street in Angeles City but now it is part of a bigger building yet it still has that feeling of eating in someone’s home. This impression is carefully created with the subtle white drapes the unobtrusive table settings the soft subdued lighting.

Outside on the porch they have two large tables which cater for bigger groups who can look over the street as they enjoy their scrumptious Greek food. The tables are candle lit and it is quite common to see groups of dinners enjoying a meal and a few beverages here.

The owner of this restaurant is a Filipina named Myrna who resided in Greece for 6 years and whilst there worked in restaurants both in Athens and and on Crete. Judging by the food we had when dining there, she developed a genuine appreciation for Greek cuisine and certainly learnt how to prepare it.

When we were there I ordered Mousaka which is a well known Greek dish together with Greek salad and I am glad to report both were fantastic and absolutely delicious. Mousaka is basically the Greek equivalent to Italian lasagna however instead of using mince meat they use egg plant and on top is Feta cheese made from goats milk rather than parmesan cheese used predominantly by the Italians. The mousaka here was excellent and I really got the flavor from the egg plant together with the Feta cheese. I recommend this dish should you try Myrnaki restaurant. Another good thing about this restaurant is that the servings are large yet the prices are very reasonable.

Greek cuisine utilizes pork which is something the Philippines has an abundance of and everyone thought the pork dishes were delicious.