Description
There are nights when you aren't looking for the hippest, most see-and-be-seen restaurant in town. The dining room in West Portal's Orexi is classy and comfortable, the Greke food is familiar and dependable, and the waitstaff treats you with the kind of respectful deference that you don't find very often in the Mission. Most of the menu is made up of shareable small plates, like house-made pita, fluffy and still warm from the oven, paired with house-made dips, or the lamb riblets, with meat so tender it falls off the bone when you look at it, and a flavor with a whisper of gaminess from the lamb and char from the fire. The Moussaka has a fantastically custardy topping, over slices of stewed eggplant and ground lamb cooked with just enough cinnamon and allspice. Orexi's signature entrée is rotisserie chicken, a meaty half-bird with a crispy skin, seasoned with oregano and spices. The only concession to the space's former life as a Round Table is the two pizzas on the menu -- one with Greek sausage, the other vegetarian with an oregano-pesto base.
