If you don’t know a lot about who runs this site, we are actually a two man team. John, who is currently writing this, lives in Ann Arbor, MI and Todd lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This past weekend we came together and decided to head to Detroit, which hosts many delicious restaurants. Our hotel was in Greek Town, so many of our adventures took place there. If you are not familiar with Greek Town, it is a district in down town Detroit that is home to over 20 great restaurants (ranging from fine dining to authentic Greek fare), pastry shops and the Greektown Casino. The New Hellas Cafe was once featured on Emeril Live. If you are ever in the Detroit area, I highly recommend stopping by and checking it out. I will be posting many pictures and stories from our stay over the next day or two.
Our first stop was Cyprus Taverna. This is one of the less touristy restaurants in the area, and is serving some great authentic Greek food for a very reasonable price. It was only right that we began our meal with Saganaki, or flaming Halloumi cheese. This always goes great with the bread, and is flambeed at your table by your waiter or waitress.
We then moved on to our appetizer, which was the fried calamari. I have a huge fan of calamari but it is difficult to find people who can properly cook it. Often you get a dish that is so fried that you can not actually taste the delicious calamari. Cyprus Taverna’s calamari is lightly fried which gives you a crispy exterior and a delicious interior. You can actually taste the calamari and the outside has a nice crunch. This was definitely some of the best calamari I have ever tasted.
We then moved on to our entrees. Our waitress was a delightful Greek woman who grew up in London and had many recommendations for our meals. Todd decided to go with the lamb, which Cyprus Taverna is known for. His girlfriend, Ghazaleh, picked a stuffed pepper and tomato, and one original John went with the Greek Trio with a spinach pie, Moussaka, and one other selection that I can not recall. Sadly I did not write down or remember what everything was served with so I can not explain our dishes in much detail.
All in all, Cyprus Taverna is definitely making some of the best food in Greek Town. It is reasonably priced, the service is great, and it is less touristy than other locations. If you are ever in Greek Town, Epic Portions highly recommends you stop in for dinner.
Cyprus Taverna
579 Monroe St
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 961-1550