OLIVE

This Soho staple is one of the best restaurants on Elgin street and is usually packed come dinner time. The cuisine is Greek and Mediterranean and the menu has a wide variety of tasty dishes. For starters, we highly recommend the mixed meze platter which comes with feta cheese, olives, pickled veggies, sticks of meat fried in a crispy dough, hummous, and babagnoush (The babaganoush is excellent here!). For mains, we really like the chargrilled Rib Eye with greek-style mushroom and garlic mashed potatoes. There are also a few different lamb dishes which are excellent. One of our favorite dishes is the marinated Shish Tawouk- chicken pieces served on a bed of couscous and served with pickled carrots and a creamy dip.

The decor of Olive is a mixture of modern and ethnic. There are natural accents like tiled floors, beamed ceilings and big earthen vases. There are also framed Egyptian artworks on the walls. Oddly, they've mixed this up with white walls, rich burgundy velvet curtains, dim halogen accent lighting and a slick glass-encased kitchen.The restaurant is narrow and they've squeezed the tables together as tightly as possible. It sometimes feels like you are dining with the people sitting next to you. If you can, snag the tables by the front of the restaurant by the window. Not only are they more private, but they are good spots to watch the world go by.