Ethos
495 Third Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets
New York, NY 10016
212-252-1972
http://www.ethosrestaurants.com/
The parentals requested a Greek restaurant near their hotel, and Ethos was what I had come up with since a trip to Astoria seemed to be out of the question.
I patted myself on the back for making a reservation since the place was stuffed to the gills. We ended up at a high table in the front corner which was rough on the posterior (stools with no cushions) but at least afforded people watching opportunities.
The service was weak. The waiter occasionally made appearances but the majority of interactions were with the professional busboys. Ethos was just too busy and cramped.
Luckily the food was great or otherwise we’d be super steamed. There was complimentary bread, like a rosemary loaf along with a few pitas. A small bowl of olives tagged along.
I’m irked that the menu on the restaurant’s page is incomplete so I can’t properly name what I ate. Grumble grumble. At any rate, I ordered grilled shrimp with tomatoes, mushrooms, and feta. This was rather tasty though I personally thought more huge chunks of feta would elevate the dish to the next level. There were four shrimps but they were fat. Nice scoop of rice in the middle.
What was a pleasant surprise was the free dessert at the end. We made sure that it wasn’t secretly tacked onto the bill or anything, but yeah, who does that in NYC? Not exactly sure about this specimen. Honeyed cinnamoned phyllo dough wrapped around some sorta ricotta or custard filling. The layers were scrumptious, the filling not so much. Decrease the filling, increase the phyllo!
For those Greek cravings, if you can’t jaunt to Astoria and are stuck in Murray Hell, you could do a lot worse.
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