Why Come Here? Sharable Greek plates good for groups
Chef Michael Psilakis became a Greek cooking star with restaurants Anthos and Kefi followed by appearances on Bravo and BBC America. He since has expanded his empire with the more casual MP Tavernas on Long Island, Astoria and now Williamsburg. Despite a seemingly exciting concept that offers everything from small plates to entire animal roasts, MP Taverna ends up feeling like a restaurant stuck in the Long Island ‘burbs that wasn’t quite ready to make the jump to the big city.
The first reason is the size. The place is massive by New York standards. It even includes a music hall. This could be a cool feature if not for the fact that it’s hard to tell which room is said hall. The main dining room has a bar taking up one entire wall with tables and booths scattered around the rest that could easily be rearranged to slip a stage in. Regardless of it’s intended function, it does a provide great large group dining restaurant or potential small event space for an area that lacks places fitting this particular bill. The large number of share plates and generally crowd pleasing menu adds to its appeal in this role as well. However it also means it can seem a bit cold for a more intimate gathering. I could see myself coming back with a large group for drinks and dips, but that’s about it.
The other reason is the food, which unfortunately is also more what you expect from a suburban restaurant. Despite hitting a good chunk of the small plates on our waiter’s rec, the feta dip ended up the only item I would legitimately consider coming back for. Probably coupled with pitcher of white sangria. The prices don’t help either with smallish mezze averaging around $15 each and 2-3 making a meal. Unless they get a lot more people paying those prices, it’s going to need some serious work to survive occupying this amount of prime real estate.
As usual at Greek restaurants I dodged the entrees and stuck to a wide array of small plates. Here’s what we ate.
Spicy Feta Dip 
The highlight of the meal came out first: a creamy feta dip mixed with spices and topped with sundried tomatoes and caramelized onions. If you find yourself here, don’t miss this one.
Crispy Cod & Ricotta 
Usually I’m not a fan of double fried dishes but this worked reasonably well. The cod comes in a tempura like batter while the ricotta is deeper fried. Personally I’d prefer it with fresh ricotta, but mixed with stewed tomatoes and garlic it’s enjoyable for a few bites at least.
Calamari 
A fairly standard fried calamari plates. No complaints, no raves.
Salt & Pepper Ribs The description says these come topped with shishito peppers but last I checked that’s a baby onion on top. I was intrigued by the spiced yogurt sauce which does give it an interesting flavor, but this version at least was undone by the meat being too dry.
Gnudi 
The lamb sausage and feta and sun dried tomato drew me in on this one but everything ended up drowning in an acidic sauce. On the plus side, the sausage was pretty good on its own.
Caulflower & Fried Peppers and Thrice Cooked Smashed Potatoes These two sides sounded intriguing but ended up feeling like after thoughts. The cauliflower was bland and the potatoes were basically mediocre steak fries, which are of course already the worst type of fry to begin with.
Right amount for 2? 4-5 small plates
MP Taverna
470 Driggs Avenue (N 10th & 11th Sts.)
Brooklyn, NY
