Restaurant Review: Wild Donkey Cafe

Thanks to Devra taking the Fuss reigns for the evening we were able to toddle over to the Wild Donkey Cafe after work, a new Mexican/Greek place a few doors down from Big Sky in the old TA's spot.

Before they opened I was inordinately excited by the prospect, caught up imagining what cryptic shape a hybrid Mexican/Greek cuisine would present the adventurous diner. I was mildly disappointed to hear the two would be cohabiting on the same menu sans crossbreeding in a sort of Two's Company arrangement. Even so, the Greek component was something new in town so I put it on my list.

The physical transformation of the space is pleasantly astonishing.
TA's was one of the grimiest, most wretched eating establishments on the Central Coast, an ongoing health code violation in want of a timely inspection. In contrast, the Donkeys visage is warm, appealing and open. Sandblasted brick walls, exposed beam ceiling, an attractive buffed concrete floor bisected with planks of pale wood. The whole front of the place is wood and glass French doors, waiting for more clement weather to throw open inviting arms to passers by. Four stars for presentation.

We ordered Greek, moussaka for the Wife and a Gyro with their Peasant Potatoes for yours truly with a side of flatbread for the table. Both were delicious, fresh and appealing. The bread was nicely seasoned and grilled and did yeoman work helping us stem the tide of moussaka. My gyro was a delight, and the yogurt sauce was perfectly seasoned. I'm generally skeptical of anything featuring dill, but here it was a fine accent without overpowering all other elements.

The potatoes were well seasoned and flavorful, although somewhat inconsistent in their crust- one was flat out burnt, while several others were a bit pale. The looked a bit like I'd made them myself, which is a problem when you're serving them to paying customers.

They've overreached a bit on seating- they don't have a lot of square footage to work with and have about three too many tables deployed. Navigating the floor is a challenge, even when it's only half full. They also need some sort of host station by the door to make a transition- coming in off the street you're basically walking into the back of a dining room, and a server has to navigate from the bar across the cluttered dining room to seat you.

The service was friendly and willing if a bit inexperienced- our ten dollars in change came back as two fives, which would have knocked a buck off her tip if we hadn't had some loose bills.

All in all a fine meal, I say check it out if you're in the mood for Greek.