I had wanted to go to Papa Cristo’s for a long time, but I just didn’t realize it. You see, the outside of the restaurant/market really makes no major reference to the name of the place. Instead, it just says “Greek Food.” When my friend suggested trying it, I complied without realizing it was the place I had driven by so many times.

Inside, the place has a miniature Greek market, a counter to order food at and a big room that can double as a dining room or banquet room. My first stop was the counter to place my order. We ordered some of the Octapodakia appetizer, which is grilled baby octopus. I also ordered the Kreatopita, deliciously described on the menu as a meat pie. For my main course, I decided to get back to the Greek basics and ordered the Gyros sandwich. This came with lettuce and tomatoes, so I ordered it without.

The meat pie and octopus were ready pretty quickly, and both were delicious. The octopus had a strong lemon and oil taste. This was good, but the oil eventually made it too difficult to continue eating, despite the taste. The meat pie was surprisingly good, and not like your average everyday American pie. Instead, it was some flaky crust wrapped around nicely seasoned ground beef.

When I finally finished those, it was time for my main course. The gyro sandwich that was brought out to me was the biggest I had ever seen. Typically when I order a sandwich without vegetables, I am given the same amount of meat and other toppings, resulting in a sad-looking sandwich. At Papa Cristo’s, however, they aimed to please me. The sandwich was so loaded with gyros that no vegetables could have possibly fit. It was almost as though they were proud of me for making the smart unvegan choice. The gyros were a bit on the salty side, but the sauce and drinking a lot of water was able to make up for it.

As I struggled to consume all that meat, the lights dimmed and we were treated to a bit of a Greek belly dance. Or at least that’s what I think it was. Either way, watching it definitely slowed my eating.

For a night filled with fine dining, oil, octopus babies and entertainment, Papa Cristo’s was definitely worth a visit.

In honor of the Detroit Red Wings being in the playoffs and beating the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks last night, I decided today would be a great opportunity to highlight the consumption of octopus. (For more information on why that is a reason to highlight octopus, please click here).

My first octopus-eating experience came while I was living in Japan. I attended an event that had a typical array of buffet-like foods, when I suddenly came across bowls of tentacles. One of the bowls had boiled octopus, while the other was fried. Taking a bit of each, I sat down to eat that eight-armed wonder of the sea.

First I tried the boiled version, which tasted somewhere between a bike tire and an IV tube. I was actually expecting the suckers to stick to my tongue, as I had imagined octopus to do in my childhood. Then, I took a bite out of a deep-fried tentacle and was more pleasantly surprised. It was still a bit rubbery, but I was confident that I could bite through it. As far as flavor went, I found my first octopi to be pretty bland, but it didn’t stop me from trying it out more.

Since that first taste, I’ve tried out a couple different forms of Octopus. My least favorite was Octopus sushi, which took me about a half hour to swallow because of how incredibly chewy it is. My favorite, though, was called Takoyaki (in Japanese, tak0 means octopus and yaki means fried). In English, I like to call these octopus balls, as they are essentially balls of dough with octopus bits cooked into them. On a breezy autumn day, these octopus balls can be the perfect snack.

In all, I wouldn’t put octopus in my regular food rotation, especially if it is boiled or sushi, but for special occasions it can make a decent fried addition to a meal or snack.