Parea
36 East 20th Street (between Park and Broadway)

Many people rave about this place, but many foodies also cast negative statements about this place. I've heard people call this place "unbalanced" and "inconsistent" amongst many other comments. But my friend suggested brunch at this Greek eatery, so why not. I trekked on foot all the way down to Parea, trying to avoid the crowds and more bloody street fairs...

A live band playing Greek and jazz added to the nice ambience, but the decor was pretty boring -- a lot of white and cheap too, by the looks of it. Faux haute, as they call it I think... We chose to sit in the back as the music was just too loud (they tuned it down later).

The brunch menu was rather limited and looked confused. It was as if they didn't know how to approach the fusion of Greek and traditional American brunch foods. It turned out to be pretty poor. For a starter I had the saganaki with egg. This was just a mess in a pot that tasted neither Greek or good. It looked like something a 6-year-old would cook, frankly...

The main course was the breakfast gyros. It was basically veal (?!) and spinach and feta with egg in a pita. Terrible, as the combination did not work at all. Adding feta to everything does not make dishes Greek! It was an awful mess. I barely finished it. I noticed my friend barely finishing his dishes, looking disappointed too.

We passed on dessert (the menu looked very limited) and got a bit of attitude from the waiter. What the? The complementary mimosa was the only thing good about the meal. I took a bit of it to test if my ulcer has healed (happily it seems to be). We left dissatisfied.

Parea is all fluff and no substance. I really think this is a shame, and it takes Greek dining in New York down another step. High-class Greek cuisine could be excellent, such as at Ammos, but this certainly is not. Pretentious, that's all it is. Avoid.

Food: C-
Atmosphere: B
For Lone Diners: C+ (*)