Eléa, NYC

My last week in New York, I was really, really craving nice grilled octopus.  Yes, random, and specific, but I had really excellent octopus at The Rusty Face in Brooklyn just a few weeks prior, and had been craving more ever since.  My office served it a few times in those weeks in-between, and it was always good, but, not even on par with The Rusty Face version.  I really wanted one more great octopus dish before I left.

I had a handful of restaurants on my short list for octopus, that I had researched meticulously, but, somehow, at last minute, I pivoted to a totally different venue, one that I had only heard about an hour before.  Why?  Simple.  A friend highly recommended it, for the octopus in particular.   Thus, my restaurant of choice was Eléa.

"Meaning “olive” in ancient Greek, Eléa offers guests a menu of soulful and modern Greek dishes that encompass flavors across the region’s many islands and terrains."

So, yes, not only was I getting my last chance octopus from a place I had barely just heard of, I was getting it from a Greek restaurant.  Greek is rarely my style of cuisine.

Eléa has an extensive menu, ranging from raw bar selections, to salads, a slew of spreads, appetizers, seafood dishes, lamb, ribs, filet mignon, etc, etc.  Great sounding dessert lineup.  I was there just for the octpus, but couldn't help myself from ordering a spread too.

Branded Bag.

It was not particularly close by, so I ordered delivery (which, took forever!).  The custom Eléa bag gave my delivery order a classy touch.

Selection of Spreads: Taramo Salata & Pita. $10.

"Roe of grey mullet fish, capers, red onion."

To start, Elea offers a selection of spreads (literally, an entire section of the menu called "Selection of Spreads"), for $10 each ($21 for a trio, $29 for five).  The lineup includes the standards of hummus and tzatziki, along wtih more interesting options like melitzanosalata (eggplant based), tyrokafteri (red pepper), skordalia (almond/garlic), fava, and, the one I went for, taramo salata (fish roe).  I was thrilled to see the taramosalata on the menu, as I fell in love with it many years ago when a hotel I was staying at had it nightly in the lounge, and I binged on it for days on end.  I don't know the last time I had it!

When I opened my container, I was a bit surprised.  I expected the spread to have more color to it from the roe, but also, to be topped with capers and red onions as their online photos showed, and description implied.  This looked more like ... very white hummus, or maybe the skordalia dip?  I tasted it, and was even more let down.  It didn't taste like much at all.  Sorta like slightly thick mayo.  Maybe a touch of garlic.  Where was the fishy flavors from the roe?  The brininess from the capers? The acid from the red onion?    It was smooth and creamy, but, that is about all that was positive about it.  The flavor was really, really lacking.  I'm still not entirely sure if this dish was correct (was it another spread?) or if it was accidentally unfinished (should it have had the toppings?), but, it was bland and boring.  * for smoothness, but, hard to give it much more credit.

It came with a substantial portion of pita (perhaps part was for my other dish?), wrapped in foil to keep it warm.  It was highly average pita. Not particularly light and fluffy, and a thin style.  I don't generally like pita all that much (exception being sometimes I really do like the big puffy version from Oren's Hummus), so take my "meh" with a grain of salt, as I'll usually say "meh" about pita.  **.

Overall, a complete let down.  The portion was generous, but, not actually welcome as it was so bland.

Eléa Classics: Htapodi. $27.

"Grilled Spanish octopus, fava puree, pickled pearl onions, confit cherry tomatoes, capers."

The real reason I ordered from Eléa of course was for the well regarded octopus.  The Eléa version came with some things I do enjoy (capers, pearl onions, confit tomatoes even) and one thing I was really not excited for (fava puree), as I don't care for legumes.  But my friend who recommended the dish, and nearly every online review I saw, all raved about that puree with this dish, so, I was at least willing to try it.  I did ask for it to be separate, on the side, in my order instructions, but that note was not honored by the restaurant.

The octopus itself was fine.  It was cooked well - not chewy, not rubbery, not overcooked, properly cleaned, etc.  The pieces were cut into an easy to eat size.  But it was simply just roasted I think, as it had no grill marks nor smoky flavor.  I really like a smoky octopus, charcoal grilled, etc, and this was just plain.  So, execution was fine, for that style, but I wanted it smokier.  ***.

The toppings let me down a fair amount.  I loved the capers, the brininess they added, and there was tons of them.  They went very well with the octopus.  So those were a win.  ****.  

But the pearl onions, which I expected to love as I love onions in general, and pearl in particular, just had an odd taste to them.  I know they were pickled, but these had a flavor that just didn't appeal to me.  Somewhat acidic, yes, but there was more to it.  I ended up discarding these after trying a few and just truly not enjoying.  They were cooked nicely though, soft, not raw, not slimy. **.

Then, the cherry tomatoes, that said they were "confit" but really seemed basically raw.  Slightly softened from being with the warm other ingredients, but definitely not confit.  They were fine, but, average, and just lightly warmed tomatoes.  ***.

And lastly, the fava puree.  I think the fava puree here is the same that you can order as a standalone dip, with Santorini yellow split pea, shallots, dill.  It ... reminded me a lot of hummus, which makes sense.  And I don't like hummus.  I had hoped the fava flavor would somehow be mroe interesting, or perhaps that the shallots and dill would lift it, but ... yeah, not my thing.  It was remarkably smooth though, and a nice thickness.  It also seems odd to lose your delightful octopus in the spread ... even if I liked it.  **.

So, overall, lots of elements that just weren't really my preference, and octopus that was prepared well, but not in the style I wanted, so, overall, a pretty average dish for me, not one I'd get again.  ***.