Taverna Opa

Having gone to the Opas in Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale numerous times, I was happy to find out an Opa would be opening close to home. I went shortly after the WPB Opa opened and was disappointed in the quality of the food. I chalked that up to opening-week jitters so I recently gave the place another chance. Same problem...Not only does the food lack authentic Greek flavor, but lacks flavor of any kind. Sorely missing in WPB Opa's food are those zesty garlicky, lemony, oreganoy, rosemary, salty, peppery, olive oil flavors that make Greek food Greek. It's as if the chef doesn't want to offend anyone's palate with flavors too strong, so he held back on the seasoning to such an extent that it felt like I was eating Greek hospital food. The tzaziki sauce tasted like plain yogurt. The grilled octopus, although tender and meaty, had no seasoning. The pork souvlaki was pale, dry and lacked flavor. The grilled lamb chops tasted like they went straight from the package onto the grill and then onto my plate without any marination or post grilling seasoning. The side dishes were under-cooked green beans and potatoes au gratin. One, Greeks never eat their veggies undercooked, and two, potatoes au gratin do not belong in a Greek restaurant, especially when Greek cuisine is famous for its roasted lemon potatoes. The seafood salad, although generous in its amount of octopus, calamari and shrimp, again, suffered from the same lack of flavor. The flavor was so weak that it took me several bites to figure out if the salad even had any dressing. Upon request the waiter happily brought out some Greek dressing, to which my 10 year son quickly snatched up and poured on his souvlaki to help it go down. The highlight of the meal was the galaktoboureko, a dessert made with farina custard, layered with filo dough and drizzled with a lemon/cinnamon syrup. Whoever made it, did it right. My suggestion to WPB Opa is either lose the chef or get one of the chefs from the Hollywood or Ft Lauderdale restaurants to come in and train the cooking staff.