I have been to Broken Plate Kitchen and Bar, in Calgary, Alberta, a few times now, and it is always a fun night. The atmosphere, service and food are great, and this restaurant, which has 3 locations in the city, is my favourite Greek restaurant in Alberta. The atmosphere at the location that I frequent is not your typical, white and blue Greek restaurant, but rather has some unique features. The lighting and décor is more like a modern, trendy casual restaurant, but there are some distinct Greek touches, like plants, broken-tiled bar tops, Greek art, photographs of Greece, and a giant urn at the entrance of the dining room. I always enjoy the cozy, comfortable ambience here. The food is exceptional as well, with a great selection appetizers, salads, soups and entrées, and although I have never been able to save room, great desserts as well. If you are lucky enough to dine here on a Friday or Saturday night, customers can break plates while the staff performs traditional
Greek dances. I would highly recommend seeing and participating in this even, as it is a highlight. I have never had less that attentive, friendly and efficient service either, and while I cannot remember every item I have tried from the menu, I will review the food that I had on my last visit.

We were seated quickly and we immediately ordered ouzo and Retsina to go with our appetizers of pita, hummus, and calamari. The hummus is particularly good here, and my husband thinks the calamari is the best in the city. We always order the same things to start our meals, but there are plenty of choices for appetizers, including Tzatziki, a sampler of all of the Greek dips that they sell ($17, and it is a perfect way to try them all, plus it comes with unlimited pita bread), scallops, saganaki (the best in Canada, $12), prawns, dolmades, keftedes (my personal favourite), bruschetta, and ribs, all for $8-13, and they serve two people easily as starters. There is also a Grecian Platter, with a sampler of all of the appetizers, for $32, and we have had this on several occasions for dinner, and left completely full! It is a great value. They also have the usual soups and Greek salads available. The dinner menu is a great selection of typical Greek entrées, as well as several pasta
dishes done in a Greek style ($15-20), and this is one of the few Greek restaurants that I have been to that serves pasta. There are several seafood dishes done in Greek style, including salmon, halibut and sea bass, all reasonably priced between $19-24. My favourite part of the menu, the Greek entrées, include the usual souvlakis, as well as veal, lamb, chicken and moussaka meals, all well-priced at $19-30. This evening, I ordered the Veal Lemonato ($21), and my husband ordered the Rack of Lamb ($30). He is a big lamb fan, and there are at least four meals of lamb on the menu.

Our meals came quickly, and they were up to the usual delicious standards. My veal was served with lemon butter sauce, vegetables (perfectly steamed), and risotto. My husband’s lamb was served with a rosemary sauce, Greek potatoes and vegetables. There is always enough to take some home for lunch the next day. We timed our meals perfectly that night, as we were just finishing up when the plate breaking ceremony began. We didn’t have room for dessert, but I highly recommend their Baklava, which is amazing. As always, our evening at Broken Plate was wonderful.

Broken Plate Kitchen and Bar is the place to go in Calgary if you want to experience Greek food in a unique setting. The atmosphere is great, the food is delicious and inexpensive, and the service is excellent. Make sure to go on a Friday or Saturday in order to experience the breaking plates.

Rating: 9