Taxim

We went to dinner in Wicker Park at a modern Greek restaurant called Taxim.  We had seen Taxim on an episode of Check Please.

We ordered a couple of appetizers and entrees.  The actual names of some of the dishes are a bit complicated themselves so we will explain.

Eggplant Spread

Polítiki melitzanosaláta – wood fire roasted eggplant with sesame and house made pita.  This reminded us a lot of a baba ghanouj (the Greek version). We enjoyed it; but of course we love eggplant.


Kolokithokeftédes – butternut and acorn squash fritters with house made yogurt and cabbage.  These were tasty and the yogurt sauce had a very minty taste and went well with the fritters.

Squash Fritters

Duck gyros with fries - the gyros looked a lot like a southwest egg roll.  Nick is realizing that he just doesn't enjoy duck as much as Natalie. It was a fun play on the gyros concept but we really liked the other 3 dishes better.

Manti - goat cheese and fava bean dumplings with yogurt and roasted red pepper sauce.  The "stuffing" of the dumplings were great and we loved the red pepper sauce with the dumplings themselves. The edges were a little crispy but that didn't take away from the dish at all.

Final thoughts on Taxim:
Food - the food was a bit of different take on traditional Greek dishes.  Unlike traditional Greek foods, the dishes we ordered were light and refreshing.  We realized that except for the duck in the gyros we ordered all vegetarian items - which was great and we would order more vegetarian at other places if we had such great options. We didn't order dessert because the options were quite limited and nothing sounded that appealing from that menu.

Duck Gyros

Service - well we were the only table filled in the restaurant (for the entire time we were eating).  So we got a lot of attention. The server explained the menu to us and gave us some of her favorites as options.
Atmosphere - well we didn't get the full atmosphere because we were the only ones there.  But the Check Please feature showed a full house which probably happens on the weekends; we were there on a Wednesday night close to when they opened.  The interior of the restaurant is quite festive and reminiscent of a bazaar in the Mediterranean.

Goat cheese and fava bean dumplings