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Assini's used to be one of the BEST Greek restaurants in the whole Lower Mainland. The original owners who started the place in 1991 on 96th Ave. ran it as a family business. It was awesome! Unfortunately they had to move on so they sold the place. The new owners kept the original quality and menu, and recipes. It was still good for quite a long time. I then moved out of the area, and was not able to visit Assini's for a few years until tonight. (Dec 3, 2010) It's apparent that they either have new owners again, or they simply don't bother to use quality anymore. We ordered Tiger Prawns for an appetizer, my wife had the Lasagna, and I had the Lamb shoulder dinner. These are what we often ordered in the past. Only this time, everything was pretty terrible. First of all everything was mildly warm, not hot. This is a major turnoff. So the prawns, although they tasted nice, they were almost cold. Not happy. Our meals then came. The Greek salads were ok, but way too watery with some kind of sauce and overly salty. The Lasagna was mushy. I could tell it was frozen or refrigerated and just reheated. It was soggy and the noodles were like paste. Terrible!! The sauce was dry with next to no meat. It was bland. My wife could not finish it. I had the lamb. The rice, potatoes and vegetables were almost cold. The vegetables reminded me of those pre-mixed frozen vegetable bags you get at the grocery store. Unacceptable! Although the lamb was hot, it lacked in taste and was rather bland. It also seemed to have a sweet sauce of some kind over top. I have never had this taste before. Although at first it was ok, I grew tired of it quickly. It was tender though, so it seemed to be cooked decently. The garlic toast was no good. We couldn't even taste any garlic. Just the fake taste of cheap oil or whatever they are now using. The pita bread was nice though, surprisingly it was light and fluffy. The tsatziki sauce was also nice, but a bit too strong with the garlic.
Overall Assini's has gone down hill too far. We should have known when we arrived and all the tables were empty except for one other couple. You used to have to wait in line or get reservations for Friday nights. It will be our last time to eat there. I know better places now. For this I am sad. But it's obvious, the current owners don't care about quality.
Pricing was not bad for the size, but for the quality it was bad and not worth it at all.
Service was ok, but considering we were the only ones there after the other couple left, I can't give a fair review. The waitress never asked us how our food was at all though, so that was a negative point.
If your looking for good Greek food, you should pass Assini's by. It was once to die for, but now it's like a cheap imitation, and I suspect the only people who still go here or like the place are people who have no sense of quality or taste, especially true Greek taste.
Shame on the current owners.
I will miss you Assini!
My family started ordering from this restaurant over a decade ago when it was conveniently located at the end of our street (it has since moved). We mostly get pizza, which is our family favourite. It is full of toppings and always great and arrives promptly. My personal favourite is their Greek pizza....and the All-dressed. They've recently renovated their location and is great for dine-in too. Typical Grrek fare. Portions are huge. My favourites are the roast lamb and the lamb souvlaki.
As long-time customers of Assini, we have enjoyed many of their items. Although some people enjoy the pizza and pasta, their Greek specialties are what we come here for. The spanakopita is very flavourful, Greek salad is very fresh, tzatziki is very garlicky but good, and the roast potatoes and pita bread are yummy. Souvlaki is tasty, although sometimes the chicken can be dry. The lamb is nicely cooked here. The only Greek item I find underwhelming is the gyro, probably because there was too much tzatziki in it.
Service has always been very friendly and efficient, and very accommodating to special requests. Takeout is great here, too.
The kids enjoy the lasagna, although I find it a bit gloppy and the flavour a little different from a usual lasagna. Pizza can be good, but it can also be soggy.
Recently they've changed their hours to close Monday/Tuesday, but they are now open for lunch as well as dinner during the rest of the week. Looking forward to another visit soon.
Believe it or not I can't find a cheap mom and pop greek place.
Tried this one out and I would go back, although the lamb was a bit dry and the value was ok, not bad, but only ok. They do give plenty of rice and their greek salad was the best one I ever had - not sure what they do to it.
Over all - yeah, try it out, but I am curious if there is a better place around.
I used to find a lot of Greek restaurants around now not so much - this one, however, is a great little find for take out. Not a bad place to sit and eat, pretty cozy, but I'd rather do the take out. The roast lamb is awesome and they use a lot of garlic, which I love. Everything tasted fresh and the food was delicious - fair value.
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