Had dinner at Asteria Grill in Sunnyvale. The location is a bit hidden, tucked in the area between Mathilda, 237, and US 101, located next to a motel. Unless you know where to look, you would most likely drive right past, as the roadside sign is not obvious. Having served as a steakhouse/diner in a former life , Asteria took the place of a Chinese buffet place that moved in after the steakhouse went bust. Supposedly the chef is from Athena Grill, another Greek place in Santa Clara that served the same style of food. Lunch is semi-table service where you order at the register, take a number, seat yourself, and food is then brought to you by runners. For dinner, it is full table service. Specials are posted when you walk in. Asteria has all the standard Greek fare, including gyros, souvlaki, lamb. mousaka, and wraps.
After ordering, we were served house made hummus and a bread basket with warm pita and french bread. The hummus had a consistency similar to chunky peanut butter, but instead of peanuts, the small chunks were cooked chickpeas. This gave it a nice rustic feel which is different from some of the paste like hummus served at other Mediterranean restaurants. A nice way to start the meal off, also eliminating the need to order an appetizer.
Greek Salad came next and is included with all the dinner entrees. Pretty standard with lettuce, feta cheese, olives and lightly dressed in vinaigrette. Perfectly serviceable salad, but nothing extraordinary.
I decided to order the grilled swordfish and Theresa opted for the grilled Filet Mignon medallion with grilled shrimp We had a choice of vegetables, rice, or fries. I opted for the veggies and Theresa the rice.
Meats were grilled well, with the steak remaining juicy and cooked to medium as requested. The swordfish remained moist and had the proper level of seasoning. As you can tell portions are pretty generous, so between the bread, salad, and entree, our friends Kat and Nate ordered the gyro plate and the lamb chop special. Both plates had generous portions, with the pita piled high with gyro meat and french fries for Kat, and 3 lamb chops came with Nate’s order. So portions should be more than enough to satisfy even larger eaters.
Taken together, Asteria is a place we would put into our regular rotation of food, especially if we wanted Greek food. It also delivers good value, as you will not leave Asteria hungry and might have enough left over for lunch the next day.
Open Monday to Saturday 11-9. closed on Sundays
