Menus are optional at Greek Marina, where Lucia Ribero takes loyal guests' orders even before they sit down.
"They order the same thing all the time," said Ribero, who has helped run this Koko Marina restaurant for the past four years. "It's either the gyros plate or the shish kabob."
Opened five years ago, Greek Marina filled a niche for Hawaii Kai residents who demanded more than just the surrounding fastfood, Japanese, Chinese and American fare.
"This is one of the main reasons we opened this restaurant at this location," said co-owner Tarek Guirguis. "We studied the area and demographics, and felt that a sit-down Greek restaurant would work well here."
The strategy for Guirguis and business partner Nasser Rizk also involved keeping their prices as reasonable as possible.
Emphasizing that they're a "family-friendly" place, Rizk noted that for the amount of food people receive, they're easily getting their money's worth.
"Come on, where are you going get a rack of lamb for $18?" he asked in a rhetorical tone. "And that comes with rice, pita and salad."
Both lunch and dinner menus feature more or less the same dishes, except with the addition of sandwiches and a soup of the day in the evening.
Emerging from the kitchen last Friday, Rizk had just finished preparing his homemade lentil soup.
"I only make it once in a while," he said. "I spiced it up with salt and pepper, some cumin and a lot of garlic."
The end result is a soothing and nourishing bowl of creamy soup that can be turned into a meal with a side of pita and hommus.
Since all entrees here come with Greek salad, this soup offers a warm appetizing alternative.
A pot of simmering lentils, though, wasn't the only item cooking in the kitchen that day. Rizk was preparing his baked chicken ($14.95), served with thick slices of twice-cooked potatoes.
"It's only available during the weekend and only at night," Rizk said. "It's something different from the chicken souvlaki."
Indeed it is. Tender and moist inside, the outside skin was broiled to give it an appetizing charred appearance and a little crackling crunch.
"We make everything from scratch," Rizk said. "And everything is made by hand."
Even ingredients for the marinade are carefully measured, using an exotic blend of spices and the correct amount of olive oil to penetrate pieces of chicken, chunks of lamb and shrimp to achieve that oh-so distinct souvlaki flavor.
"Twenty-four hours is enough to marinate the meat," Rizk said. "And you can't use too much vinegar because it'll toughen the meat."
A mixed combination souvlaki plate comes with a sampling of all three marinated proteins ($14.95 lunch / $17.95 dinner).
Offering its own unique taste are gyros ($11.95/ $13.95), shavings from a special cut of meat that's made with a blend of lamb and roast beef, which then rotates on a vertical skewer while being slowly roasted.
And don't leave here without trying the baklava ($3.95), the classic Greek dessert which Rizk goes through the trouble of making himself.
"I watched a lot of videos to learn how to make it," Rizk said . "It's not easy; a lot of work goes into making baklava."
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