Ithaki Mediterranean Restaurant — Restaurant in Peabody

We dined at Ithaki last night for the fist time since they moved from Ipswich, MA to their new location on Newbury Street in Peabody, MA. The restaurant is very spacious and tasteful decorated in a modern, Mediterranean style without being too showy. The hostess was pleasant when we arrived and we were seated immediately, even though we did not have a reservation (it was a Monday evening). Within moments our waitperson arrived at our table. She greeted us with a very warm welcome, big smile and genuinely conversed about the restaurant as well as their former location. She took our drink orders and quickly brought glasses of water as well as a chilled bottle of table water, along with fresh lemon slices. Immediately followed by fresh baked slices (warm) of sweet bread bake on-site and their special crafted spread of ground tomatoes, olives, garlic, feta and wonderful spices!!! For an appetizer we shared an order of "Italian fries". The fries were wonderful...beautifully cooked, light in color, nicely spiced and not greasy. Each of us ordered different entrees. I have to highlight that every entree that we saw pass through the diningroom was so beautiful and well plated. Our entrees arrived in a very reasonable about of time and each was again very attractive and nicely plated for presentation. Personally, I had Pasticio which is a Greek dish of ground beef, long compressed elbow macaroni, bechemel and cheeses (of course cinnamon was blended into the meat). It was served in a tall souffle pan. One of my guest had Greek chicken lemon orzo soup with a cream/mushroom base. He stated, " this is the best version of this soup I've ever had"! He also had a summer beet, walnut salad with balsamic vinegar and feta. For the protein he added a filet of salmon which was very generous in size, fresh and cooked perfectly. My other dinner guest had a pork and pasta meal which she said was wonder and the other diner order beef shanks which was served with roasted vegetables and rice. He enjoyed his meal selection and would highly recommend it. Unfortunately, we we too full from dinner so we did not try dessert.....I would definitely recommend this restaurant, if you are looking for a nicer dining experience and Greek/Mediterranean food. The prices are moderate but fair for the quality...

My partner and I went to Ithaki for the first time together. The construction was a bit of eyesore, but once inside, we were greeted, and had reservations for 6:00 PM. We were offered the seating of our choice and we opted for the booth against the wall, a quiet and out of the way place. We were attended to right away, water brought and asked if we wanted drinks, which we declined. Our waiter a gentleman who has been with Ithaki for 25 years, was pleasant and checked back with us once we reviewed the menu. I ordered the Short Rib Pappardelle (GF) Braised short rib, mushrooms, cippolini onion, parmesan.

My partner ordered from the small plates and went with the Octopus* (GF) Fava, pickled onion, garlic aioli. Additionally we ordered the Beet salad and shared that. Bread was brought and that was good, with the crock of spread that came with it (not oil with garlic or Butter) and we were fine with that.

The Beet salad was delicious and we both really enjoyed that commenting on the ingredients and arugula/goats cheese/good quantity of beets/fresh oranges and a nice dressing that complimented the salad.

The pasta was brought with the braised beef and it was very tender (the beef) and the noodles, pappardelle cooked perfectly, (al dente) and was plentiful.

The octopus however, was not to my partner's standard. Unfortunately it was grilled, but over grilled and the exterior was burnt and the octopus, which should have been tender, was rubbery and very chewy and truthfully she could not eat it. I tried a pieces to to corroborate her opinion and found, I could not even (sadly) chew the piece I took ( and I have excellent teeth! ;-)

We did make our waiter/server aware of the situation and he said that's the way they make it, but in all honesty, it was, as we discussed on the way home like eating Burnt Rubber. We were not offered condolences, free desert, or anything to send us away figuring our honesty was helpful, we paid,...

We came here on Father's Day to celebrate the wonderful hubs. We were a bit early for our reservation, but they gladly sat us. The place is very large and open but elegantly designed and laid out. It would be very fitting for a large group gathering. We also noticed they had a function room tucked back behind the bathrooms. Ana was our server for the evening and did an exemplary job. She was always around when we needed her, made wine recommendations, and even gave me a tasting or two. Her smile was contagious! For starters, they offered complimentary bread and a tomato dip consisting of tomato, feta, garlic, and olive oil. The bread was soft, chewy, and warm. The dip was cold and refreshing, with a nice bite to it! Cocktails soon arrived. Hubs had their version of a mojito, which he thought was super yummy and refreshing. I opted for the hot and dirty, and it delivered! The appetizers were the layered hummus--divine! It hit all the taste notes and had lots of different textures! Keftedes were lamb and pork fritters with a nice tzatziki sauce. For dinner, I chose the blackened salmon over rice pilaf and a carrot ginger puree. This was a flavor bomb in my mouth--so delicious. Hubs had the lamb skewers with potato puffs. He noted that it was cooked perfectly and nicely seasoned. He loved the char on the vegetables, too. Who can pass up dessert when you are celebrating? Hubs chose the limoncello cake, which he absolutely loved! It was a bit too sweet for me, but that is okay! In chatting with a neighboring table, they loved their meal as well and wanted me to snap a pic of their dessert, lava cake, which was thoroughly enjoyed! I ended the night with Espresso Martinis, and oh my my! So yummy and my goodness those glasses! So cute! We will be back. Even that night, sitting there, we were debating who to invite on our next...