Ayhan's Shish-Kebab Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of North Hempstead

This place claims to be voted #1 Greek restaurant on long Island... I am Greek, and I found this insulting... I got the gyro platter, and a simple gyro wrap... and there was nothing Greek about it. The meat is not the traditional Pork vertically sliced style... it's the minced beef and lamb style. It wasn't a surprise since it's listed as such in the menu, but as it claims to be voted #1, I thought I'd at least give it a try. It was dry and bland, with a spongy consistency, not even sure if it was beef or lamb after all, but probably some sort of mystery meat. The gyro wrap was probably 80% salad. Actually, I guess that could be considered a good thing since the meat was terrible... Furthermore, there is no tzatziki sauce, or even feta cheese anywhere to be found in this restaurant... not in the gyro... not even on the menu to order as a side... how can you claim to be a Greek restaurant without feta?! the olive oil was from Chile, and it was bad, at that. There were no greek wines, ouzo or even tsipouro, on the menu. In fact, less than a third of their menu, could even be considered greek dishes... not sure whose voting them #1, but I have to tell you, just because you paint your doors blue and put up a few pictures of Santorini, doesn't make you a Greek restaurant, especially a good one. There are plenty of Greek restaurants on long Island that are so much better than this place...

Fast forward a few hours... my wife is puking up the food... never eating...

I'm glad they still have this location open. We were big fans of the one located on the Baldwin/Rockville centre boarder. It was our go to! Coming here felt like coming home. We were familiar with the menu and the atmosphere. The food is just as good as we remembered. We got a sampler for an appetizer. I highly recommend it to get a taste of everything. I love their spanakopita. It's always a must order for me. The chicken egg lemon soup is delightful. Not too heavy. For those of you who may seem a bit apprehensive, hearing egg, it's chicken lemon soup, not eggy smelling or tasting at all. You have to try it. It's so good. You have to get a salad with their homemade dressing! They also sell it in their marketplace around the corner. For entree, of course, he had to get our usual of the mixed grill. You get alittle bit of everything, and everything is absolutely delicious! And save room for their homemade baklava. They have a sampler platter, of all the different types they offer. Everything is incredible. My favorite is the...

Ayhan's seems to be a local favorite and with three restaurants in a two block radius, I can see why. This visit was for dinner at the Shish-Kebab restaurant. It is much larger inside than I thought from the outside. There are several dining rooms so you can ask to sit in a specific section I'd imagine. Service was good and the food was quite good. The portions were huge!! I thoroughly enjoyed the grilled octopus and my lamb shank with Bulger wheat instead of rice. So tender, fall off the bone. The vegetables served with it were good as well, generous portions and plate sizes. My friend had the grilled Pompano, lots of meat and grilled well. The American Saganaki cheese appetizer was really delicious. Eat it quickly before the cheese starts to harden. The aluminum plate it's served in only keeps it warm enough for a fast eater. Menu selection is quite large so do look at it thoroughly before deciding. They were out of the taramasalata unfortunately but we enjoyed the eggplant dip instead. And the lentil...