Argo - a Greek Gem in Beijing

Who knew you could find authentic Greek food in Beijing?  On Thursday night, I went to Argo to catch up with a friend, who was one out of a total of 30 Greek expats in the city.  He was raving about this restaurant when it first opened up last year, so I was excited to eat some no-nonsense, hearty Greek food.

Argo was located in Wudaoying Hutong near the Yonghegong Lama Temple, a quiet and charming hutong alley that's not as commercialized as NLGX.  The restaurant had a rustic look and feel, but I could tell it was also renovated recently, so everything still looked fairly new.  It felt warm and comfortable inside the restaurant, and I had an inkling I was going to enjoy this foodie experience.  Upon walking in, my friend gave me a tour of the restaurant and introduced me to the owner - a Greek man who's lived in Beijing since...1979 (um, the year I was born)!!  He basically spoke better Chinese than me and many of my other friends, which I was rather embarassed about (but that's another story).

We sat down and my friend quickly did all the ordering.  I can go on and on with what we ate, but why don't I just show some pictures? :)

Our appetizers were a series of dips and freshly baked bread (no pita for some reason but whatever).  Here's a picture of the eggplant dish! 

Grape leaves and the eggplant dip again.  The grape leaves were a little stringy, but still tasted delicious.

Baked cheese and tomato and green peppers...YUMMMY

A very refreshing Greek salad

Meatballs covered in a hearty tomato sauce...and a yummy cheese dip in the background

One of my favorites of the night - BAKLAVA!!!

I give Argo two thumbs up.  The food was amazing, the staff was extremely friendly and the restaurant was cozy and cute.  Definitely coming back here!