by MARK SLUTSKY

Marven's sits in an un-prepossessing corner building at the intersection of two residential streets in Park-Ex. It's not much to look at from the outside, but within lies a powerhouse of a Greek restaurant, serving inexpensive food of the kind you might find at a million Greek diners around town, only much better. Decorated more like a country cottage than a Greek resto, Marven's is a warm, comfortable place, with long wooden tables and a mounted moose head on the wall. (There are lots of pictures of ducks too, for some reason.)

The place was nearly full when we arrived at around 6:30 p.m. on a Wednesday evening. Had we shown up any later, or on the weekend, we'd have surely had to wait; Marven's is one of those places that always seems to be packed, though their waiters are famously speedy and efficient and the food gets to your table before you can say boo.

We started by ordering the calamari plate ($9.25) with a side order of tzatziki ($3). Now, you can get fried calamari all over this town, but few do it with Marven's panache. A true platter, the squid was served on a dish almost as long as my forearm. And it was delicious: meaty and firm without ever being rubbery, the curse of so much bad calamari.

The tzatziki portion was also generous, lasting us throughout the entire meal. The sauce was on the thin side, which I personally prefer, with a spiky garlicky taste, and went very well with the big basket of warm herbed bread the waitress plopped down in front of us. Maybe too well - between the bread and the calamari, we were hardly prepared to consume the vast amounts of food left to come.

For the main course, my two companions chose the chicken stick plate ($8.75) and the lamb chops ($13.75), while I went for the salmon filet ($16, though it may vary depending on market prices that day).

All of our orders came with a side Greek salad and fries, though the salads that accompanied the lamb and the salmon were noticeably larger than the one included with the chicken sticks. It was no biggie, though, as the larger salads were pretty gigantic, loaded with big fresh chunks of tomato, plenty of crisp lettuce, and imposing, monolith-like slabs of feta cheese.

My salmon filet was dwarfed by the huge amount of wide, thick fries piled on my plate. Marven's has its own special sauce for the fries, a mysterious orange concoction that tasted somewhere between gravy and hot sauce. Though I like big fries, these were unpleasantly soggy and limp, though this doesn't usually seem to be the case.

The salmon itself was coated with a thin, herbed glaze, and was fresh tasting, if unexciting. Squeezing some lemon over it, though, brought out some of the flavour and upped the tastiness a notch.

The lamb chops were another highlight, with a strong taste accented by the flavour of oregano. Though not too thick, they had a satisfying weight to them. With all the fries, they made for a pretty hearty meal. The chicken sticks were seasoned and cooked just right - crispy on the outside, not too chewy in the middle.

We couldn't have a Greek meal without tasting some baklava, so we ordered one portion to share. Oozing with honey, the pastry was unbelievably sweet, and for the sake of our dental health it was probably for the best that we were only allowed a few bites. We left full and content, stuffed with Greek grub of the highest order.

Marven's
Address: 880 Ball (at Wiseman, two blocks east of l'Acadie)
Phone: 277-3625
Hours: Mon–Thu, Sun 11am-12am; fri-Sat 11am-1am
Best features: Greek food done right & cheap, fantastic calamari
Alcohol: Yes
Vegetarian friendly: Yes
Credit cards: No, but there's an in-house ATM
Wheelchair access: One step up
Price: $15–$20 per person before tax, tip, and wine
Rating: *** out of ****