It certainly seems that dining around can be hit or miss these days--some days, the meal is stellar and blows you away--other days it leaves you kicking yourself for even darkening the establishment's doorway. I darkened the doorway of Olives Meze Grill on West Bay Street, and was wowed, considering all I had in my mind was the misstep that had happened a few months back that left me disappointed.

I wasn't exactly jumping with excitement when my friend Garnel decided she wanted to grab dinner and asked me to go with her. Honestly, I wasn't the happiest person walking into the restaurant that was packed and buzzing. I was quite sullen actually, because all that was on my mind was of the disappointing takeout experience I'd had.

Perusing the menu, I decided I wouldn't have anything to eat, but at Garnel's insistence, I figured I'd go with something light, because I really wasn't in the mood. I opted for two starter dishes as opposed to an entree item, settling on the grilled octopus, because I love octopus, and the filo-wrapped spicy feta shrimp. I went with the shrimp for no other reason than it said spicy and had feta cheese in it. I love spice and I love feta cheese. Fried shrimp I can pass on my hungriest of days.

The octopus arrived first. It was a beautiful, split baby octopus with crisp, char-grilled tentacles and a tender, juicy body. The higher up you ventured towards the meatier head portion, served with a miniscule arugula salad, thin slices of red onion, a few olives sprinkled here and there, it was the perfect light starter that I'd wanted, and a dish that I enjoyed. On my return, it's one I have to have again.

Next up, came the filo-wrapped shrimp on a bed of spicy feta tomato sauce. The presentation was show-stopping. Three jumbo shrimp were wrapped in filo dough, deep fried to a golden brown, and stacked straight up in the middle of the plate. Surrounded by a rich, red tomato sauce flecked with pieces of feta cheese, it was beautiful to look at, but the proof would have to be in the taste.

The slightly spicy and salty sauce was the perfect foil to the crisp shrimp. But, seeing as I'm not the biggest fried shrimp lover, after I'd eaten the first one, I started peeling the filo dough away to get directly at the shrimp, just so I didn't waste them, when in actuality for me, eating the spicy feta tomato sauce would have sufficed. The sauce was that good. Actually, I would have enjoyed it even more if I'd just had the sauce served over pasta.

My dining companion went with the Greek salad and the fish of the day--a mutton snapper--at the waiter's urging, which he assured had arrived fresh that day. At Garnel's urging, we enjoyed a bite of each other's meals, but I was more than happy with my selections.

All-in-all, the experience at Olives Meze Grill was a pleasing one from the food I ate, to the homey decor of the restaurant. Filled to capacity with the buzz from the other diners, made the evening that much better.

I actually left the restaurant looking forward to a return trip. I have yet to make it, but one thing I'm certain of is that I will have the spicy feta tomato sauce. I just hope I can have it over a bed of pasta, because I can forgo fried shrimp any day of the week.

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