Let's see what happens after the decrease of minimum wage will be voted tonight.
12 February, 2012
Breeze @ Marina Floisvos
Let's see what happens after the decrease of minimum wage will be voted tonight.
11 February, 2012
Everest Sandwich, Crepe and Piraiki
About ten days ago, my father-in-law was taken to the hospital and remained at a state hospital in Voula and remained there for 8 days.
It was a very difficult period for my husband's family, because some of them had to stay with the Father for 24 hours a day. I am not sure if it was absolutely necessary especially for the last 3 days when he was relatively better, but it is what the Greek families do and the Greek state hospitals (maybe not all, but at least some) behaves.
If you live in a so-called developed country (and maybe even if you live in a so-called developing country), you won't believe your eyes when you see any hospital let visitor enter and leave freely 24 hours a day without ID check. In Greece, this is what happens.
Anyway, as it was sometimes difficult to go home to eat, the Husband and I took advantage of the Everest's offer of 3 Euro for a hot sandwich with 4 fillings of your liking.
I do not like Everest so much (I am a Grigoris' follower, as you might know), and this was the first time to try their hot sandwich for which the chain is famous for. As was predictable, I did not like the soggy and stale sandwich, but the idea of pick-whatever-you-like for 3 Euro is a good one in the increasingly poorer Greek population and I am sure the offer is making a great success. Even if I personally do not like it, I cannot help but wish for their success (to survive).
Anyway, God bless now he is out of hospital. But curse on the "A" State Hospital that chased him out when he first wanted to be visited by a doctor. If they had checked him up and had given him a prescription of anti-biotic, it would not have been necessary to take him to hospital with an ambulance and hospitalize him for 8 days.
************
Last Sunday in Piraiki. The Husband was dead tired but wanted to breath the sea breeze.
I ate a crepe at Bragi Cafe.
This time the crepe dough was rather dry and hard, but still great value for 4 Euro. Next time, I have to tell them to reduce the amount of chocolate filling just for me.
On our way home, the sky was like in one of the paintings of Turner.
It was a very difficult period for my husband's family, because some of them had to stay with the Father for 24 hours a day. I am not sure if it was absolutely necessary especially for the last 3 days when he was relatively better, but it is what the Greek families do and the Greek state hospitals (maybe not all, but at least some) behaves.
If you live in a so-called developed country (and maybe even if you live in a so-called developing country), you won't believe your eyes when you see any hospital let visitor enter and leave freely 24 hours a day without ID check. In Greece, this is what happens.
Anyway, as it was sometimes difficult to go home to eat, the Husband and I took advantage of the Everest's offer of 3 Euro for a hot sandwich with 4 fillings of your liking.
I do not like Everest so much (I am a Grigoris' follower, as you might know), and this was the first time to try their hot sandwich for which the chain is famous for. As was predictable, I did not like the soggy and stale sandwich, but the idea of pick-whatever-you-like for 3 Euro is a good one in the increasingly poorer Greek population and I am sure the offer is making a great success. Even if I personally do not like it, I cannot help but wish for their success (to survive).
Anyway, God bless now he is out of hospital. But curse on the "A" State Hospital that chased him out when he first wanted to be visited by a doctor. If they had checked him up and had given him a prescription of anti-biotic, it would not have been necessary to take him to hospital with an ambulance and hospitalize him for 8 days.
Last Sunday in Piraiki. The Husband was dead tired but wanted to breath the sea breeze.
I ate a crepe at Bragi Cafe.
This time the crepe dough was rather dry and hard, but still great value for 4 Euro. Next time, I have to tell them to reduce the amount of chocolate filling just for me.
On our way home, the sky was like in one of the paintings of Turner.
05 February, 2012
Indian Masala @ Thissio
My first Indian restaurant in Greece!
GH, GH's cousin and I visited Indian Masala restaurant in Thissio one Sunday afternoon.
I used to go to Indian quite often when I used to live in UK, but this was my first try since I came to Athens. Not that I did not want to go, but until recently the Indian restaurants in Athens were either in "bad" areas of Athens where GH refuses to enter or were quite expensive. The openings of Indian Masala in Thissio and Indian Kitchen in Syntagma are very fortunate.
I tried to book a table, but was turned down, because it does not take reservation in principle. It is inconvenient, but understandable, as the space is limited and the price is moderate.
Lucky we found a table that could accommodate 4 pax.
The interior is cozy and warm. I heard that there is a courtyard, but it is not for winter period. While we were there, I saw some people either turned down or had to wait for some time to get a table. The waiting staff was quite relaxed and did not tried to urge the people to get out as soon as they finished. It is a good thing, if you have already a table, but it is not, if you don't.
GH ordered chicken pakora as starter to share. They are strips of chicken breast deep fried with spicy butter. Very good and nice snack while you wait for the main.
This is a lamb curry of GH. I don't remember which variety of the curries it was. I liked it.
This is chicken karahi ordered by the cousin. Very similar to what is called "balti" in Birmingham (where I used to live). I did not like the large morsels of tomatoes chopped in.
I wanted to order lamb chops, but were not available. So I ordered sis kebab that the cousin wanted to try. I was not quite sure of the quality of the meal (there were some hard bits here and there), but they tasted all right and the portion was plenty.
We ordered also a raita (Indian tzatziki!), two plain naans, one plain rice (1 portion of rice can feed 1.5 people I think) and one coca cola. The bill was about 45 Euros, 15 per a head, which we thought were bargain.
If you want something exotic while you are in Thissio or Monastiraki, it is a good place to go, as far as you can find a table.
INDIAN MASALA
Ermou 129, Thissio, Athens
210 3219412
Open also for lunch
A couple of weeks ago, a new patisserie opened in the central Piraeus, in Iroon Polytechneio Street.
It is called Ilion and the first of their shops was established indeed in Ilion in suburban Athens.
The speciality is galaktoboureko. We bought one whole galaktoboureko, but gave it to mother in law, so I don't know how it tasted like.
We bought some ekmek kataifi for ourselves.
It consisted in 4 layers, whipped egg white like cream on the top, then sort of stiff mousse, then kataifi noodles, and spicy sponge at the bottom. It certainly wasn't a conventional ekmek kataifi, but was all right on its own light.
I will try galaktoboureko at the next occasion.
26 January, 2012
Serkos's Kebab @ Glyfada
This is one of the restaurants I have wanted to go for years and last weekend finally I found an occasion to pay a visit.
Serkos kai ta Tessera Asteria (Serkos and the Four Stars).
What first caused my desire was that it calls itself an Armenian restaurant. I am very curious about the cuisine of unknown countries. But then I learnt that the Armenian cuisine - at least the one that served in Greece - is very close to Turkish cuisine and my curiosity weakened. On the second phase, this place was recommended by someone I know as one of the best kebab restaurants in Athens, so my desire continued.
It did not look particularly great from outside, and also inside is an average taverna standard with some Armenian decorations.
Although we did not have reservation, could find a table without problem, BECAUSE it was almost 4 o'clock. My experience told me that even at the busiest restaurants, we can find a table if it is 4 o'clock and indeed that was why I did not worry about reserving a table. But if you want to eat at normal meal hours, reservation is very much recommended, as it is not a big restaurant, especially in winter when it is too cold to eat al fresco.
There were a couple of large groups and most of the people looked frequent visitors.
The appetizers were brought to us on a large serving plate and we could choose whatever we liked. You have to be careful when you pick them up, as price is rather high (I will tell you later).
Then, the waiter asked up what main dish we wanted without telling us what they have. Having asked by GH, he orally listed the choices. But I requested the menu and I did well, as the menu describes each dishes.
The huge brown ball is their bread. This is an obligatory order and was pretty good.
GH picked up dormades yalantzi. The vine leaves were fragrant and the rice was nicely minty. Curiously the rice was sweet, as if it was sugared (maybe it was actually). We liked them. 5.50 Euro. OK. Not cheap, but many tavernas charge as much.
I picked up aubergine with tomato sauce. Aubergine had caramelized sweetness. OK, they were tasty, but 5 Euro for 4 slices of aubergine? 1.25 Euro for a slice?
Then GH complained (to me, not to the restaurant) that he had to have tzatziki to be able to eat that bread. I though the bread was nice enough on its own, but he did it in his own way.
Good tzatziki, 4 Euro. Tasted fresh.
This is GH's cheese kebab.
Very good kebab, although I would prefered without cheese (but who cares, as it was not my choice). 12 Euro (tzatziki on the plate was not included).
I ordered chicken sis kebab (10 Euro).
This was superb. The chicken breast can easily overcooked and dry, but these morsels were still moist and so soft. I was very happy.
Although we were full, we could not resist from ordering a kunefe when we saw it on other tables.
Kunefe is freshly baked kataifi with yellow cheese filling. This one was not too sweet and we could almost finish it to our surprise. Unfortunately GH did not like the ice cream as it was mastiha flavoured (he refused to eat even the part of kunefe 'contaminated' by mastiha!). Degenerated Greek he is.
I think the kunefe costs 5.50 Euro, but they did not charge us.
With a half liter of red wine and a big bottle of water, the bill came to 43.50 Euro. They did not give us the receipt, but we could not demand as they offered the dessert. It was an embarrassing situation.
If we paid for the dessert and paid the normal bill, the meal would have cost us 50 Euro together with tip. Expensive? Yes, a bit, but if you know that you won't get disappointed, probably you won't care. My belief is that 30 Euro disappointing meal is more expensive than 50 Euro satisfying meal, as far as you can afford it.
Serkos kai ta Tessera Asteria
Zepou & Xenofontos 28, Glyfada
Tel: 210 9649 553
Fax: 210 963 4920
Σέρκος και τα Τέσσερα Αστέρια
Zέπου και Ξενοφώντος , Γλυφάδα
Τηλ: 210 9649 553
Fax: 210 963 4920
http://www.serkos-glyfada.com/
Serkos kai ta Tessera Asteria (Serkos and the Four Stars).
What first caused my desire was that it calls itself an Armenian restaurant. I am very curious about the cuisine of unknown countries. But then I learnt that the Armenian cuisine - at least the one that served in Greece - is very close to Turkish cuisine and my curiosity weakened. On the second phase, this place was recommended by someone I know as one of the best kebab restaurants in Athens, so my desire continued.
It did not look particularly great from outside, and also inside is an average taverna standard with some Armenian decorations.
Although we did not have reservation, could find a table without problem, BECAUSE it was almost 4 o'clock. My experience told me that even at the busiest restaurants, we can find a table if it is 4 o'clock and indeed that was why I did not worry about reserving a table. But if you want to eat at normal meal hours, reservation is very much recommended, as it is not a big restaurant, especially in winter when it is too cold to eat al fresco.
There were a couple of large groups and most of the people looked frequent visitors.
The appetizers were brought to us on a large serving plate and we could choose whatever we liked. You have to be careful when you pick them up, as price is rather high (I will tell you later).
Then, the waiter asked up what main dish we wanted without telling us what they have. Having asked by GH, he orally listed the choices. But I requested the menu and I did well, as the menu describes each dishes.
The huge brown ball is their bread. This is an obligatory order and was pretty good.
GH picked up dormades yalantzi. The vine leaves were fragrant and the rice was nicely minty. Curiously the rice was sweet, as if it was sugared (maybe it was actually). We liked them. 5.50 Euro. OK. Not cheap, but many tavernas charge as much.
I picked up aubergine with tomato sauce. Aubergine had caramelized sweetness. OK, they were tasty, but 5 Euro for 4 slices of aubergine? 1.25 Euro for a slice?
Then GH complained (to me, not to the restaurant) that he had to have tzatziki to be able to eat that bread. I though the bread was nice enough on its own, but he did it in his own way.
Good tzatziki, 4 Euro. Tasted fresh.
This is GH's cheese kebab.
Very good kebab, although I would prefered without cheese (but who cares, as it was not my choice). 12 Euro (tzatziki on the plate was not included).
I ordered chicken sis kebab (10 Euro).
This was superb. The chicken breast can easily overcooked and dry, but these morsels were still moist and so soft. I was very happy.
Although we were full, we could not resist from ordering a kunefe when we saw it on other tables.
Kunefe is freshly baked kataifi with yellow cheese filling. This one was not too sweet and we could almost finish it to our surprise. Unfortunately GH did not like the ice cream as it was mastiha flavoured (he refused to eat even the part of kunefe 'contaminated' by mastiha!). Degenerated Greek he is.
I think the kunefe costs 5.50 Euro, but they did not charge us.
With a half liter of red wine and a big bottle of water, the bill came to 43.50 Euro. They did not give us the receipt, but we could not demand as they offered the dessert. It was an embarrassing situation.
If we paid for the dessert and paid the normal bill, the meal would have cost us 50 Euro together with tip. Expensive? Yes, a bit, but if you know that you won't get disappointed, probably you won't care. My belief is that 30 Euro disappointing meal is more expensive than 50 Euro satisfying meal, as far as you can afford it.
Serkos kai ta Tessera Asteria
Zepou & Xenofontos 28, Glyfada
Tel: 210 9649 553
Fax: 210 963 4920
Σέρκος και τα Τέσσερα Αστέρια
Zέπου και Ξενοφώντος , Γλυφάδα
Τηλ: 210 9649 553
Fax: 210 963 4920
http://www.serkos-glyfada.com/
22 January, 2012
Grigoris Offer
Currently Grigoris is offering coffee for 1.30 euro. As consequence 2 cappuccino and a special croissant in the photo cost me less than 5 Euro.
Drinking it, we said to each other that in a cafeteria next door just one cappuccino cost as much and the coffee is not as good (Grigoris makes good coffee in general).
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