Voronof @ Kastela, Piraeus

In Kastella area of Piraeus there are some music taverns. One Friday night of October we decided to visit one of them. In future I hope to visit one by one so that I can offer a complete picture.

The first to come was Voronof, situated between Passalimani and Mikrolimano. According to their website, it offers 90 seatings.

We arrived at 11 o'clock in a Friday evening. In Greek music taverns it seems that the music starts usually from 10.30 or 11, if it is not in touristic places like Plaka where the entertainment starts much earlier.

We were seated on the first floor, as the ground level was occupied by two large groups.

The waiting staff was pleasant and attentive; we were well served even though we were on the upper floor.

Upon seated, we were offered a small bottle of rakomelo and some black olives (on house).

The first three dishes arrived quickly: Green salad (Πράσινη σαλάτα, 5euro), mushrooms in cream (Μανιτάρια αλά κρεμ, 7euro), and diced potato baked in oven (Πατάτες στο φούρνο με τυρί, 6 euro). Unfortunately the photos did not come out very well as it was quite dark inside.

As you see, the price is relatively high for the things they offer, which is all right as we are supposed to pay also for the music. The problem was that the food wasn't that good. We were almost grateful that the portions were not large, as, if they had been, we would not have finished.

The green salad was fine, as you can imagine, it is difficult to go wrong. The diced potato was too greasy from the fat coming out of the cheese. In my opinion, the potato should not be cut so small as, doing so, potato loses the lovely starchy texture. Mushrooms seemed to be from a tin. Personally, it did not bother me, as tinned mushrooms were my childhood comfort food. Just that the cream did not have any particular taste and rather bland.

It took quite a while for grilled meat patties (Μπιφτέκια, 9 euros) to arrive



Unfortunately, it did not worth the wait. The taste of meat wasn't bad, but the patties were too dry and it was difficult to swallow. The chips strangely tasted like crisps and were disgusting.

The best thing we ate that night was the home-made cream pie (σπιτικό μπουγατσά) offered at the end of meal.



I don't like bougatsa when the cream tastes too much of semolina flour, but this one has almost the perfect flavour. I know. The picture does not do justice.

Now, about the entertainment. The music was more than OK. There were a guitar player and a bouzouki player. They were also singers, and both played very well.

Some people danced.



But the dancing space wasn't large enough to allow more than 5 or 6 persons at a time.

With 750ml of house wine, the bill came to 35 euros (there was two errors in the first bill which was 3 euros more, but I don't think they did it on pourpose). This probably isn't bad considering that it included entertainment. I just wish that the food was a little bit better. We might go back there for the music, but definitely not for food.

Voronof
Karatza 29, Kastella, Piraeus
Tel. 210-41.30.503.

ΒΟΡΟΝΩΦ
Καρατζά 29, Καστέλλα, Πειραιάς
Τηλ. 210-41.30.503.
http://www.voronof.gr/

Dodoni @ Marina Zea, Piraeus

Also in Piraeus there is one outlet of Dodoni (Δωδώνη) - the ubiquitous ice cream franchise in Greece. I don't know the exact address, but it is in Passalimani (Marina Zea), not so far from Carrefour heading toward West.

It might sound surprising and it makes me surprise that I have never eaten Dodoni ice cream, either in shop or at home (packaged Dodoni ice cream is widely available in supermarket in Greece). I don't know why. Maybe because of my general tendency to avoid franchise shops. Who knows?

But, then, an occasion presented itself finally. Hubby and I were walking Passalimani looking for a cafeteria. We wanted also something sweet as it was getting close to noon. Dodoni, which sells also crepes and waffles, looked to be an attractive choice.

The location isn't really attractive directly facing to a busy street. Maybe for this reason, here any coffee costs only 2 euros. Besides coffees, we ordered also Strawberry jam and whipped cream crepe with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The crepe itself wasn't bad, although slightly too thick and soft to my taste. Jam wasn't of particularly good quality and whipped cream wasn't dairy. I was expecting it, as the price was around 4 euros, but the fact that the vanilla ice cream scarcely smelling of vanilla was beyond my expectation. I did not like the ice cream AT ALL. It was pretty artificial and there was nothing noteworthy. We did not even finish it.

It was good to know that it sells coffees for 2 euros, but I won't go back for crepe or, all the less, for ice cream.

Grill Square @ Omonia Square, Athens

One day I casually visited Grill Square in the Omonia Square.



I don't know the exact address, but, as you see in the photo, it is directly facing to the Omonoia Square and just next to Macdonald's.

They allow both take-out and eat-in (self-service) and the price does not differ. Besides gyros and kalamaki, they sell also grilled chicken.

I had a pork souvlaki in pita (1.80 euro) and a bottle of water.

Fine. No complaint.

The best thing about this place is the seating space. In Omonia Square there is the famous Gonia souvlaki shop, but it does not have seat. I have to stress also that the shop is clean and bright enough that even a lone woman can eat-in without feeling uneasy. I will be probably back.

Ta Giouvetsakia @ Plaka, Athens

Last Wednesday was an unusual day for me.

Usually I lead pretty quiet life. Weekdays especially. Go to school in the morning and do some work at home in the afternoon, then wait for Hubby to return at around 9 o'clock. When we finish dining, it is too late to go out, so we remain home until bedtime.

It was different last Wednesday. First, after school, two of my schoolmates took me to school canteen for lunch. Food wasn't nice, but good was the company. Then I went home.

While having a coffee in front of my PC, an ex-language schoolmate of mine invited me for a drink in Athens. I accepted the offer and went out to get a bus.

While I was waiting for a bus, another friend of mine from UK asked me if it was ok to meet in the evening. I remembered vaguely that there was that appointment, but not having heard from him until that very day, I took it for cancelled (he was visiting Greece only for a week for work staying in Athens only for some days, so it seemed probable to me that he would run out of time). Luckily, the time he suggested was quite late, so I could make for both meet-ups.

Then, while the ex-schoolmate and I were walking around looking for where to settle, we met another ex-school friend of ours just by chance!

Now that I think, the whole last week was unusual. Monday I met another person for a coffee and Thursday as well. Friday with another person for dinner.

It must have been a chance, but I cannot help but thinking if all these have any hidden meaning.


Personal matters aside, now I have to write about this restaurant Ta Giouvetsakia. I did not took any photo this time and the one below was taken last year.

This is the retaurant I went with the friend from UK I mentioned above. There joined another friend who lives now in Greece but I first met in UK. This restaurant was suggested by the English friend who has been here several times in the past.

We ordered three mezedakia, three main dishes and one salad. The mezedakia = orektika were fava, tyrokafteri and boiled beetroot. The main dishes were fried gavros (anchovies), beef with aubergine, and baked chicken and fried potatoes. The salad was shredded cabbage and carrot. We had also a half kilo of house wine.

Let's go more into the detail. The orektika dishes were all fine. Tyrokafteri looked suspiciously white - not cheesy white, but snow white - but on tasting it, it was quite acceptable with nice kick of green fresh chili. Mashed fava (=yellow split peas) was decorated with chopped fresh red onion and olive oil. Never having eaten fava in this way (but this is the commonest way of eating fava in Greece), I could not compare, but I liked it. Boiled beetroot was again fine: very sweet with only slight earthiness.

Among the main dishes, the one looked the best was the beef with aubergine. It came in small youvetsi earthen ware. Judging from the name of the restaurant, the dishes cooked in youvetsi are their specialities. The other main dishes and the salad were also ok.

After the meal, we were offered semolina halvas for free.

The total bill for 7 dishes and 1/2 litre of wine came to just below 50 euros (I cannot give you the break-down, as our server never returned us the receipt). For the central Plaka, the price looked fair. I won't go back there with Hubby, but if I need to take foreign visitors to Plaka, this place is an acceptable choice.



Ta Giouvetsakia (Γιουβετσάκια)
144 Adrianou and Thespidos
Plaka, Athens
210-3227033

Istioploikos @ Mikrolimano Piraeus

Hubby and I went to Istioploikos in Mikrolimano for a coffee on a Sunday in September.

On the previous day, an acquaintance of mine told me that it was a very nice place and that was why I felt I should come and see. Otherwise, I would not have gone at all, as I had an impression that this is that sort of place where people go just to show off.

Istioploikos is on one end of Mikrolimano and it belongs to the yacht club in front. There is a section reserved for the club members, but the rest of the space is open to all who are ready to pay!

It has two storeys: the lower storey is restaurant and the upper one is cafe-bar which becomes club in the evening. Below is the view from the upper floor.

It was packed in this Sunday afternoon, but fortunately we could grab a table just vacated. They serve light meals as well as coffees and alcoholic drinks, but many people seem to use it as a bar rather than a cafeteria.

Price is high. Higher than other cafeterias in Mikrolimano, but not higher than in Marina Zea, I thought.




This September was rather cool and wet and this Sunday wasn't an exception and that was why I ordered a cappuccino, if you were wondering why I should order a hot cappuccino in mid-September in Greece.



Coffee was wine. What I did not like at all was loud music; it was difficult to have a conversation. Obviously it is purely a personal preference and many people prefer this way. Just that if you want to enjoy your coffee quietly, forget about the cafeteria of Istioploikos during the weekend.


The restaurant below has a view closer to the water, something like the one below. Maybe it is more attractive in the evening. It was quiet and a different environment from the cafeteria-bar above.



My impression of Istioploikos is rather negative. Not because it is bad absolutely, but because it does not suit me.

On our way to the bus stop, we found this attractive cat.



Istioploikos
Cafe-Restaurant
Akti Mikrolimanou
Peiraias
Tel. 210 41.34.084

Ιστιοπλοϊκός
Ακτή Μικρολίμανου
Πειραίας
Τηλ. 210 41.34.084
http://www.istioploikos.gr/