Pasta Viva @ Glyfada

One very fine Sunday, we went for a walk in Glyfada & decided to have a lunch.

Greek Husband wanted Italian, so I choose Pasta Viva about which I had read positive reviews on the web.

From the outlook, I was not inspired, but the price being pretty affordable, I thought we could give it a try anyway. GH is not as fussy as I am, so as far as he can get spaghetti, he is all right.

There wasn't many people when we arrived, but later it started to fill up. The décor is like that of fast food restaurants; nothing noteworthy.

This is a pasta place and, if you want anything else, there is very little choice. You should be reminded that this is a pasta place, and NOT an Italian restaurant.

When I asked water, the waiter asked me if I wanted tap or bottled. I think it is a good service.

The bread was nice country type bread (0.60 Euro x 2 pax). I am not sure if it was an obligatory order or not. Portion was very small, but as we were to eat a big portion of carbohydrate anyway, I don't think anyone wanted lots of bread.

We got a insalata alla caprese as starter (6.40 Euro). The green thing on the slices of mozzarella is pesto alla genovese.

Again, nothing noteworthy. Just passable (which is all right for this sort of place).

My pasta was Verdura ai ferri, which is tagliatelle mixed is grilled vegetables and some creamy sauce, with slices of parmiggiano reggiano cheese on top. This is one of the most expensive pastas on the menu costing 8.60 Euro.

I did not think that there was a harmony among the ingredients. In my opinion, it was like a dish prepared by a home cook, not a professional outcome. But I ate it all, as it was all right.

GH ordered Quattro Formaggi with Spaghetti. I did not mention that for most of the pasta dishes, you can select the type of pasta you prefer from Spaghetti, tagliatelle, farfalle, fusilli, rigatoni, penne and tortellini (brand is Barilla) and, if you like, you may ask to put it in the oven. It is a good idea.

There are some extra optional ingredients and GH wanted chicken with it.

I did not like the taste of cream used in the sauce, but GH was happy (I have to stress he is NOT FUSSY).

The portion is large and we got full at the end.

There was no room for dessert, but the small glass of strawberry sorbet on the house was a nice palate cleanser.

With a 0.5 l beer (3.90 Euro) the total bill came to 28.70 Euro, which is reasonable. I have to mention also that most of the pasta dishes are between 6 and 8 Euro, so you can spend even less money for a lunch for 2.

Considering that the quality of the food do not surpass what I can prepare at home, I do not think of coming back again on my own. But, this is not the point. If I have to choose a restaurant for a meal with friends who I don't know how much money they want to spend, I would pick up this restaurant easily. Or, if I were a young person who earns the new Greek minimum wage or something like that and wanted to have a lunch/dinner date, again this place looks ideal.

Pasta Viva
Maragkou 7
Plateia Glyfadas
Glyfada
Tel. 210 8945050

And another one in Daphni

L. Papanastasiou 2
Metro Daphnis
Tel. 210 9758533

http://www.pastaviva.gr/

Afterwards, we went to Haagen Dasz for a coffee.

In Zisimopoulou street, there are some cafeterias ABSOLUTELY packed and people are making a queue to get a table. I have no idea why.

Haagen Dasz is usually not one of them and we can get a good table easily.

And we get a complementary pieces of cake.