Fishαλίδα @ Pagkrati

[Update 13 April 2014: This venue does not exist anymore. It is now an Italian restaurant called Vespa Rossa].

We visited yesterday Fishαλίδα - that I would call a "seafood mezedopoleio"; not really either psarotaverna or fish restaurant.

It is only a few minutes walk from Evangelismos Metro station, if you don't lose your way.

I did not lost my way thanks to the GPS of my smartphone, but I did miss the entrance. I say an entrance, but it took some time to ascertain this is THE entrance to Fishαλίδα because there is no sign near the door.

When we arrived at 8:30, there was only another couple dining and we could choose wherever we liked. We got the table inside the restaurant, but there are some tables outside along the road.

The menu is exclusively seafood. Many mezedes and various main dishes. There are some choices of big fish, but I don't think it is not the restaurant wants to sell.

It was another hot day and we wanted to eat something light. So we went for some small dishes.

Here are the obligatory order of bread and olives. Both quite good. Be warned however that the bread costs 2 Euro per person (let's not think it is price for bread, but is a cover charge including bread).

Here is fava (yellow split pea paste) served with chopped onions and sliced fennel pickles (5 euro).

Probably it was not bad, but having eaten recently such a good fava at Vatrahos, this one was rather disappointing to me.

Here is Fishαλίδα salad. Mixed Green salad leaves and flakes of boiled cod. 8 Euro.

The green was nice and different, but cod was not adding anything being totally tasteless. Not successful.

Smoked mackerel with lentils and cucumber. 5 Euro.

Combination of lentils and smoked mackerel was a good idea. The problem - I thought - was that the mackerel wasn't good enough. Unfortunately the cucumber was not adding crunchiness that would be nice if there had been.

Hand-cut fried potatoes. 3 Euro.

Oil was stale. Total fail.

Fried baby squids. 6 Euro.

Again, the oil was not good and the squids were tasteless. If I put this stuff into my mouth without seeing it, I would not tell what it was.

Although we were full at this point, we dared to order a dessert: millefeuille.

It is not the millefeuille I know, but I have impression that the meaning of millefeuille was somewhat forgotten. Anyway, it was nice. If there were some slices of fruits, that would have been even better. 4 euro.

We order also half a kilo of white wine (which I liked) and the total bill came to 40 Euro. And we were charged actually 28 Euro because I had a discount card.

In general, I was not really happy with the food. It was not bad, but was really average. Maybe because our choice of dishes was unfortunate. On the other hand, I am glad to say that the price is competitive for a place specializes in seafood and fish.

The service was quick and friendly. The environment is pleasant.

When we were leaving, the restaurant was quite busy and two waiters were struggling to cope. I noticed that there was a quite lot of foreigners among the patrons. I presume that they were coming from Hilton and Divani Caravel Hotel in the vicinity.

If I happen to be in the area, I might try the place again, but for fish, I think I know better places.

Fishalida
Naiadon 2, Antinoros
Hilton Area
Tel 210 7234551

Fishαλίδα
Ναϊάδων 2, Αντήνορος
Περιοχή Χίλτον
http://www.fishalida.gr/