Rakokazano @ Chalandri

Yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, we found ourselves in Chalandri, because I went to vote at the Consulate. Our Embassy/ Consulate is soooo far from the centre and it is a real trip as far as you do not live in the northern Athens.

Anyway, as we went to a part of Athens we usually do not go, we decided to eat something somewhere close. After a short walk at the centre of Chalandri, we stranded into Ifikleous & Irakliou Streets full of cafeterias.

Although there are many cafeterias, the restaurant was only this one: Rakokazano. It looked busy, although it was at around 5 o'clock, neither lunch nor dinner time. We decided to enter.

It is a restored old building and the seating area extends on three floors, i.e. the ground floor, 1st floor (where there are toilets and kitchen), and the terrace. The terrace should be nice in warmer seasons. We settled at the ground floor, but it wasn't a good idea, as every time someone opens the door, the cold wind hit us.

The decor is modern rustic. Nice.

It is a modern mezedopoleio with some Cretan influence. So, by default, it is rather expensive. If I remember well, the cheapest dishes start from around 5.50 Euro. Even fried potatoes cost that much. There is no cheaper option like tzatziki. The mezedes are between 5.50 and 10 and a small selection of main dishes is above 10 Euro.

Not wanting to spend much, we chose only 3 dishes with prudence.

Instead of salad, we ordered stir-fried horta.

I am not sure what horta it was, because there was chopped in small pieces and contained a good dose of other herbs. The smell of mint was strong. Interesting.

Here is Pork tigania with Graviera cheese. I think it was 9 Euro.

9 Euro for tigania is pretty expensive, but at least there is a good quantity of lean meat. I have never seen graviera cheese (the white cubes in the photo) cooked in this way.

Kotopita (chicken pie) appeared in a strange flat form.

The filling was something like cheesy white sauce with very small quantity of chopped chicken meat. Tasted all right, but is it worth - I think - 6.80 Euro?

We ordered also a half kilo of red wine (0.5 l). Eating above stuff together will bread filled our stomach quite nicely. The total bill was 26.50 Euro, i.e. 13.25 Euro per person including wine. The trick here was not to order many dishes, because each dish is pretty expensive.

Anyway, the reason I am not sure about the prices is because they brought us a receipt like this. It is a formal receipt, but more than half is not legible.

The service is ok, as it was not overwhelmingly busy. The food was served quickly and we were in the ground floor where the waiters stationed.

It is not the kind of place you should travel to visit, but if you live in the area, I guess it is pretty much acceptable.

RAKOKAZANO (ΡΑΚΟΚΑΖΑΝΟ in Greek)
Irakliou 1, Chalandri, Athens
Ηρακλείου 1, Χαλάνδρι, Αθήνα
210-6895501