Sardela @ Korydallos

By some turn of events, we found ourselves in Korydallos last Sunday afternoon and needed to eat in 1 hour. Not having time to look for places in my very long "restaurants to visit" list, we entered one which we found by chance.

So much under a pressure to find a place quickly, we did not even realize that it was a fish restaurant until we sat down and read the name of restaurant, Sardela.

It is virtually on the Freedom (Eleftheria) Square, but you don't really feel it, because currently all the square is enclosed by metal wall due to the metro construction work.

I had an impression that they had cheap set menu of 12 Euro p.p. or so, but we ordered a la carte.

The menu mostly consists of psaromezedes (fish/seafood mezedes) and main dishes. I do not remember to have seen any meat.

Before we order, the head waitress came to us with a large tray with cold mezedes, like salt cured fish, marinated fish/seafood, potato salad, or dips. We picked up mavromatika (black eyed beans) and melitzanosalata.

This melitzanosalata was pretty good. I do not like the one with mayonnaise and this was without.

Bread came warm, if not the grilled bread with olive oil and oregano often served in fish tavernas in Greece.

Except for the cold mezedes, we ordered only 2 dishes. One was fried potatoes for GH. They were bit oily, but fresh and tasty.

And octopus stifado, which is octopus stewed with small onions and, I think, vinegar and white wine. Very good. Went well with fried potatoes.

At the end, we were offered chocolate mousse or 'submarine' (I don't know how to explain it; it is a sweet made of sugar and sticky consistency; it is often served on spoon sticked in a glass of water, hence the name), and we chose the former. I thought it was an instant sort, but, as it was free, no complaint.

With a bottle of beer and a bottled water (they just brought it on the table), the bill came to 25.10 Euro. Normally, you would order 1 or 2 dishes more, but it is still reasonable. It is not a destination restaurant, but if we happen to be in the area, we might well come back.

Sardela- Σαρδέλα
Taxiarchon 24, Korydallos, Athens
Ταξιαρχών 24, Κορυδαλλός, Αθήνα
Tel. 211 4111773

Before Korydallos, we were in Egaleo mountain visiting the botanical garden. It is a nice place to visit, if you want feel the nature without travelling far from Athens.