Tomas Kebab @ Neos Kosmos

Last Sunday, the weather wasn't nice and GH did not have any good idea what to do. So I convinced him to explore a bit Neos Kosmos area of Athens.

I pass there more often than he do, to change Tram to Metro. I have seen some some interesting shops, but have had never chance explore it properly.

Our main destination of the day was a small kebab shop called Tomas.

Although it is a really small shop with only 3 or 4 stools, it is also quite famous because of its media exposure. Its specialty is Armenian kebab, Mr. Tomas being an 'Armenian'.

As many of you already know, Armenians came to Greece in various points in the history. Some came during the Ottoman period, many came after a disaster in Asia Minor and the subsequent Population Exchange, and also in more recent years. Because of this history, many 'Armenians' do not really look or sound different from the 'Greeks'.

The menu is shorter than typical one of ordinary souvlaki shops, but has some exotic choices like, Isli keftedes, falafel, hummus, or lachmatzoun. Main dishes are only kebab, chicken kebab, or chicken shish, and giaourtlou (i.e. the kebab with yogurt on top).

I ordered kebab in pita (1.90 Euro) and GH a giaourtlou (8.40 Euro with 4 kebabs). We took two stools and Mr. Tomas had his man serve us water and glasses.

At one point, 3 men came into the small shop and it got really stuffed. If you'd like to eat quietly, you'd better take out or, if you live nearby, have the food delivered.

Here is my kebab in pita.

The kebab was wrapped in a non-oiled pita together with sliced tomato, onion and parsley. As fried potato and tzatziki were absent, it was not as filling as normal souvlaki wrap and it almost tasted like healthy. Kebab itself was tasty and relatively dry as I like it.

GH's giaourtlou was like this.

From the bottom of the metal dish, there was a layer of pita, then yogurt, kebab, yogurt, tomato sauce, and spices on top. I like this less than mine, because kebabs got soggy due to moistness of yogurt. But, I do not like giaourtlou to start with, so you do not need to listen to me.

We bought also lachmatzoun to take away. As I ate it only the day after, having reheated it with microwave, I cannot really comment how nice it was, but can tell you that it was pretty hot, as Mr. Tomas warned us.


It was not the best kebab I have eaten, but the best ones I have eaten cost much more than 1.90 Euro. I found it a quite enjoyable snack. And it was nice to meet charming Mr. Tomas. So why not? It is just 3 minutes walk from Neos Kosmos Metro & Tram stations.

Tomas - Τομάς
Sarkoudinou 43, Neos Kosmos, Athens
Σαρκουδίνου 43, Νεος Κόσμος, Αθήαν
Tel. 210 9015981
(It does also delivery in neighboring area)


Afterward, we had coffees at a cafe restaurant called Pastor and then stopped at Kostis to buy some sweets.

It is such a pleasure to explore unknown areas of Athens.

Tarte Tatin @ Το Τσάι

Hello everyone,

I am testing something again.
This photo was taken by my Canon camera and transfered to my Android mobile phone using Wifi.
Although my mobile has a decent camera, real cameras still take better pictures.

By the way, this is a Tarte Tatin we ate yesterday at a tearoom called To Tsai in Kolonaki. The tart was too sweet for me, but the white tea called White Angel I had was quite good.

I believe that the place is non smoking, which is very important in winter.

We'd go back for some more tea.

Thalias Mezedotechnion @ Gyzi

Visited Thalia's in a Thursday evening.

It is not situated on a busy street; if you don't live in the area, there is a very little chance you find it by chance. But nowadays we search for restaurants on internet. If you do so, Thalia's is not difficult to find; it is very much discussed and praised.

And that was why we found ourselves at Thalia's.

The decor was more modern than I had imagined. Seeing the photos on the internet, there should be a courtyard, but in this season, the seating is limited to indoor space.

The menu is not very long, but there is a good variety. There are both meat and seafood & fish dishes. Our waiter, Giorgos, informed us that everything was made by his mother Thalia.

Again, according to information on internet, they came from the island of Tzia (Kea) to Athens and opened this place recently.

That evening we had a friend with us and could order more dishes than usual.

First to arrive was a salad. I don't recall the name (maybe Thalia's salad?), but do remember the contents. This is a mixture of tzatziki, tomato, onions on the bed of crashed smokey aubergine.

Mr. Giorgos suggested us to mix everything before we eat. First we ate tzatziki and aubergine separately, and afterwards we mixed it together. It was delicious in both ways.

Here is lachanodormades (cabbage rolls), from Today's dishes. Classic dish, made with good ingredients. When I eat lachanodormades in tavernas, sometimes I found the texture of the mince a bid odd. Probably because the mix something other than meat and rice. This version here was like your mother's; there is nothing incomprehensible inside.

These are pastourmadopita and hortopita. The pie dough was obviously handmade and, although were deep fried, there was no unpleasant oiliness. Only problem that some parts of dough were not cooked and remained raw, which was a shame.

Biftekia (burgers) were served with fried potatoes. The mince was evidently from a good cut and there was not tough bit. I would have preferred it with less oregano, but still it was good and juicy bifteki.

The last dish was fried cod and garlic sauce. I forgot to take the photo of cod, but I did the garlic sauce (skordalia). It was with walnuts. I ate it without bothering to put it on the fish.

At the end they offered us a free dessert of semolina halvas with orange peel.

Together with bread and half a kilo of red wine, the bill came to about 45 Euro, that is 15 Euro per a head. We all agreed that it was a good value for money for the quantity and quality that we got.

The location is a bit out of our way, but it is worth a trip; we would like to revisit to try other dishes.

Thalia's Mezedotechnion- Θάλειας Μεζεδοτεχνίον
Koutsikari 47, Gkyzi, 11522 Athens
Κουτσικάρη 47, Γκύζη, 11522 Αθήνα
Tel. 215 5207098
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To Lychnion @ Ambelokopoi

Since GH changed workplace last year, we rarely go to northern part of Athens (here I use 'northern' in the sense of anywhere above central Athens). Last week, however, we happened to go to Panormos for a coffee with friends. After the meet-up, only GH and I decided to eat.

I chose Lychnion, because I have read positive reviews about this place for some years and have been curious.

The building is a bit particular; it is an old monokatoikia (a house standing on its own) and inside is just like home, except for the big metal air-ducts passing near the ceiling.

Regardless of the ducts, the air was filled with smell from the grill. A tip: Do not come here with your nice clothes on.

In fact, the main dishes are almost exclusively grilled meat. If I remember well, there was only 1 stewed (mageirefto) dish.


I forgot to take the picture, but the first to be served was grilled slices of bread. It was nice that they were grilled, but the bread itself tasted a bit stale.

I did not like much the red wine, while GH did. It depends on taste.

Horta and tyrokafteri were fantastic. Especially the tyrokafteri. It should be fresh and there were large bits of Greek green hot pepper.

Here is a sausage from the starter section. Tasted fine, but was really small.

And here are beef (veal) burgers. They have also stuffed burgers, but I opted for simple one.

They had a good taste, but were rather greasy and contained some hard bits, which means that the meat wasn't from good cuts. Not the best example I have ever eaten.

At the end, we were offered halvas on the house. This was well made and wasn't oily at all.

I do not remember exactly how much we paid, but it should have been less than 25 Euro including tip (note, however, that we had only 1 main dish between us).

Although it was a weekday evening, 6 or 7 tables were occupied. It is quite good for such a small taverna.

All in all, to me it was just an affordable, friendly, neighbourhood grill-taverna. If you are in the area, you can drop by and eat reasonably fine without worrying about the bill. But for us who live in Piraeus, I don't think it is worth a trip.

To Lychnion - Το Λυχνίον
Louizis Riankour 17, Ambelokipoi, 11523 Athens
Λουίζης Ριανκούρ 17, Αμπελόκηποι, 11523 Αθήνα
Tel. 210 6990119

Where We Ate in Epirus - Part 2

The 2nd and the last part of "Where We Ate in Epirus" 2014, autumn collection.

In Monodendri, we stayed at a hotel called Archontiko Zarkada ( http://www.monodendri.com/ ). We paid only 36 Euro per night including breakfast. Really a good deal.

Breakfast was served in buffet style and the range was really good for what we paid (if you read the hotel review, you might see some negative comments about the breakfast, but it really depends on expectation).

We had bread, cakes, yogurt, fruits, eggs (boiled and scrambled), pies, unlimited serving of coffee, tea, milk and juice. Really happy.

On the 2nd day morning in Monodendri, we went down to the gorge. Before we go, we were told that it would take about 1 hour to go down and a bit more to come up. However, we made uncountable photo stops, it took about 3 hours to do the whole lot.

When we returned back, it was already lunch time. So we had lunch in Monodendri. I believe that Pita tis Kikitsas was open at that time, but we defied it and went to try Monodendri hotel. However, we were told that the restaurant was closed, even though in front of the hotel there were signs saying what they had for meal. Evidently they could not care remove the sign, even the restaurant was not functioning.

Not bothered to look for far away, we just entered a taverna next door, called Haradra tou Vikou.

Fortunately, they did serve a range of food any normal taverna serves. We had galotyri (which strangely tasted EXACTLY same like the one we are at Arktouros the evening before), salad, lachanopita (which was not with cabbage-lachano, but with horta and white cheese), and goat soup.

All fine, but nothing really stood out. I did not like that the food was served lukewarm. The portion size is not more than average, or I would rather say small for a Greek country taverna.

The bill was again about 27 Euro. Although we left happily, not so good that we'd want to go back for the second time.

I Haradra tou Vikou - Η Χαράδρα του Βίκου
Monodendri, Epirus, Greece
http://www.xaradratouvikou.gr/


In the evening, we decided to try the restaurant of our hotel, which is named called Oksia.

We ordered tzatziki, 2 bean soups (fasolada) and veal in tomato sauce.

All the dishes were quite good, and the first time in Zagorohoria, the portion size was on generous side.

At the end, we were offered free chocolate cake and, unexpectedly got 10% discount (down from 27.50 Euro to 25 Euro), probably because we were staying there. It seemed strange that we were not informed about the discount when we arrived.

Among the 3 place we ate in Monodendri, Oksia (Οξιά in Greek) was the best. It is not a gourmet place, but if you are in the area (or are staying at Archontiko Zarkada) and want a good Greek country taverna, you may want to try here.


The third day in Zagorohoria, we drove around the area and in the afternoon we stopped at Tsepelovo for lunch.

Without knowing where to go, we stopped at a hotel called Kamares which was advertising a series of nice dishes.

Just to be sure, we asked the waiter if they were serving food. He said yes and we were seated.

However, things were not simple as it sounded. When the waiter came back to take our order, he informed us they could serve only 'tis oras', i.e. grilled meat dishes.

Disappointed, but not having a courage to stand up and leave, we ordered only a galotyri, Greek salad, and one grilled pork chop.

The food was fine, and the portion size was good, but the choice of dishes was too limited. We get much better variety at a simple souvlaki place in Athens. If you come in a high-season, probably you get a better offer, but our experience was rather negative.

Hotel Kamares - Καμάρες
Tsepelovo, 44010, Zagorohoria
Τσεπέλοβο, 44010
Tel. 26530 81008

And when we started to explore Tsepelovo, we found this taverna on the central square, and it was OPEN!

The menu looked quite promising and there were people inside (!). It was my real regret that we did not have lunch at this place. It is called Mikri Arktouros. If anyone visiting Tsepelovo (which is a really beautiful village) in a low season, keep this place in mind.

The evening, we were so tired that we went to bed without having dinner.


On the 4th day in Zagorohoria, we just had our breakfast and left, because we wanted to stop at Perama, near Ioannina, to see the cave.

After the visit at the cave, it was lunch time, so we decided to stop at Ioannina to eat something, before heading for Arta, which was to be our last stop.

We were almost heading for Fysa Roufa, but were stopped by a waitress of taverna To Manteio, which is situated in front of the gate to the fortress. It might have been a chance, but it had a lot of people and we decided to give it a try.

As at Fysa Roufa, we were invited to the kitchen to see the food on offer. It had stewed food as well as split roasts. After a rather poor food experience in Zagorochoria, GH went crazy and decided that he had to have lachanodormades as well as pot roast mutton. As he insisted that he could finish both of the dishes alone, I was constraint to order also chicken soup (kotosoupa) and boiled green vegetable), although I thought we were ordering too much.

And it turned out that the portion size was quite large. The below is the mutton dish and in normal circumstances, GH and I would be satisfied sharing it.

Besides, the chicken soup that I ordered wasn't really a soup, but was more like chicken giouvetsi, solid with lots of orzo pasta.

AND they offered us free dessert. The bill came to 33 Euro. It is more than what we paid at the other places, but we had almost 3 main courses. I did not like much their lachanodormades, but all the others were satisfactory (the mutton dish being the best).

I am not sure if it the best, or one of the best places in Ioannina, for we stayed only a couple of days, but I am sure that we'd like to come back here to try other dishes.

To Manteio - Το Μαντείο
Plateia Neomartyros Georgiou 15, Ioannina, 45444, Greece
Πλατεία Νεομάρτυρος Γεωργίου 15, Ιωάννινα, 45444
Tel. 26510 25452


After the meal, we bought some baklavas at a shop on Averof Street. We bought it casually, because we heard that baklavas of Ioannina was famous. We ate it when we returned and found it really delicious. We regretted that we did not buy more.


After Ioannina, we went to Arta to meet my god parents. I don't have any more food photos hereafter, because we always ate with them and I refrained from doing strange things like photographing food. :)

Regardless of their age (they are friends of my father-in-law and the godfather is close to 80), they were fine and we were very glad to see them and chat away for many hours.

They told us to visit the region of Zoumerka (it is Arta's counterpart of Zagorochoria) next time we go to Epirus. We will do so, hopefully, soon.

Where We Ate in Epirus - Part 1

I have been quiet for a while because GH and I went to Epirus for a week from the end of October to the beginning of November.

Always, I recap here the places where we ate during the trip.

* * * * * * *
Our first stop was Ioannina.

I have never been to this town, but GH did a part of his military service here. It was almost 15 years ago and he did not remember much.

We arrived there at the lunch time, so we went to a place called Fysa Roufa, which I found on Foursquare.

It is a mageireio style place where you can choose your meal from showcase.

When I say "showcase" probably I am not giving you the right image. It is different from self-service canteen where the food is served directly from it. In mageireio, normally you choose the food you want, go to your table and sit down. The kitchen people reheat it (if it is not warm enough), dish it up, and then your waiter bring it to you, just like in any other restaurants. GH is particularly fond of this style and went crazy when he saw it and decided 2 main dishes on his own.

So I ordered only a chicken soup (5 Euro). Fisa Roufa is known for its soups and on that day they had 4 or 5 soups on the menu.

It was warm and good to settle down my stomach. We had also a serving of rolled pork with cheese and vegetable filling and a serving of stuffed zucchini with egg & lemon sauce. They were all good, if not excellent. We paid about 25 Euro together with a bottle of beer, bread and free dessert.

Fysa Roufa - ΦΥΣΑ ΡΟΥΦΑ
Averof 55, Ioannina, 45221
Αβέρωφ 55, Ιωάννινα, 45221
Tel. 26510 26262

Then we went to the castle (fortress) of Ioannina (which in Greece called Εις Καρέ). There is a famous cafe-mezedopoleio, but we did not stop.

This day, we did not really have a dinner, because we met up a cousin of GH and her husband and ate a quick souvlaki.


* * * * * * *
On the day 2, we had breakfast at the hotel (we stayed at a place called Kentrikon, which is really central).

We had a lunch at a fast food place called Hippo Style.

Why we chose to eat fast food in Ioannina? It was because this was the place where GH used to go when he was doing military service. It was a nostalgic thing.

This is my crepe, I think it was called Mexican, but it had nothing to do with Mexico, as the chicken was flavoured with curry. It cost under 5 Euro and very filling. Not bad value for money.

Hippo Style
Plateia Neomartyros Georgiou 13, Ioannina, 45444
Πλατεία Νεομάρτυρος Γεωργίου 13, Ιωάννινα, 45444
Tel. 26510 72977


In the afternoon, we traveled to Monodendri in Zagorohoria, where we were to stay for 3 nights.

I was looking forward to visit a famous taverna called Pita tis Kikitsas in the village, but when we arrived in the evening, we were told that it was closed.

Disappointed, we went to the restaurant of a hotel called Arktouros, which was only 1 place remained open in the lower part of Monodendri village in that evening.

We ordered a bottle of local bubbly red wine, which cost 8 Euro. It is pretty expensive for a wine without label. It was interesting, but 1 try was enough for us.

As we did not want to eat meat on that day, we ordered a galotyri (this name is used for various cheeses in Greece and in Zagorohoria it was a sort of feta and yogurt dip), butter beans with green, briam, and fried potatoes.

They were all pleasant but there was nothing stood out either. The total bill came to 27 Euro.

Arktouros - Αρκτούρος
Lower part of Monodendri
Μονοδέντρι
Tel. 26530 72000



Unfortunately, we did not eat quite well in Zagorohoria and this was just a beginning. It was because, first of all, tavernas tended to be closed (evidently and unexpectedly autumn is a low season in Zagorohoria), portion tended to be small, choices tended to be limited, and price tended to be a bit higher). You will see it later.

To be continued...