Scoop @ Metro Mall, Agios Dimitrios

Last Saturday, we went to Metro Mall in Agios Dimitrios.

It is a big shopping center opened this year by the Agios Dimitrios Metro Station. It includes many shops, cinema, food court, restaurants and cafeterias. We went for a coffee.

The best thing about this mall is the view.



At La Pasteria, Flocafe, and Scoop there are tables with view. There are also tables outside, but when we went it was too hot to seat outdoor.



I like Flocafe, but to try something new, we entered the cafeteria called Scoop. The name I think come from the "scoop of ice cream", as the menu features ice cream.

Interestingly there was a mascot girl as if it is a club.



She was trying to entice any passers-by to her cafeteria. It was entertaining for me to watch her efforts.

I ordered a waffle with vanilla ice cream and milk chocolate. Except for the ice cream I liked, it was very average.



Coffee was served with a morcel of brownie.



The price is as high as in cafeterias of central Athens.

If I had lived close, I would have gone there from time to time. The parking is available for 1 Euro per hour, which is acceptable.



But I don't live nearby and don't see the revisit in near future.

Deserted Athens

This year, 15 August is Monday and and even those who do not have a long vacation are enjoying at least a "tri-imero (3-day)" leave.

And in any case, around 15 August, Athens is almost empty, as most of the Athenians leave for somewhere else for vacation.

So those who remain in town, like us, can enjoy empty Athens where without traffic jam and full of parking lots. We thought it was hard to miss the opportunity and went to Thissio for a coffee.

We stopped at our usual Syn Athina.



Not many people, but not empty either. There was quite a lot of Greek youth. Can you see the fans with water spray? These bring a nice chill.

A waitress spoke to us in English: How are you? To which we replied: "Fine eimaste". And we all laughed.



A view of Acropolis from my seat.



A frappe & a freddo espresso.



And a waffle with sour cherry preserve & sauce served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The waffle was light & crunchy type. I prefer heavier waffle, but Hubby said he preferred this way.



Then we walked toward Monastiraki.

We found that Kuzina restaurant is offering 4 course menu for 20 Euro.



Personally, this restaurant is too expensive for what they are offering. However, 20 Euro for 4 courses is a good deal. Why don't you try, if you have not yet done? (I saw this on 14 August 2011 and don't know until when this offer continues).

And in Monastiraki Square we saw a new terrace cafe (do you see the roof top of the building at the centre of the photo?). We went closer to see what it was.



It turned out to be a new hotel called "A For Athens". The roof top might not be exclusive to the hotel guests. We will try at the next occasion.



We saw some new restaurants along Adrianou as well. It is nice to see that people keep on investing in Athens.

Public in Piraeus

I guess many of you are familiar with the Public in Syntagma Square; a shop that occupies a whole building next to Everest. It sells electronics, CDs and books. And it has a cafeteria in front of it and another inside the building looking onto the square.

Later last year, the same shop opened in Piraeus, near Marina Zeas. Belatedly, we paid our first visit last Saturday.

We did not go to shop, but for cafeteria, as we were told that it has a nice view.

We were surprised to find such a large space dedicated to cafeteria.



There are many tables both indoor and outdoor. There were only few people. Maybe not so few, but in such a large space, they looked very few.

We sat at a table in the balcony and here is the view.


It is a fine, but not extraordinarily so.

The price of the coffees is rather high, not surprisingly so in Marina Zeas.

Hubby ordered a frappé and I ordered a waffle.


The basic order includes a waffle and a scoop of ice cream. Everything else commands supplement charge, in my case, for example, chocolate sauce. Even so the price was about 4.70 (I am a bit hazy here, but was definitely less than 5), so it is all right.

It was crispy on the outside, and fluffy in the inside. Very right and pleasant, but chocolate sauce and ice cream were mediocre.

They offer also light meal options and it seems to be a nice place for lunch.

When we visited the shop - not only the cafeteria, but the whole building - did not have much people even if it was Saturday afternoon. I wish they can keep up the operation in Piraeus, where so many shops are closing down lately, unfortunately.

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To the Gate to Greece website, I uploaded a review of the trattoria Peccati di Gola in Glyfada.



It was good, but thinking that we would have paid half the price in Italy, it will take some time for us to go again to Italian restaurants.

Chocolat @ Glyfada

We met up with a friend and went to a Glyfada branch of Chocolat in Easter Monday afternoon.

While Athens looked like a ghost town because of the holiday exodus, Glyfada was full of people. The cafeteria on Zisimopoulou suggested by Friend was so full that we were turned down at the entrance.



After 10 min hunt for an empty table, we found one at Chocolat on the same road. Chocolat is a mini-chain of patisserie-cafeteria-restaurant comprising 4 outlets Glyfada, Thissio and in Maroussi.

We had visited Chocolat (Chocolat 24 to be exact) once 1.5 or 2 years ago and have never come back since as we were not impressed by their sweets.

But when you cannot find other table, what can you do?



Friend ordered crepe with chocolate and sliced banana served with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.



Husband ordered Chocolate waffle with chocolate sauce and honey served with two scoops of ice cream (chocolate and vanilla).



The waffle was fluffy in the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside. I prefer, however, heavier waffle. Probably my taste for waffle is eccentric considering I did not like waffle of Wafflehouse in Vouliagmeni either. Ice cream was OK, but did not have depth of good dairy.

The price was same for both, €9.50. Filter coffee was €4.50. We paid also 10% additional service charge for Easter.

Chocolat
Ζησιμόπουλου 9
Γλυφάδα
Zisimopoulou 9
Glyfada
Τηλ. 210-8943442
http://www.chocolatroyal.gr/

Waffle @ Waffle House, Vouliagmeni

Went to Waffle House in Vouliagmeni this Sunday, as Bro-in-Law (the younger) and his wife took us their by their car. For Hubby and I who do not have car, it is tacky to go any farther than Voula.

We arrived at around 6 o'clock and the place was absolutely packed. As there isn't waiting queue for tables, we needed to watch and snatch any one being vacated.

In 10 min., we were seated, or rather more correctly, we seated.

The clientele is mainly 20-35 year old, fashionable, seemingly wealthy people (inevitably there are people who come here to be seen rich and beautiful). Our group of 8, dressed down, 35-45 year old, looked slightly odd.



Last time we were here, we had only coffee and an ice cream. This time we were determined to try waffle.

In Waffle House, you can order waffles either from already combined sets or from individual parts for you to combine. We did the latter. I ordered 1 waffle, 1 crema pasticeria ice cream, whipped cream (not fresh), and hot milk chocolate sauce (it is hot when it is poured, but gets solid when it comes onto ice cream).



The waffle here is very light and fluffy. Even I - I am not a big eater and little tolerance for anything very sweet - could have eaten 2 pieces. On the other hand, we did not like the ice cream, and at this second attempt, I am afraid we - Hubby and I - do not like the ice cream here (it is a matter of taste; the other people of the group like it).

The price is 5.5 euros; not bad for Attica coast standard. But, personally, I prefer waffles of Flocafé.

Note: The other people in our group have been to Waffle House in Naxos and they said that the waffle was thicker and better there.

Waffle @ Flocafe

We went to Flocafé in Marina Zea, Piraeus.



Having already had an overload of coffee, we ordered a waffle.

It is sold in a package with ice cream, i.e., you cannot order waffle without ice cream. We had it with Vanilla and Caramel ice cream with whipped cream and vissino (sour cherry) sauce. There are other flavours of ice cream and sauces.



Flocafé waffle is square against the round variety that I have seen more often in Greece. It was quite good being crunchy on the outside, light and fluffy in the inside. I liked it better than the waffle of Costa Costa, just next to Flocafé.

Post Scriptum 7. Dec. 2009.

Yesterday, we ordered again the waffle at the same Flocafe (7.20 euros).



I forgot to order the sauce. It was my fault.

Apart from that, the waffle seemed be shrunk and thinner. Not as good as the one we ate before. Shame.

Waffle @ Costa Costa

Another night out with friends.

We went to Costa Costa, one of the trendy cafeterias/bars of Marina Zea (Passalimani), Piraeus).

On this occasion, I did not fancy coffee or tea. I don't drink alcohol either. After some consideration and perusing of the menu, I decided to a waffle. It came with two scoops of ice cream of my choice - vanilla and pistachio in this case.


It was totally different from the buttery and sugarly Belgian waffle I know. Well, no one said it was "Belgian", so I should not complain. It was more like a fluffy pancake made in waffle mold. Very soft and not over-sweet. Although the pancake itself was freshly made, I don't think the whipped cream was freshly whipped.

It did not taste bad, but I felt it was soulless. I often sense this soullessness when I eat West-European type cakes and sweets in Greece. Maybe I should stick to baklava and ravani. But then, these are really Turkish.