To 25araki (Eikosipentaraki) @ Glyfada again

On 29th December. Sunday afternoon with very fine weather. Needless to say, everyone is out to enjoy the sun, including us. We ended up in Glyfada and looking for a place to eat.

We past in front of several places and some had even queue. Not wanting to wait to eat, we entered To 25 araki (Eikosipentaraki) which was busy but not awfully.

Reading back this blog, we visited here in October 2012 (here), so it is about a year ago. The decor has not changed, but the menu has. I have a impression to have seen more interesting fish-mezedes back then and now there are more simple ones.

The bread was the same as before, except that now there are no brown version. We had 4 pieces this time, instead of 5 of 1 year ago, but 4 were quite enough for us. The dip was a cream-cheesy yogurt with citrus flavour.

The bread was very nice, but I found it too rich to go with other food.

The first to come was mussels with chili from fish-mezedes menu.

It was beautifully cooked. The cleaned mussels were steam-sauteed with mustard, red chili flakes and Greek fresh green chili. For us its hotness was a the right level, but some people who ordered the same dish were saying it was too hot. But, of course, there are normal steamed mussels as well.

And small fried fish of the day, atherina (white bait or smelt). It came in a good portion.

It was fine, but not exceptionally so. The fish did not much taste (out of season?) and was slightly too oily.

The vegetables came a bit late (usually the vegetables arrive first and eaten as a starter in Greece). This is boiled veggies in citrus dressing.

It contained celery, potatoes, zucchini, potato, carrot, leek and finocchio (fennel). It was good accompaniment, but I wanted a larger portion.

At the end is giouvetsi with prawns and mushroom, from main course section.

It was quite heavy with cheese and butter and had a good flavour from prawns. I did not like that the prawns were not well-cleaned, but this I should have expected. The Greeks evidently do not mind eating prawns with sand.

In addition to the above dishes, we had also a 0.5 kilo of white wine, which was very good for a house-wine, and a bottle of water, which was obligatory order. The total bill was about 40 Euro, which was all right, and I really paid only 32 Euro thanks to a discount card.

The price is slightly too expensive without discount card, but for bit of wine and fish mezedes, I find it a good place to visit.

Here is the bill in detail:
Bottled Water     0.90 Euro
Bread and Dip     0.90 Euro  x 2 persons
500 ml white wine     5 Euro
Boiled Vegetables     5.50 Euro
Small Fried Fish     6 Euro
Mussels with Chili     8.20 Euro
Giovetsaki with prawns     13.50 Euro


ΤΟ 25ARAKI (To Eikosipentaraki)
Artemidos 3, Glyfada, 16674
Αρτέμιδος 3, Γλυφάδα, 16674
Tel. 210 8944112

Rififi @ Exarchia

Visited Rififi during a weekday evening.

I have been wanted to visit this place for years now. I happened to pass in front of it and it looked that I would like the food their patrons were eating. I told GH that we should try it, but he has been telling me that Exarchia was an area of high risk.

I don't think I has changed the idea, but one night I managed to convince him, after a coffee at TAF.

It wasn't cold yet and the walk from Akademias was pleasant, though the streets were rather dark for such a central place in Athens.

Here is Rififi.

We arrived there at 19:30. There were two other tables occupied. One was by a young couple and the other was by 2 guys in suits and 1 woman who looked colleagues from a work place. They were at the end of meal and left while we were reading the menu. From that moment, we were the only patrons until 3 girls arrived at around 20:30.

Here is the interior (they have outdoor tables, but it wasn't enough warm, as it was November).

Bread and olives were obligatory order, but the water was from tap.

The menu is fairly long and in addition there are several dishes of the day. I would call the cooking "modern Greek". I liked the fact that they have both meat and fish. You can read it on their website, if you are interested.

Not hugely hungry, we ordered 4 dishes. The first came the salad. They offer salad in two sizes - small and normal - and this is a smaller version of winder salad. It is fine for 1 person, or as a side dish for 2 persons. Due to dry bread and cheese, it was pretty filling.

These are burgers from mushrooms and lentils.

Being a mushroom lover, I liked this dish quite a lot.

These are maroulokeftedes (minced meat and rice balls wrapped in lettuce leaves) with egg and lemon sauce, which was one of the dishes of the day.

This was the first time I ate maroulodormades of which I have heard several times. Lettuce leaves being much thinner than cabbage leaves, I did not understand much the taste of lettuce, but they were cooked quite well.

This is pork stewed with tomato jam, served with mashed potato, again from the "Dishes of the day".

To my taste, the pork was too dry, as it often happens with lean cut of pork, but otherwise the sweet sauce went well with the mash and I found it good enough.

At the end masticha liqueur shot on the house.

With a half litre of house red wine, the bill came to 29.10 Euro.

Not cheap, but about right on price-quality balance. Recommended for those who like new Greek cooking.

Rififi - Ριφιφί
Emmanouil Benaki 69 & Valtesiou
Exarchia, Athens, Greece

Εμμανουήλ Μπενάκη 69 & Βαλτετσίου
10681 Αθήνα

Phone: 210-3300237
Delivery: 210-3300238
E-mail: info@rififi-restaurant.gr
http://rififi-restaurant.gr/

Salonica Bougatsa in Psyrri

If you have ever been to Psyrri, you must have noticed that there is one pie shop in the central Piazza (which is called Plateia Iroon, Square of Heroes). I have seen it so many times, but never taken interest in it, because, when I go to Psyrri, I am either looking for a restaurant or a cafeteria, and never a pie shop.

What made me change the idea was a photo of the interior that I saw on Foursquare (which is, by the way, a terrific website/mobile software if you like to get information about restaurants and cafeterias; information there is not always credible, but it is definitely a happy hunting-ground).

It has a very strange shape and looks like a mixture of a medieval castle and an underground meeting hall of Mithraic cult.

I bought a portion of cheese bougatsa (savory) for 1.80 Euro. It is sold by a kilo, so the price is not fixed.

At the beginning, I found it too salty, but then got used to it. The fyllo was pretty good, although it wasn't so fresh when I bought it.

Apart from bougatsa (sweet cream or savory cheese), they sell also a variety of pies. When I saw, they had a spinach pie, koulou dough cheese pie, and small cheese pies (tyropitakia).

The staff was friendly and it is open 24 hours.

It is a nice spot for a snack when you are in the area.

Thessaloniki stou Psyrri - Η Θεσσαλονίκη στου Ψυρρή
Plateia Iroon 1, Psyrri, 10554 Athens
Πλατεία Ηρώων 1, Ψυρρή, 10554 Αθήνα

Taf coffee @ Omonia-Exarchia

Visited yesterday Taf coffee in Omonia area. It is really a small outlet in comparison to the fame it has.

Taf is reputed to serve the best coffee in town and a cup of cappuccino costs only 2.20 Euro (and a bit more for special varieties). You might say that what is the best depends on everyone's taste and I do agree with you, but in this case there is some foundation to the claim; that Taf is not just a cafeteria, but also a coffee producer and whole-seller. If you are interested, go and dig in their website for more info.

You might have seen the logo elsewhere in Athens. It is because their coffees are being sold at other cafeterias.

We had cappuccino and it was indeed good.

Another of the coffee lovers' cult-centers is Tailor Made in Platia Agias Irinis, but it is often so full that you cannot find anywhere to sit down (it is because Tailor Made attracts even those who not interested in coffee). Taf instead is much more low-key and better for those who want to enjoy one's coffee more quietly. Note, however, that the indoor space is very limited.

Taf Coffee
Emmanouil Benaki 7-9, Omonia, Athens
Εμμανουήλ Μπενάκη 7-9, Αθήνα
Tel. 210 3800014
http://www.cafetaf.gr/
Closed on Sundays and Saturdays until afternoon. 

Trapezaria At Last

I have been wanted to visit this place for a while and finally here we are, to celebrate my birthday. Actually some days later than that, but it was the reason anyway.

This means that I expected that it should be somehow above our usual budget. Guess how much we spent for 2 starters, 2 main courses, 1 dessert, and 2 glasses of wine? You will see the answer at the end of this post (no no, do not scroll down just yet!).

I booked a table for a Sunday afternoon. During the time that we were (about 2 hours from 14:00), only 3 or 4 tables were occupied. So, if you think that Trapezaria is always full and don't like over-crowded restaurants, Sunday afternoon is a good time to visit. I believe that they do not serve Sunday dinner, but their website says that it has started lunch service for weekdays.

I am not sure the name of the location. Is it Makrigianni or Fix? It is somewhere between Acropolis metro station (or Acropolis Museum, if you want) and Fix metro station and the closest archaeological monument is Temple of Olympian Zeus. Do you get me? Ha ha ha. (But I have read somewhere that they are relocating sometime soon; please check the location before you go).

From outside, it looks like a cafeteria or something. At 2 in the afternoon, we were the first to arrive.

The menu is not long, not short. Considering that it is really a small restaurant, however, I see that it needs quite an effort to have that range of things (you can read the menu - not always up-to-date - on their website, if you like).

The bread, dip and olives were obligatory order (1.80 Euro p.p.). All very good, but half the bread went wasted because of the quantity of the food we ordered later). The glass wine starts from 4 Euro.

1st starter was tyropita in kataifi pastry. The cheese wasn't yellow one, but ksynomizithra and it was mixed with siglino and dried fig. Pleasant. In quantity wise, it is way to much for a starter for one person. Best to be shared.

The filling. I might try this at home.

The starter that I wanted was off-the-menu, so this was my 2nd choice. Fried cod youvarlakia (more simply, fried cod & rice balls), served with black mayo and tomato based sauce, and salad (lettuce, green apple, pomegranate etc).

Tasty they were, it was more about the presentation than substance. The red sauce was incredibly good, though.

If you know how much we usually eat, you can imagine how full we were at this stage.

This is GH's main dish, Beef/veal tri-tip and spring rolls of moussakas.

The meat was rich in flavour, but was a bit tough. Spring rolls were also nice, but I am not sure about the combination with beef (i.e. I don't think they enhanced each other's strength).

My main dish was pasta. Black conchillia pasta cooked in scampi sauce with monk fish. You see only pasta in the photo, but actually there was quite a lot of fish morsels. And another think you don't seen in the photo is cheese; it contained a lot of yellow cheese which made this dish quite filling.

GH and I thought this was the best dish of the day. My month waters just by looking at the photo and remember the flavour.

We were dead full, but did manage to finish all the plates. AND I could not not ordering dessert, just because it was a birthday meal.

This is cold soufflé of citrus, served with Bergamot spoon-sweet and mandarin sorbet.

Good. But if I could have shared it in 4 persons, it would have been even better.

Next to our table there was a group of 4 and each one ordered 1 starter, 1 main and 1 dessert and finished most of the dishes, drinking much more wine than we did. I wish I had a better appetite as them.

So the answer to the question: how much did we spend? 58.60 Euro is the answer.

Actually it was less than I expected and can tell you it is quite a good value for money both for the quality and quantity.

This restaurant was as good as I expected. Hope to return soon.

Trapezaria
Theodorou Negri 1, Makrygianni, Athens
Θεοδώρου Νέγρη 1, Μακρυγιάννη, Αθήνα
Tel. 2109213500