Athinaikon @ Syntagma-Monastiraki

Friday yesterday, we had a casual day-off to use up the annual leave and went to central Athens for a stroll.

First we visited Benaki Museum to see an exhibition of El Greco. It is about friends and sponsors of the man in Toledo. The texts were more interesting than the materials on exhibition themselves, but the English translation was a bit painful to read (not really bad, but I tended to get lost when I arrived at the end of the phrases). It is a small exhibition with only one room and ticket is 5 Euro. If you want to see the museum itself, you should pay 7 Euro in addition. But if you are interested only in the exhibition, you can buy only 5 Euro ticket (as we did).

After Benaki, we went to Kolonaki and bought Nespresso capsules. I did not know the shop moved to Kolonaki Square (I heard that it happened in September this year). It is more convenient for me.

Then we looked for a place for lunch. I wanted to try Laundrette 2 which opened on Valaoritou Street, but it was closed (and to my regret, Brasserie Valaoritou was closed down). I wonder it opens only in late afternoon.

So we went to Athinaikon on Mitropoleos Street. It is situated in front of Cervantes Institute. Walking from Syntagma Square, you'll find it before arriving at the Cathedral. It is somewhere on the borders of Syntagma, Monastiraki and Plaka areas.

Athinaikon in Omonia (Themistokleous Street) is one of the older restaurants in Athens (since 1934), but Mitropoleos one opened in 2013, in a style quite different from the original one.

Although it was a weekday and 3 o'clock, the place was bustling and almost full. Some tables were occupied by groups of friends who were having Christmas-Year End lunch and some were having late lunch after Christmas shopping.

This was my 2nd time here and GH's first.

As soon as seated, a waiter brought us a bottle of tap water and bread basket right after. The bread was served with black olive paste. When I came here the first time, our waiter asked us if we wanted bread or not, but not this time. I guess you can refuse if you don't need it, especially because it costs you 1.20 Euro per person.

We did not have problem with it, because we wanted bread anyway. It was fresh and tasty as well as the olive paste.

We ordered only 2 plates, because it was meant to be a light lunch. This is stuffed lamb wrapped in vine leaves and served with oven baked potatoes (11.70 Euro). It was one of the dishes of the day.

It was a well executed dish.

And linguine with vegetable sticks and tomato sauce (7 Euro).

You don't see the vegetable sticks, which were hidden under the pasta. They are carrots and zucchini cut in match stick size, which added crunchiness to the pasta. A pleasant dish.

We shared above 2 dishes and were fine.

At the end we were offered free dessert.

One was yogurt with syrupy grapes.

The other was halvas made with butter.

Both really good, much above the average.

The bill, with a bottle of coke, came to 23.10 Euro plus 1.85 Euro obligatory tip due to the season.

It is a nice restaurant which offers well cooked Greek food for a reasonable price. It is highly recommended if you happen to be in the area and want decent Greek food.

ATHINAIKON - ΑΘΗΝΑΪΚΟΝ
Mitropoleos 34, Syntagma
Μητροπόλεως 34, Συνταγμα
Tel. 210.3252688, 210.3251598
http://athinaikon.gr/

I took a look at Spyromiliou Arcade (the building occupied by Attica Department Store and Zonar's). It did not look so Christmasy, but it was busier with a new restaurant opening in front of Pasaje. I think it was called City Bistro.

Attic Moon @ Syntagma

If someone asks me to pick up only one favourite cuisine, I would probably take "Chinese". The Thai comes close second, but as the Chinese cuisine so full of variety, probably I can find something close to Thai in Chinese cooking anyway.

It is a shame that GH prefers Greek cuisine to any other.

But, sometimes, I manage to convince him to come to eat something else. The excuse this time was that I had found a discount coupon.

The Chinese restaurant, Attic Moon, opened some months ago at the location of Diros restaurant used to be, in Xenofontos Street. It is fairly close to the other Asian restaurants in the area, like Furin Kazan, Dosirak, Koi and East Pearl (the one that moved away from Piraeus).

The interior is simply and nicely decorated. There was a strong smell of food in the dining area; I think they need a stronger ventilator in the kitchen.

The menu consists in Chinese and Thai food, but I do not trust in Thai food served in Chinese restaurant of Athens, so we did not order any Thai dish.

Here is a Tsingtao Beer for GH. I guess it was about 3.50 Euro. We paid 5 Euro for the beer and a bottle of water, but I do not know the details as the receipt for the drink was not issued (I got the receipt for the coupon, though).

Here is chicken satay (3.80 Euro). Satay is a Malay dish, but considering that the Chinese use "Satay sauce" (which can come in a jar) I guess it has been adopted in Chinese cuisine.

In any case, these chicken skewers were different from what I expected. What I expected was marinated and grilled chicken on skewers, served with satay sauce while here the chicken was dusted with fine bread crumbs and deep-fried. The sauce I guessed was 'Satay sauce'.

They were fine as they were, but just not the chicken satay I know. And I wanted them to be served piping hot, not lukewarm as they came.

The Spring rolls were pretty average (2.70 Euro).

This is sweet and sour pork for GH (7.50 Euro). I did not like much the sweet and sour sauce here, because it was as if ready-made. Otherwise fine.

Here is Kung Pao Chicken for me (7.50 Euro). There is plenty of chili and pretty hot. It contained a healthy dose of ginger, which GH passionately dislikes. But what can we do?

Normally the chicken in Kung Pao should be diced and not sliced as this one. And the meat should be cooked in a very strong heat while the chicken here is casually stir-fried.

Accordingly I did not recognize this dish as classical Kung Pao Chicken, but, again, it is still OK as sliced chicken stir-fried with vegetables, peanuts, and chili.

We ordered also two portions of steamed rice (1.50 Euro per one).

I think it was Thai Jasmine rice and quite good.

Maybe this is wrong in the Chinese manner book, but this is how I like to eat casual Chinese food.

We were given 2 fortune cookies at the end.

Message for me was "Someone is speaking well of me". Well, thank you.

All in all, it wasn't bad, but I wasn't satisfied with the cooking skill and method. But it is in Athens and in Syntagma, so I'd live with it.

Attic Moon / 名月楼
Ksenofontos 10-12, Syntagma, 10557, Athens
Ξενοφώντος 10-12, Σύνταγμα, Αθήνα
Tel. +30 210 3227095
http://www.atticmoon.com/

GouGou Meze @ Panepisthimio

A week before the Christmas, we found ourselves near Syntagma at around 9 o'clock.

Not wanting to cook at home, we decided to try out a new mezedopoleio near Panepisthimio. I think it was there since this summer.

It is called GouGou Meze. Glass-walled shop with colourful interior looks quite attractive.

Even it was a Wednesday, the place was almost full. We thought it was because of the time of the year (people getting together for Christmas and the End of the year), but a waiter said it was always busy. I do not know if I am to believe it.

The menu is pretty long. There are many mezedes and also about a dozen of main dishes.

As the main dish we wanted was exhausted, we ordered some mezedes only.

Instead of bread, we were given warm (probably freshly-baked) pita, together with many green olives. The pita was very good being partly soft and partly crispy.

The place was rather cold because of the glass walls. Not wanting cold salad, we had a serving of horta. Good.

Lemony Pork Tigania was not a good choice. It had a nice flavour, but the portion was small and the quality of meat wasn't satisfying containing some sinew. I suspect the meat was cut so small as to hide the poor quality.

Fried potatoes were fine. Tasted freshly cooked and not from freezer.

Bougiourdi turned up when we were about to finish the other dishes. It came in a big portion.

At the end of the meal we were offered these cakes and ypovryhio (Greek sugary paste-like sweet).

With a big jug of beer and all the above cost us about 26 Euro. But, as we were not given the receipt, it would be unfair to say it was cheap.


Gougou Meze
Sina 6, Kolonaki
Tel. 210 3645575
http://gougoumeze.com.gr/

ΓκουΓκού Μεζέ
Σίνα 6, Κολωνάκι
(The nearest Metro station is Panepisthimio)

Tree decoration near Hilton Hotel was merry and cheerful without being ostentatious. I liked it.

New @ Sytagma-Plaka

About two weeks ago, Hubby & I visited a new place on Filellinon Street called New.



I had an impression it was a cafeteria, but I was wrong. It was actually a restaurant/bar attached to a new hotel called, again, New. If you are an Athenian, you might understand if I say that it used to be Olympic Palace Hotel.

However, being a hotel lounge, there are also a few tables for coffee only customers. So, we were asked if we had an appointment with somebody.



We were given 3 or 4 menus. 1 is for food (and maybe there is another one for lunch), bar menu, and coffee/tea menu. Of course I checked the food menu, although we have just eaten lunch elsewhere and there was no way we could eat. The prices are of "restaurant" class. I would first try more accessible lunch menu, and only if I like it, I would try also the restaurant menu.

We ordered 1 filtered coffee and 1 cappuccino. Water was from a bottle.



For cappuccino, I could choose organic or Neapolitan (it had another name, but do not remember now). As the waitress said that the latter is stronger, I took this one. It had a surprisingly strong flavour. Definitely one of the best cappuccino I had I had in Greece.

Hubby had filtered coffee which came in a generous pot.

And together with coffee, we were offered migniardises, as if we were in a top-end restaurant (maybe we were).



Lavender Macaron. Smelled of lavender which reminded me of ... toilet deodorant. Sorry.



These metallic chocolates were really great. As I do not like chocolates in general, but eat only top quality ones, I can discern high quality chocolate pretty easily and I can tell you these were.



Decoration was a bit strange. These "woods" were made from parts from old furniture. I rather liked it.



Toilet was also elegant.



The cappuccino was 5 Euro and the filtered coffee was 4 Euro, and we were charge only 9 Euro. Nothing else.

This is the website of the hotel.
http://newhotel.athenshotels.it/

I would definitely come back to try the food at some point.

And now that I hear that some shops in Filellinon street were damaged by mobs during the recent violent episode on 19-20 October, I am somehow worried if anything happened to this nice place.

*****

A black dog relaxing flatly.

Lena's Meat Pie @ Syntagma

Near Syntagma Square, there is a shop that looks like delicatessen called "Lena'" and I went in there for the first time the other day.

There is a small seating space, but it is so small that I won't even call it a cafe. It is rather a delicatessen with seating space. They sell cooled food as well as some grocery.

I did not have enough time to look around closely. I just bought a piece of pie and took off.

Here is a meat pie I thing was called kimadopita.



It cost €3.80. It might look expensive, but considering the size and quality, not really. If I ate the same pie in taverna, it would cost the same or more.

Obviously I did not eat in one go.



It contained small bits of meat (rather than minced meat), onion, cheeses and a lot of coriander.

If the shop is open until evening, I would buy some for dinner. Unfortunately, however, the business seems to close in later afternoon or early evening.

Fasoli @ Syntagma

I added a page about Fasoli Restaurant near Syntagma.

http://www.mesogeia.net/athens/estiatoria/fasoli_en.html



Food was different and affordable. If you have never been there, please do try it.

Brigante Little Italy in Syntagma

Yesterday, I visited a small cafeteria called Brigante Little Italy on Amalias, just off Syntagma Square. It is relatively new. I think was open last year.



I have meant to eat Italian ice cream for a long time, but it has never realised till now, but just by chance I managed to eat a foccaccia.

This one is called "La Greca" and has provolone cheese, feta, spinacchi and rocket on top.



They reheated it on order and, when I told that I would eat it in, cut it up and served on a plate.

The bread part wasn't as soft as I wished, but combination of feta and half-cooked spinacchi did the trick and was pretty satisfactory for 1.90 euro a piece.

They have also pizzas, similar as focaccias, but with some meat ingredient on for €2.90.

While I was there, quite a few guy in suits and tie came to buy their food - mainly sandwiches - to take away.



Most of the sandwiches are between €2.70 and €3.75. The ice creams are €2.20 for a scoop, thus €0.30 more expensive than at Mattonella, my favorite gelateria, but I will try to see the difference, hoping that it is not just because of the location.

Brigante Little Italy
Leoforos Amalias 4
Tel. 211-182.1400

While I was there, a girl at the casher was having some kind of an argument with an customer over the phone; evidently she messed up with the check of a delivery over. I had an impression that she was not handling the claim very well. Actually she wasn't particularly nice comparing to the other guys working in the shop. Shame.

O Tzitzikas ki o Mermigas @ Syntagma

Yesterday I went to the Syntagma Branch of O Tzitzikas ki O Mermigas for quick lunch with a friend. It turned out to be a big disappointment and I write the experience just as a note.
When we arrived at 2 it was only half full and we could even find a table in the outside, but it was totally full by the time we left.

We ordered a bowl of steamed mussels (€ 12.42) from the seafood main dish section and a kebabakia of veal, lamb and pork (€ 9.50) from the meze section. The prices are strange (and different from those you read on the menu because of the recent rise of Consumers' Tax from 9% to 10%).

The mussels were the worst I have ever eaten. As many of them were closed, we thought that they were old and dead, but it was not the reason. They were so undercooked that they did not have time to open up fully. When we figured it out, we have already eaten half of them, so we did not dare to cook them again. Besides they were too salty and the cooking liquid smelled too strongly of alcohol as the white wine in it wasn't boiled enough time.

The kebabakia (small kebabs) were at least edible, but nothing attractive. The tzatziki came with it smelled stale and unpleasant.

We paid also for the bread (€ 2.05 for 2) and a bottle of orange juice (€ 2.38), and the total came to € 26.35 including 8% of Easter 'Present' (after 5 days from Easter). It was far too much for the poor food we ate.

The service was rather unfriendly. For example, the friend ordered 'Orangina'. The waiter, without explaining to her it wasn't available, just brought a random bottled orange juice.
We probably ordered unfortunate dishes, as the other diners around us looked happy. But what I ate yesterday, I am not hurrying back to test it again.

O Tzitzikas ki O Mermigas
Mitropoleos 12-14, Syntagma
Athens
Tel. 210-3247607

Ο ΤΖΙΤΖΙΚΑΣ ΚΙ Ο ΜΕΡΜΗΓΚΑΣ
Μητροπόλεως 12-14, Σύνταγμα
Αθήνα
Τηλ. 210-3247607

Syntagma Square Occupied by Taxis

Yesterday, at around 1 o'clock in the afternoon, coming from Syntagma station to get 040 bus, I saw this sight.



Taxi drivers on strike (48 hours, 2 and 3 March) were occupying the Syntagma Square. It is not obvious from the photos, but all the taxis were parked and not moving at all.

Evidently drivers understood that their strike does not bother ordinary people so much and decided to give more annoyance.



When I passed here, only several men were arguing (with a little bit of bush and thrust), but, later I saw on tv that the demonstration got more violent.



Obviously the buses could not arrive at or leave Syntagma. I had to go back to Metro station to go home. I had just bought 6 litres of olive oil from the Exposition of Laconian Products at Syntagma Station(until this Friday) and it was very inconvenient.

Taxi drivers have right to strike as everyone else, but closing Syntagma Square is ILLIGAL, as the square is public possession.

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Further strikes of public (and maybe private) workers are planned on 8th and 16th March. Watch out.

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And in the streets of Athens and Piraeus, the neratzi (bitter orange) trees have started to bloom.



It smells heavenly!

Who Attacked Zonar's?

Yesterday there was a big strike all over the Greece and demonstrations were held in many places, evidently. I don't know personally because I was out of Athens from 10 to 5, precisely to be away from the confusion. Not that I wanted to be away, but was given a job to take a group of tourists outside Athens so that they wouldn't see it.

My assignment was completed successfully at 5 o'clock. Then I saw this scene near Syntagma Square, on Panepistimiou Street.

This is Zonar's Caffé under the Attica Department Store.





Most of the stone-topped tables were smashed, grass doors were damaged and broken pieces of glass were scattered around. One employee of Zonar's seemed to be hit on his face. He was holding a white cloth against his cheek and speaking of a group of police officers.

Also white marble slabs of Attica Department Store were damaged too, but much less serious comparing to Zonar's.

I am afraid many incidents like this remained unreported, because journalists were doing strike at the same time (no news on tv or radio, no newspaper).

I presume it was done by unruly demonstrators. We all know the plight of the ordinary working population (which includes Hubby and me) in Greece, but this does not justify vandalism and violence. It is sad and upsetting to see such an unruly act.