Tale of Two Souvlakia

The other day, went to Το Σουβλάκι του Χασάπη (To Souvlaki tou Hasapi), The Butcher's Souvlaki (shop), in Apollonos Street near Syntagma Square.



Being in a hurry, I did not take picture of the shop. It is a hole-in-the-wall type very small shop, with only a few chairs and people usually eat standing.

They don't sell souvlaki (kaimaki KALAMAKI) in pita wrap and all you can get is skewered & grilled meat (pork), sliced bread, fried potato and lemon. The major clients seem to be middle-age to elderly guys who live nearby. Kafeneio type clientele. They enjoy their meat with cold beer.

On the other hand, I had it on the go.





Well, it was nice, but as nice as those served many souvlaki shops in my neighbourhood in Piraeus. €1.50 for a skewer is more expensive than average. Most of all, I would prefer to have souvlaki (kaimaki) in pita. Personal preference, of course.


And yesterday evening, we went to Monastiraki Square. Gelato from Mattonella, as usual. This is strawberry sorbet.



After having coffees at Dioskouroi Kafeneion in Upper Plaka, we went back to Monastiraki Square to eat souvlaki.

I tried for the first time Thanassis's Kebab.



Meat itself is soft and juicy, with strong lamb-ey flavour.

The wrap does not include chips (fried potatoes) or tzatziki. I am not a big fan of french fries, but would prefer to have tzatziki. Besides, the pita was too oily to my taste. Comparing to this one, personally I prefer Bailaktaris' gyro wrap.

Next time, we will try Savvas to complete the scene.

Sofia's in Valaoritou Street, Kolonaki

Post scriptum: Unfortunately this restaurant was closed in 2011.

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Visited Sofia's Brasserie/Cafe in Valaoritou Street, which is near Voukrestiou Street in Kolonaki.

There are only several tables outside, but inside there are really many tables. The whole space is divided in a few rooms and I cannot easily guess how many tables there are.

My visit was made in the pre-smoking ban period and I really had an unpleasant time as the guy next to my table kept on smoking. I hope it is not happening now.



In the regular menu there are only sandwiches (from 3 euros), salads, omelets and drinks, but on a separate sheet (also on the black board on the photo) there was a list of "Today's Dishes" including pies, pastas, and meat/fish dishes, ranging from 6.50 to 16 euros. There are also assorted dishes of Greek cheeses or cold cuts, to be enjoyed, I guess, with wine.

This is bread basket (1.50 euros) of integral wheat bread and kritsinia with seeds. Very nice, but, if you (like my husband) don't like integral stuff, you won't appreciate it. I wish we could have a choice.

I ordered aghinares ala polita (Artichokes in Constantinopolitan Style) (9 euros), as it was Friday. You might not know, if you are not Orthodox Christian, but this is one of the typical dishes for Orthodox fasting days.

What is not very evident in this photo is that the portion was very Very generous. The largest artichoke in this photo is about 7 cm in diameter.

To my surprise, this dish was served hot, while I expected it to be lukewarm as all the "ladera" (vegetables cooked in olive oil and sometimes with tomatoes) dishes are. And artichokes and the other veggies had different temperatures; probably they separated artichokes so that they became too soft.

I finished almost all, but I must confess it was hard to keep on eating the same thing; I would have happier if I could have smaller portion of artichokes and a bit of salad or some carbo.

The total bill came to 10.50 euros, as I did not order any drink (I got free glass of water). Probably I did not make the best choice of food, but it was a pleasant meal in pleasant environment. I would recommend this place for lunch or afternoon snacking, or even for light dinner, although it closes at 9:30 in the evening.

Sofia's Brasserie
Valaoritou 15, Athens
106 71
Tel. 210-3641530

Smoking in Mikrolimano

This Sunday we went to Mikrolimano for coffee with a friend.

I am very disappointed to see most of the cafeterias and restaurants still allow smoking inside the premises and people are still smoking carelessly.

There was one place with "No Smoking" poster in front of the shop, but inside there are ash trays on the counter.

As if they had never heard about the smoking ban put into effect from 1 July. Shame.

Espresso with Whipped Cream and Ice Cream

Yes, it is a bit over the top, but it was still a pleasant dessert for me.


This is at cafeteria STYL by the Mitropolis (Cathedral of Athens), just in front of another cafeteria Central. I think I paid 4.50euros.

The vanilla ice cream was mediocre, but the cream wasn't that disgusting vegetable white substance disguised as dairy cream.

Besides, the cafeteria is situated under many trees and we feel like being in a wood. It is a pleasant place to be.

Partial Smoking Ban Started Today in Greece!

I am in a bad mood, because I was woke up from nap by a stupid mosquito that flied into my ear. Very annoying.

So I write something joyous.

Today, 1 July 2009, the smoking ban in Greece officially started!!!

It is only for the closed public spaces, and application to small cafes/restaurants is somewhat restricted (I don't remember the detail; sorry!), but still is a positive step for non-smokers like me. If you are a smoker, you maybe thinking I am an idiot for calling it 'positive'.

I don't care.

I am overjoyed by the fact - hopefully - I will be annoyed less often by smoke in public places. Greek smokers are far too careless: it seems that it never comes to their mind that there are people who don't like the tabacco smoke. They have been smoking as if it was their right.

Hopefully it won't be so anymore.


Today I entered Grigoris in Syntagma Square. I did not see any NO SMOKING sign, but they removed all the ash trays from the tables in ther first floor (I did not check very closely, but they might have changed the small dark ex-non smokers' corner into smokers' corner). And there was no one smoking!

The ban is only for the closed spaces, i.e., in the open space cafes/restaurants the smoking is still allowed without any condition.

A few weeks ago, I was enjoying coffee at a table of Mousses along the Adrianou Street. Then, three tables around us got occupied by 3 groups of smokers and we needed to change tables.

Something like this is still going to happen under the current ban, but, hopefully, it changes also soon in future.