Deeply...
27 June, 2009
Breakfast Biscuits/Cookies
Recently Hubby eats biscuits for breakfast. We tried various stuff from our neighbourhood.
These are Kouloulakia Smyrneika from Vienneza. 8 euros a kilo (about 450 grammes in this photo).
Not sugarly and very light.
I returned to buy the same thing, but they did not have any. I bought voutimata (biscuits) instead. 9 euros a kilo.
These were excellent. Baton shaped ones are cinnamon flavour and round ones are filled with chocolate. Both had subtle flavours and got our thumbs up.
Then, from Exarchos Bakery.
Sticks are kritsinia. Exarchos makes the best seed kritsinia. Round one is mizithra pie, which unfortunately contained masticha that we both dislike in sweets. The others are orange biscuits, very good.
These Greek breakfast biscuits are not as sugarly or butterly as, say, English type biscuits. Although we don't usually associate biscuits with Greek cooking, they are worth the note, being quite distinct.
These are Kouloulakia Smyrneika from Vienneza. 8 euros a kilo (about 450 grammes in this photo).
Not sugarly and very light.
I returned to buy the same thing, but they did not have any. I bought voutimata (biscuits) instead. 9 euros a kilo.
These were excellent. Baton shaped ones are cinnamon flavour and round ones are filled with chocolate. Both had subtle flavours and got our thumbs up.
Then, from Exarchos Bakery.
Sticks are kritsinia. Exarchos makes the best seed kritsinia. Round one is mizithra pie, which unfortunately contained masticha that we both dislike in sweets. The others are orange biscuits, very good.
These Greek breakfast biscuits are not as sugarly or butterly as, say, English type biscuits. Although we don't usually associate biscuits with Greek cooking, they are worth the note, being quite distinct.
26 June, 2009
Greek Pastourmas
I have never eaten pastourmas until a few days ago. Even my Greek husband has never eaten it and did not even know what it was like.
Pastourmas is a sort of ham of Turkish origin and its varieties are eaten everywhere in ex-Ottoman countries and in neighbouring countries. It is basically a dried meat coated with spice paste.
Here is 200 grammes of pastourmas.
You can find it even in humble supermarkets, so I presume that it is a common food in Greece, but you hardly see it in restaurants.
Can you see the red rind around the meat? It is the spice paste.
It was not as stinky as I suspected, but it did have a very strong flavour, saltiness and spiciness. It was in fact too strong to eat on its own, and I combined it with melon, as many do with Italian prosciutto crudo. Hubby, who has children's taste buds - was not particularly keen on it.
I bought also some beef sausages.
I have not tried them yet. The seller told me that I could grill them.
90% of contents are beef and they look rather dry. I will tell you how they are, when I eat them.
Pastourmas is a sort of ham of Turkish origin and its varieties are eaten everywhere in ex-Ottoman countries and in neighbouring countries. It is basically a dried meat coated with spice paste.
Here is 200 grammes of pastourmas.
You can find it even in humble supermarkets, so I presume that it is a common food in Greece, but you hardly see it in restaurants.
Can you see the red rind around the meat? It is the spice paste.
It was not as stinky as I suspected, but it did have a very strong flavour, saltiness and spiciness. It was in fact too strong to eat on its own, and I combined it with melon, as many do with Italian prosciutto crudo. Hubby, who has children's taste buds - was not particularly keen on it.
I bought also some beef sausages.
I have not tried them yet. The seller told me that I could grill them.
90% of contents are beef and they look rather dry. I will tell you how they are, when I eat them.
25 June, 2009
Hell's Kitchen near Kotzia Square, Athens
Visited Hell's Kitchen near Kotzia Square in a weekday afternoon for a quick lunch.
I read recommendations of this place on various websites; they say that the young owners of Hell's Kitchen passed their student years in New York and are trying to recreate the food and ambiance they enjoyed in Big Apple, and they serve non-Greek food for an affordable price. That was what I knew before I actually paid a visit.
From outside, it does not look particularly attractive. It is a hip place, but is more bohemian than stylish.
There are not so many tables inside, maybe around 10, but there are a dozen of bar stools and extra tables on the first floor, not to mention many tables outside. When I entered at around 2 o'clock, only 4 or 5 tables were occupied, but later more people arrived and the tables inside were almost all taken. They were people for lunch, and not for drink; evidently their clientel - mainly from 25 to 40 year-old age group - have their lunch pretty late. Their was no air-conditionning and it could get quite hot inside.
While the outdoor tables were not as popular as the indoor ones; this is quite unusual for Greece where people do their best to eat al fresco during the summer. It tells us something about how nice (?) was the environment of this neighbourhood; it is not far from the infamous Omonia Square.
To be honest with you, I did not look closely into the menu, as I picked up one of daily specials told by waitress. The little I read was the pasta section; they are around from 8 and 12 euros; not particularly cheap, if not expensive either.
I ordered marinated and grilled chicken breast, which was served with tomato rice. As you see, it was nicely presented; nice presentation of food is still a rare thing in Greek restaurants of the middle and lower ranges. It is something distinguishes Hell's Kitchen from the other restaurants of the same price range.
But on the taste front, it did not go well; it wasn't bad, but not good either. Chicken breast was still brand regardless of marinating and needed extra salt (which was fortunately provided on the table). I was wondering if I could cook a better chicken grill and concluded I could. Tomato rice was better and more interesting.
And what struck me was the lack of vegetable; if the waitress warned me it does not have any veggie on the side, she could have sold more.
I did not order any drink and paid 10 euros for the main dish. Again, it is not particularly cheap, though not expensive. I would have said reasonable, if the chicken tasted better.
This is not a kind of place where I personally want to return. However, if you do not like Greek food, or you have had enough of Greek food already, Hell's Kitchen offers you something different and gives you a little surprise. And they have a lots of wine and cocktails; if you like these things, you would have enjoyed more than I did (me being no drinker). I would also like to mention that this is a good place to eat alone. In Greek tavernas I sometimes feel that many dishes are designed to be eaten in more than one person. In Hell's Kitchen, the food comes on individual basis and you don't have to feel embarassed in front of 300 or 400 grammes of meat (but I am not saying that the portion is small; on the contrary!)
Hell's Kitchen (Restaurant and Bar)
Kleisthenous 13 (Κλεισθένους 13 )
(Near Kotzia Square)
Athens, Greece
Tel. 210-5241555
http://www.hellskitchen.gr/
I read recommendations of this place on various websites; they say that the young owners of Hell's Kitchen passed their student years in New York and are trying to recreate the food and ambiance they enjoyed in Big Apple, and they serve non-Greek food for an affordable price. That was what I knew before I actually paid a visit.
From outside, it does not look particularly attractive. It is a hip place, but is more bohemian than stylish.
There are not so many tables inside, maybe around 10, but there are a dozen of bar stools and extra tables on the first floor, not to mention many tables outside. When I entered at around 2 o'clock, only 4 or 5 tables were occupied, but later more people arrived and the tables inside were almost all taken. They were people for lunch, and not for drink; evidently their clientel - mainly from 25 to 40 year-old age group - have their lunch pretty late. Their was no air-conditionning and it could get quite hot inside.
While the outdoor tables were not as popular as the indoor ones; this is quite unusual for Greece where people do their best to eat al fresco during the summer. It tells us something about how nice (?) was the environment of this neighbourhood; it is not far from the infamous Omonia Square.
To be honest with you, I did not look closely into the menu, as I picked up one of daily specials told by waitress. The little I read was the pasta section; they are around from 8 and 12 euros; not particularly cheap, if not expensive either.
I ordered marinated and grilled chicken breast, which was served with tomato rice. As you see, it was nicely presented; nice presentation of food is still a rare thing in Greek restaurants of the middle and lower ranges. It is something distinguishes Hell's Kitchen from the other restaurants of the same price range.
But on the taste front, it did not go well; it wasn't bad, but not good either. Chicken breast was still brand regardless of marinating and needed extra salt (which was fortunately provided on the table). I was wondering if I could cook a better chicken grill and concluded I could. Tomato rice was better and more interesting.
And what struck me was the lack of vegetable; if the waitress warned me it does not have any veggie on the side, she could have sold more.
I did not order any drink and paid 10 euros for the main dish. Again, it is not particularly cheap, though not expensive. I would have said reasonable, if the chicken tasted better.
This is not a kind of place where I personally want to return. However, if you do not like Greek food, or you have had enough of Greek food already, Hell's Kitchen offers you something different and gives you a little surprise. And they have a lots of wine and cocktails; if you like these things, you would have enjoyed more than I did (me being no drinker). I would also like to mention that this is a good place to eat alone. In Greek tavernas I sometimes feel that many dishes are designed to be eaten in more than one person. In Hell's Kitchen, the food comes on individual basis and you don't have to feel embarassed in front of 300 or 400 grammes of meat (but I am not saying that the portion is small; on the contrary!)
Hell's Kitchen (Restaurant and Bar)
Kleisthenous 13 (Κλεισθένους 13 )
(Near Kotzia Square)
Athens, Greece
Tel. 210-5241555
http://www.hellskitchen.gr/
20 June, 2009
Agora tis Adrianou @ Monastiraki-Thissio
Went to Agora tis Adrianou on Adrianou Street of Monastiraki-Thissio area yesterday.
Does anyone know Adrianou street of Plaka and Adrianou of Monastiraki-Thissio are one same road or two different roads? It is sometimes confusing. Anyway, this restaurant is in Monastiraki-Thissio area, one of many restaurants lining Adrianou road parallel to the ISAP line and looking onto the Ancient Agora.
We arrived here at 21:30 in a Friday evening. This restaurant has many tables outside, but almost all of them were already taken, so we were seated inside the building, which is like a courtyard having an open roof. We were quite happy to be there, also because we prefer to eat with enough light than to eat in darkness.
According to the notice in Athenorama, this is a sister restaurant of Sharas in Vouliagmeni, which means this is a meat restaurant. So we ordered meat.
As appetizer, we had tyrokafteri (chili-cheese dip). I have never seen a tyrokafteri made with picked green chili, and it was pretty good. Not too salty with right amount of texture of feta cheese.
The bread you see in the photo was a sort of hand-made focaccia without or little olive oil. It is nice, but go easy with it, as is filling.
Does anyone know Adrianou street of Plaka and Adrianou of Monastiraki-Thissio are one same road or two different roads? It is sometimes confusing. Anyway, this restaurant is in Monastiraki-Thissio area, one of many restaurants lining Adrianou road parallel to the ISAP line and looking onto the Ancient Agora.
We arrived here at 21:30 in a Friday evening. This restaurant has many tables outside, but almost all of them were already taken, so we were seated inside the building, which is like a courtyard having an open roof. We were quite happy to be there, also because we prefer to eat with enough light than to eat in darkness.
According to the notice in Athenorama, this is a sister restaurant of Sharas in Vouliagmeni, which means this is a meat restaurant. So we ordered meat.
As appetizer, we had tyrokafteri (chili-cheese dip). I have never seen a tyrokafteri made with picked green chili, and it was pretty good. Not too salty with right amount of texture of feta cheese.
The bread you see in the photo was a sort of hand-made focaccia without or little olive oil. It is nice, but go easy with it, as is filling.
I ordered horta as I cannot eat meat without vegetable. It turned out to be vlita (βλήτα) - I guess the type of green changes from season to season - fresh and flavoursome. Olive oil was fruity and aromatic as well.
It took a while for the main dishes to arrive. Well, it wasn't such a long time, but, as Greek grill restaurants are usually very very quick, we felt like have waited for some time.
These are the things we ordered as main dishes.
Pork chop on born (μπριζόλα χοιρινή), served with chips.
Half the meat is hidden under the potato, but I can tell you it was pretty large. I thought it was over-cooked and rather dry, but Hubby was pretty happy with it. The Greeks tend to like their meat - pork especially - very well-done, and there is nothing I can do about it. Besides its dryness, the meat had porky taste and nice.
I had a portion of pork on skewers.
Meat did not look huge, but I really struggle to finish them all. The pork bits were accompanied with right amount of fat, as I like it. Different from the pork chop above, I think this meat was marinated before cooking and had a different flavour. Again, I would have preferred the meat less cooked, but there is no way out in this front.
Grilled tomato was strangely cold, but also was very sweet and enjoyable. I rarely like grilled tomato, so they must have done something right. Pita also was very nice; crispy, sweet and not oily. Being stuffed, I could not finish the pitas, but it wasn't at all my intention. If I have had less will power, I would have eaten them all and burst to death.
After the meal and payment, we were offered small lemony liqueur.
It served as dessert for us, but if anyone has some space after the meal, Haagen Dasz cafe just next to it is actually under the same management (two shops are connected inside) and you can order ice cream from there.
We ordered one main courses per person, but you can pick and mix more meze dishes and less meat.
Service in general is all right, not too formal, not too friendly, attentive and not slow.
The bill for two, with a large glass of beer and free carafe of water, was 32.20 euros (34 including tip). 17 euros per person isn't bad value in this part of Athens, we thought. Above all, we ate pretty well.
This isn't a super fine, gourmet restaurant, but it is a good, casual, relaxing place with a better environment than less expensive tavernas. We won't mind coming back at all.
Αγορά της Αδριανού
Αδριανού 31
(Μοναστηράκι-Θησείο)
Αθήνα
Τηλ. 210-3250096
Agora tis Adrianou
Adrianou 31 (Monastiraki-Thissio)
Athens
Tel. 210-3250096
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