Where We Ate in Epirus - Part 1

I have been quiet for a while because GH and I went to Epirus for a week from the end of October to the beginning of November.

Always, I recap here the places where we ate during the trip.

* * * * * * *
Our first stop was Ioannina.

I have never been to this town, but GH did a part of his military service here. It was almost 15 years ago and he did not remember much.

We arrived there at the lunch time, so we went to a place called Fysa Roufa, which I found on Foursquare.

It is a mageireio style place where you can choose your meal from showcase.

When I say "showcase" probably I am not giving you the right image. It is different from self-service canteen where the food is served directly from it. In mageireio, normally you choose the food you want, go to your table and sit down. The kitchen people reheat it (if it is not warm enough), dish it up, and then your waiter bring it to you, just like in any other restaurants. GH is particularly fond of this style and went crazy when he saw it and decided 2 main dishes on his own.

So I ordered only a chicken soup (5 Euro). Fisa Roufa is known for its soups and on that day they had 4 or 5 soups on the menu.

It was warm and good to settle down my stomach. We had also a serving of rolled pork with cheese and vegetable filling and a serving of stuffed zucchini with egg & lemon sauce. They were all good, if not excellent. We paid about 25 Euro together with a bottle of beer, bread and free dessert.

Fysa Roufa - ΦΥΣΑ ΡΟΥΦΑ
Averof 55, Ioannina, 45221
Αβέρωφ 55, Ιωάννινα, 45221
Tel. 26510 26262

Then we went to the castle (fortress) of Ioannina (which in Greece called Εις Καρέ). There is a famous cafe-mezedopoleio, but we did not stop.

This day, we did not really have a dinner, because we met up a cousin of GH and her husband and ate a quick souvlaki.


* * * * * * *
On the day 2, we had breakfast at the hotel (we stayed at a place called Kentrikon, which is really central).

We had a lunch at a fast food place called Hippo Style.

Why we chose to eat fast food in Ioannina? It was because this was the place where GH used to go when he was doing military service. It was a nostalgic thing.

This is my crepe, I think it was called Mexican, but it had nothing to do with Mexico, as the chicken was flavoured with curry. It cost under 5 Euro and very filling. Not bad value for money.

Hippo Style
Plateia Neomartyros Georgiou 13, Ioannina, 45444
Πλατεία Νεομάρτυρος Γεωργίου 13, Ιωάννινα, 45444
Tel. 26510 72977


In the afternoon, we traveled to Monodendri in Zagorohoria, where we were to stay for 3 nights.

I was looking forward to visit a famous taverna called Pita tis Kikitsas in the village, but when we arrived in the evening, we were told that it was closed.

Disappointed, we went to the restaurant of a hotel called Arktouros, which was only 1 place remained open in the lower part of Monodendri village in that evening.

We ordered a bottle of local bubbly red wine, which cost 8 Euro. It is pretty expensive for a wine without label. It was interesting, but 1 try was enough for us.

As we did not want to eat meat on that day, we ordered a galotyri (this name is used for various cheeses in Greece and in Zagorohoria it was a sort of feta and yogurt dip), butter beans with green, briam, and fried potatoes.

They were all pleasant but there was nothing stood out either. The total bill came to 27 Euro.

Arktouros - Αρκτούρος
Lower part of Monodendri
Μονοδέντρι
Tel. 26530 72000



Unfortunately, we did not eat quite well in Zagorohoria and this was just a beginning. It was because, first of all, tavernas tended to be closed (evidently and unexpectedly autumn is a low season in Zagorohoria), portion tended to be small, choices tended to be limited, and price tended to be a bit higher). You will see it later.

To be continued...

Moma @ Monastiraki

About a week ago, GH and I visited a cafe-restaurant called Moma in Adrianou Street of Monastiraki.

Adrianou is a long street, which traverses the central Athens stretching from the edge of Plaka to Thissio. Moma is on the Monastiraki side of Adrianou, on the pedestrian walk along the archaeological site of Ancient Agora.

Adrianou is one of the most touristic places of Athens, but different from Plaka, here gathers also many Athenians. (To say the truth, this is not really true, because even in Plaka there are some streets where many Athenians go).

We went to this particular place because it had a high-score on Foursquare (I was curious) and GH did not in the mood of traditional Greek food.

The waiters were welcoming. After the usual discussion with them if GH and I speak and read Greek (because neither of us do not look like Greek), we were seated at one of the outdoor tables and given the menu.

As we told waiters that we were eating, they brought a bottled water. If you are here for drink, they shall bring tap water.

The menu is usual "international", with addition of "Greek dishes" printed on a different menu. As we expected, the prices were rather high; salads about 8 or 9 Euro, main dishes 10- 12.

Here is Greek salad from "Greek dishes" menu. While the salads on the main menu were 8 to 9 as I wrote above, this one (and dakos) were 6.50 Euro.

The plate was huge, but the portion wasn't large. It was passable as a starter while we waited for main courses.

I forgot to mention that the waitress asked if we wanted bread and dip to start with. This is positive, because I am not much of a bread eater. I think it cost 0.80 Euro or so per person, if you wanted it.

This is GH's Peperoni pizza, 11 Euro. On the menu, it was written that in contained "sweet chili". We thought it should be paprika, but turned out to be Chinese sweet chili sauce.

GH was eating it happily, but I found it rather amateurish, as it if it was cooked at home.

I ordered the Today dish, which was written on the black board, but not on the menu. It was pork fillet cooked with lavender and served with pasta (on the black board, it was written that it was served also with grilled manouri cheese, but I did not see any trace of it).

It came in a big quantity and pork fillets cooked with lavender were quite interesting. The pasta was also particular Greek variety. It was a shame that it was chewy; a little bit more of boiling would have helped it.

Anyway, this dish cost only 12 Euro together with a glass of wine. It is a good deal.

Together with a bottle of coke, the total bill came to 34.30 Euro.

All in all, it is a nice place to have a drink or light meal. Adrianou street is terrific for people watching with the background of Stoa of Herodes Attikos and the Thiseion Temple (which really is Hephaisteion). However, for a gastronomic experience, I would look for somewhere else.

Moma
Adrianou 29, Monastiraki, 105 55, Athens
Αδριανού 29, Μοναστηράκι, 105 55, Αθήνα
Tel. 210 3211233
http://momarestaurant.gr/

Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino @ Akropoli-Makrigianni

One Sunday afternoon we visited a pasta restaurant called Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino of Makrigianni Quarter. It is just 3 min. walk away from Akropoli Metro station.

"Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino" means literally "Garlic, Oil and Chili" in Italian and practically it means pasta (usually spaghetti) cooked with these 3 ingredients (plus salt, of course).

Although I have been to this station some dozens of times, I have never seen this restaurant, because it is tucked away in a quite minor street.

I heard about this place from a friend of mine some time ago. After checking the score in Foursquare, we decided to try.

It was quite small. Much smaller than I imagined; I don't think there were not even 10 tables. The decoration looked somehow Christmasy; I guess you can see what I mean looking at the photo below.

Even though the place was small and there were two waitresses, the service was rather slow. It took quite a while to bring us a menu. I noted that the waitresses did not bring more than 1 dish a time for some reason. It was odd.

I had thought it was an Italian restaurant, but it proved not to be the precise definition in my mind. The reason is that the only main dish it serves is pasta. There is no pizza, no risotto and more importantly, no meat or fish.

In Italy, pasta is considered to be the first course and, for a meal to be complete, there should also be second course (normally meat or fish). Although people often eat only the first course to save time, money or calorie intake, it is odd if restaurants do not have any second dish.

I lived in Italy for 5 years and I have a rather clear and inflexible idea what Italian restaurants are like. So I would call this place a pasta restaurant, not really an Italian.

From the rather limited choices, we ordered 1 salad and 2 pasta dishes.

To start, we were served some bread (2 black and 2 white) and some olives (0.80 Euro per person).

This seemed to be an obligatory order. However, I believe they should ask the guests if they want bread or not, because people do not necessary eat bread with pasta. It is carbohydrate overload.

The salad we ordered was with grilled aubergine and yogurt. You can see in the photo yogurt and aubergine. What you do not see are cucumber and tomato below the aubergine. I found the combination a bit odd. 8.50 Euro.

My pasta was tagliolini (alla) "siciliana", I was explained by one of the waitresses that it was tagliolini cooked with minced pork, chili, white wine and a bit of cream. I am not sure why they associated this dish with Sicily.

It was not bad, but I found it a bit too heavy, maybe because of the cream.

GH had Papardelle with speck and cheese (I do not remember which cheese it was). Speck is like prosciutto crudo, but it is smoked. I thought that the speck was too cooked.

Neither of the pasta wasn't bad, but I would not pay 12 Euro for such simple dishes. I would rather cook at home.

At the end, they offered either grappa, limoncello or lemon sorbet (we chose the last).

With a bottle of beer, the bill came to 37.10 Euro. Considering what we ate, it was rather expensive.

Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino is no doubt a successful restaurant which has continued for years attracting many regular customers. But it did not do the trick to me.

Aglio, Olio & Peperoncino
Porinou 13, Makrigianni, 117 42 Athens
Πορινού 13, Μακρυγιάννη, 117 42 Αθήνα
Tel: 2109211801

Walking toward the metro station, we found this strange sculpture.

Ilioupoli

We are in Ilioupoli, eastern suburb of Athens. We have never been here before and were very impressed by wide roads and ample open spaces.

By the way, this is a test post I am writing with my new mobile.

Mavromatis @ Agia Paraskevi

Visited this taverna in one Friday evening of September.

We heard about this place from a friend of ours. She has been here 2 or 3 times and she liked it. When I saw a discount coupon, we planned to go there together, but eventually she left for another country and only GH and I made it.

It is a huge taverna with tables outside and inside. It was all the more evident, as we were the only customers almost until the end of our meal, when a man came in and sat down.

Again, I tell you it was a Friday evening!


Mavromatis is famous for grill, but it has also oven cooked food (mageirefta).

Here are mixed salad, aubergine imam and tyrokafteri.

Imam was pretty good, as the one I cooked at home following classic recipe.

On the other hand, the salad was rather dismal. If it was 4 Euro, it would have been OK, but it wasn't.

I do not recall how was the tyrokafteri. I only remember that I thought it was not memorable. Ha ha ha.

Fried potatoes were a bit too crunchy. Or too raw, should I say?

This is chicen exhohiko, recommended by our waiter. These were boned chicken thighs with feta and green pepper filling. I am not keen on this way of cooking, but it was nicely executed.

I liked these veal burgers, except for some hard bits (but not as hard as fragmented bone, which sometimes endanger my teeth).

These are the famous chicken paidakia for 1 kilo (15 Euro).

These should be chicken breast on bones. Although they were enjoyable, I did not think they were so special that I should come back.

I am not quite sure how much they cost, as we had vouchers for 4 people and ordered much more than what we could eat. However, my impression is that they should adjust the price maybe 10% downward, considering now there are so many competitors that are offering better price.

Mavromatis - Μαυρομάτης
Eptanisou 4, Ag. Paraskevi, 15341, Athens
Επτανήσου 4, Αγ. Παρασκευή, 15341, Αθήνα
Tel. 210 6399102 - 210 6014048
http://www.tavernamavromatis.gr/