Having completed a guided tour of Philopappos, the Pnyx, the walls
of Athens and the newly unearthed sanctuary to the God Pan with the
Friends of the Australian Archaeological Institute, ably led by the
Institute’s co-director, Stavros Paspalas, a few of the group headed
off for lunch at this local restaurant that is so popular in the
summer due to its fabulous roof garden.
We were seven and tables were immediately shifted round to
accommodate us in the bright ground floor room, decorated with
handpainted plates on the walls and lots of interesting gilt
mirrors. Mezedes were the order of the day and they came quickly and
were equally quickly dispatched (well, we had worked up an appetite
clambering over Philopappou in the sunshine!). All delicious and
washed down with red and white house wine; because of all our
earlier exercise (!) we allowed ourselves some of their desserts,
prunes in chocolate sauce (heaven), apple pie with kaimaki ice cream
and cream (more like an apple cake, lots of juicy apples on a moist
bed), and a speciality resembling upside down crème brulee that I
had to fight for the last bite as I hadn’t had my share of the
chocolate!
A young Albanian boy dressed as a red Indian (it was during
Carnival) came in and played his miniature bouzouki and sang a bit;
he was sweet and polite and chatted happily with all the customers
and waiters and then went on his way a bit richer.
You can book at this restaurant which is good as it is deservedly a
busy place on a Sunday lunch time. Don’t wait for dinner on the roof
after a performance at the Irodion – make friends with the waiters
now and you’ll be sure of a good reception when the summer comes.
We were seven and tables were immediately shifted round to
accommodate us in the bright ground floor room, decorated with
handpainted plates on the walls and lots of interesting gilt
mirrors. Mezedes were the order of the day and they came quickly and
were equally quickly dispatched (well, we had worked up an appetite
clambering over Philopappou in the sunshine!). All delicious and
washed down with red and white house wine; because of all our
earlier exercise (!) we allowed ourselves some of their desserts,
prunes in chocolate sauce (heaven), apple pie with kaimaki ice cream
and cream (more like an apple cake, lots of juicy apples on a moist
bed), and a speciality resembling upside down crème brulee that I
had to fight for the last bite as I hadn’t had my share of the
chocolate!