Okay, a fish restaurant isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you’re making plans for Swan Thursday, but if you think about it, it’s a good idea. You are spared the crowding, the noise and the meat of questionable origin that is distributed en masse in many taverns. Admittedly, you lose some meatballs (which will be there tomorrow too) and some tickling dumans, but you gain a quieter and more delicious evening with your partner or company. It’s a good idea even if you haven’t reserved a table. And even at the last minute, it is very likely that you will find a seat. Some fish taverns will be closed today, but the following will be open and ready to welcome those who decide to veer towards the sea, with pan and grill in action, and seafood and fish in many variations. Among them you will also find two special cases: one that plays on a double board and one more in… an opposite role.
Pezoulas: Here they feast on octopuses and shrimps!
Photos: Sofia Papastrati
It maintains the simplicity and the feel of the house that takes us back to the times when the great folk singers used to gather. New flavors have been added to the menu, but the fish soup still has the vote of the connoisseurs and many come just for it. Try the grilled crayfish, fava beans with smoked eel, octopus with sea urchin and fried mullets. Some more modern dishes have also been added to the menu, such as sea bass carpaccio and sea bream ceviche, which somehow take us out of the traditional fish tavern atmosphere. The fish is always of the day, (from Chalkida, Varvakeio, the fish market of Rentis) and we are always invited to the kitchen to choose the fish we want to be grilled. In their cellar they have bottled Greek wines, about 14 labels. M.P.
11 Peisistratou, Kallithea, T/210-94.22.684
READ ALSO Tsiknopempi: 12 neighborhood taverns worth discovering in Athens
Ionian: Sardine like… meat
Photos: Angelos Yiotopoulos
Neighborhood fish tavern that surprises you both with its quality and with its friendly pricing. Right next to the little church of Agios Georgios in Nicaea, Ionikos serves the best sardine I have ever eaten – breaded, cooked perfectly, better than cutlets! And it’s not just her, everything that comes out of the Ionian kitchen is one and the same: the buttery greens, the fava beans, the lightly fried shrimp crumb, the gooseberries with their golden crispy casing. The neighborhood atmosphere gives extra points to this exemplary fish shop. G.P.
Prousis 17, Nice, T/ 210-49.20.202
Psarokastella: Friday night with gambares in Kastella
Photos: Sofia Papastrati
It is tucked in an alley of Kastella, between old detached houses and modern apartment buildings. It’s hard to get out of the road here. Maria, her husband Kostas and their two children, Nestoras and Konstantinos, who all work in the shop, always welcome us with a smile and kindness. Maria learned the secrets and recipes from their parents who owned the tavern before. The octopus – from Chios – is made honeyed, quenched with semi-sweet wine and at the end add a little fresh oil and handmade vinegar from Crete. The chef’s specialty is prawns in a peppery sauce – with citrus aromas, a little sweet, a little sour and a little spicy. The seafood is always fresh, because they buy whatever they find. Shellfish, such as oysters, shiners, quinces and scallops, come only to order, one day in advance. Their bread is Metsovitiko and they get it from a bakery in Prophet Ilias, their vegetables are seasonal and the greengrocer has been their partner for years. Don’t forget to order the fries, they are fried on a griddle – no fryers or pans – in fresh oil and come out like a dream: golden, crispy and delicious. M.P.
Skra 19, Piraeus, T/210-42.22.237
Photos: Sofia Papastrati
Fast service, atmosphere of an old canteen and honest and tasty food. Here we eat nice, fresh crayfish and fried calamari, juicy oven-roasted grouper, boiled vegetables and greens, fava beans and hand-cut potatoes, in huge portions. A special delicacy of Mrs. Vaia (the owner) is the fried leeks with a Karditsi recipe, the sausage, also from Karditsa, and the famous half-kilo Zachos burger with or without filling. Only female chefs cook and bake in the kitchen, and everything that comes through their hands turns out delicious. At the end, they are treated to a delicious sweet, a red Zagora apple, cut into slices and topped with a spoonful of homemade sour cherry. M.P.
Komotinis 37, Kaminia, T/210-48.13.325
ALSO READ Where do we go for good grilled fish? 13 restaurants and taverns that cook with a lot of skill
Laki’s Ouzi: He puts fish on the fire
Photo: Angelos Yiotopoulos
Photo: Angelos Yiotopoulos
They will grill blackfish and sardines, squids and octopuses, shrimps and crayfish, for those who want the day of meat to… pull towards the sea. In the small ouzorie in Victoria Square that has recently expanded – they also took a space across the street, so they have an extra room –, you will also have a slice of fritter with semolina and spicy tomato jam, rego salad, octopus meatballs and octopus braised with tagliatelle from Distomo and more many made in his little kitchen by the good cook Anna Passa. Add some ouzo – Giorgos Lambrou, Laki’s son, who has been running the shop for years, loves them and collects them with great passion. Along with the tsipouras, he has about 180 in his collection. LET.
Elpidos 16, Victoria, T/210-82.13.776
Transoceanion: It doesn’t even close on Tsiknopempti!
Photo: Nikos Kokkas
Photo: Nikos Kokkas
The beginning is made with sardines grilled with tomato on toasted bread and some of the marinades, the continuation is written with oiled, fried Thessaloniki mussels, seafood barley or cuttlefish grilled with tahini and some of the fried or grilled fish. As for the finale, it has cream ice cream. This Piraeus hangout has been bringing people from all over Athens to the Hatzikyriakei neighborhood for years now. You grab a chair inside or outside with your friends and start a sea… itinerary. M.P.
Marias Hatzikyriakou 48, Piraeus, T/210-41.80.030
Thalassinos: On Chiknopempi, the rota changes
If you go today to the fish tavern that is now close to 35 years old in Tzitzifies, you will think you are somewhere else. From the kitchen will come lamb and mutton ribs, liver, burgers, bouillabaisse and cheese curds. Alipasta, raw, fish appetizers and seafood pasta will return the next day. Tsiknopempti has been bringing up and down in the kitchen of Thalassinos for about ten years. The first time they set up a small meat feast for themselves and a few close friends on a day when they didn’t have much work, then they did it again and then it became…a tradition. It will also be a festive evening, with Lena Kitsopoulou singing old folk songs LET.
32 Lysikratous, Kallithea, T/210-94.04.518
Margaro: Frying pan for a prize
Margaro has been in the same place since 1944 – next to the gate of the Naval Cadet School
Photos: Angelos Yiotopoulos
Margaro at the end of Chatzikyriakou Avenue is known for its simple, non-negotiable menu, which borders on obsessive monogamy: it only has mullet or mullet, shrimps or crayfish, and country fish. That’s all. Not even fries. Also, he works exclusively with pans, and this has not changed since the famous Mrs. Margaro of Mykoniatissa ran the shop, feeding the carpenters, sailors and workers of the area. Today, some beastly cars are parked outside the shop that come from all over Athens and Piraeus. H.T.
126 Chatzikyriakou Ave., Piraeus, T/210-45.14.226.
Captain: Rendezvous with the sea at a dead end in Lefka
photos: Angelos Yiotopoulos
He has been running the family tavern in Piraeus for forty (and counting) years. Behind the counter with the analog scale they will show you the fish of the day and weigh it in front of you before taking it to the grill. And what baking! Even the most difficult fish are managed with skill so that they reach the table juicy and delicious. The fries are homemade and totally addictive. The juicy shrimps, the vinegary octopus with their own pickle, the fried calamari-loukumi are some of the things worth trying in this hidden gem in a dead end of Lefka. G.P.
Tenedou 4, Piraeus, T/210-42.06.539