I visited this place with 2 friends in a weekday everning (the photo was taken sometime ago). We chose this taverna because one of the friends ate here several times in the past and liked it, although I don't think the waiters remembered him (meaning I don't think they treated us differently from the other customers).
We ordered three mezedakia, three main dishes and one salad. The mezedakia = orektika were fava, tyrokafteri and boiled beetroot. The main dishes were fried gavros (anchovies), beef with aubergine, and baked chicken and fried potatoes. The salad was shredded cabbage and carrot. We had also a half kilo of house wine.
Let's get more into details. The orektika were all fine. Tyrokafteri looked suspiciously white - not cheesy white, but snow white - but on tasting, it was quite acceptable with nice kick of green fresh chili. Mashed fava (=yellow split peas) was decorated with chopped fresh red onion and olive oil. Never having eaten fava in this way, although this is the commonest way of eating fava in Greece, I could not say it was below or above average, but I liked it. Boiled beetroots were again fine: very sweet with only slight earthiness.
Among the main dishes, the one looked the best was the beef with aubergine. It came in small youvetsi earthen ware. Judging from the name of the restaurant, the dishes cooked in youvetsi are their specialities. The other main dishes and the salad were also ok.
After the meal, we were offered semolina halvas for free.
The total bill for 7 dishes and 1/2 litre of wine came to just below 50 euros (I cannot give you the break-down, as our server never returned us the receipt). For the central Plaka, the price looked fair. I won't go back there with Hubby, but if I need to take foreign visitors to Plaka, this place is an acceptable choice.
Ta Giouvetsakia
144 Adrianou and Thespidos
Plaka, Athens
Tel. 210-3227033
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