On a Sunday of May 2009, two of us stopped in Gkazi area of Athens for lunch.
I had an intention to try a taverna about which I read in magazine, but it looked too shabby from the outside for His taste, so we looked for somewhere else looking promising. We were tempted by a place called Kanella, but it was absolutely packed and were scared away by the sear density of population eating there. This mezedopoleio, Gazohori, was full of happy looking young diners, but not too full; it did not take much time for us to decide.
The indoor seating space is very small, but has an uncountable number of tables alongside the road and the outdoor capacity is really large.
The mezedes on offer includes some politiki (Constantinopolitan) dishes as well as Greek usual suspects.
Here are some examples. Horiatiki salata (€5.50), rocket and parmiggiano salad (€4), saganaki of three cheeses (€5),
The ordered dishes arrived in a matter of 10 minutes or so.
First, tyrokafteri, or chili cheese dip (€3).
Normally tyrokafteri is made from chili and feta cheese, but this one was made with mitzithra (another of Greek white cheese, milkier than feta) or blend of the two. Not too hot, probably too salty, but good nevertheless.
Agourodomata (cucumber and tomato) salad (€3.50).
Basically, agourodomata salad is Greek horiatiki (country-style) salad without feta. This version included green and red pepper, purple onion and olive besides the namesakes.
Keftedes fournou are oven baked meat balls (€6).
Meat I thought was either beef or veal. They were well accentuated by spices and herbs. I recognised cumin and parsely, but there could have been more others.
This is aubergine 'borona' (€5.50).
We had never heard this name, but it wasn't anything unfamiliar. Small bits of aubergine and mitzithra cheese baked in oven, served with fresh mitzithra and parsely. By the way, the mitzithra cheese used here is quite salty and made me remind of a turkish cheese which was like a cross between mitzithra and feta. Aubergine was almost calamerized and very sweet. Very nice.
We saw this dish on the table next to us and could not help ordering for us: oven baked potatoes (€3.50).
Potatoes were more like oven-steamed than baked, soaking up olive oil and lemon juice. I liked them, but my companion said they were too sour for him.
In general, the food here was slightly too salty to my taste, but if you are to enjoy it with beer or ouzo, it might be the just seasoning.
Together with a bottle of beer (500ml), the total bill came to €.25.50. We felt satisfied and will be happy to return.
After the lunch, we walked down Dekeleon street, which is full of eateries, noticing that most of the places were almost totally empty. It is true that it was around 4 o'clock and a strange time for eating, but to Gazohori, people were still arriving when we left. We wondered if these empty places are actually terrible places or if it is just because crowd is attracted by crowd.
Gazohori
Dekeleon 2, Gkazi
Athens
Tel. 210-34.24.044
(There is English menu)
We paid a second visit in early August 2009. There are the dishes we ate.
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| Overview | Chips. They looked fresh and hand-cut |
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| Aubergine Boroná | Parmiggiano and Rocket Salad |
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| Tyrokafteri | Risotto of 'Ahmet' |
With a bottle of beer and a basket of bread, the total bill came to €27.50.
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