(Visited in February 2010)
We visited this psarotaverna on Peiraiki coast in a warm but windy Saturday afternoon of February.
Although Hubby was inclined to go to our usual Faros, I insisted that we should try somewhere else, as Faros isn't a perfect restaurant for me. The choice of To Nisi was based on some comments I gathered on internet.
Hubby calmed down a bit when he realised that he still could have a sea view from this far end of Peiraiki. We were seated inside the building and thus the view wasn't great, but during the warmer season, things will be better from the tables outside the building.
After some discussion with our waiter - because some of the items we wanted to order were missing - we chose five items.
As always, these items came first: bread, fried potato, and vegetable.
Bread was grilled and flavoured with olive oil and oregano. Very nice.
Fried potatoes and horta (boiled green) were well cooked and satisfactory.
These are xtapodokeftedes, i.e. octopus patties.
We have never eaten xtapodokeftedes and have always been curious about. It was good that we could finally have a chance to eat some.
It was made from mashed or finely chopped octopus meat and various vegetables. I don't think it contained any potato. If it did, it should be very little.
It wasn't bad as a concept, but these contained some very hard bits, something like rough sand. I could not figure out how sand came into these patties. OK. If we do not wash octopus well enough, its tentacles can contain some bits of sand, but it does not usually happen when we cook octopus, partly because octopus is already well-washed when we buy it. So, it remained a mystery to me. Anyway, we will not order them again here.
These are pieces of grilled cuttlefish.
They tasted like grilled cuttlefish and it was all fine, but personally I thought grilled kalamari (squid) tasted better. Hubby, however, said it was a nice change, as we always order kalamari.
To make it not totally fasting meal (it was still before quaresimal fasting period), I wanted some fish. We ordered grilled sardines, but later the waiter came back to tell us that sardines were unavailable and suggested gavros instead.
Gavros - I think it is a sardine family - is usually eaten deep-fried and I have never tried grilled version and they turned out to be pretty good.
And semolina halvas with almond was on the house.
With a bottle of Amstel and a bottle of water, the bill came to €29.90. Even if we consider that we did not order anything expensive - in principle I don't order anything expensive at the restaurants where I have never been before -, but € 30 is still a good price.
A downside was that they did not give us a fiscal receipt. This paper strip in the photo isn't, as it does not bear name or address of the restaurant or fiscal number. To be fair I am sorry to say that it happens often in Peiraiki and not limited to this place. Now that we are all in search of receipts (for those who don't know, in Greece with the introduction of a new law, the citizens should collect fiscal receipts to get tax reduction/return), we have to think it again before we revisit.
To Nisi
348 Akti Themistokleous
Piraeus
Tel. 210-42 87 217
http://www.tonisi.gr/
Go to Piraeus Restaurant Index
