Eating at Milton's, sampling the catch of the day in Pylos, and Asian fusion food at Inbi.

Once of the reasons I started this blog was to share, at the time, my culinary discoveries in Ghana. I soon realised though that I loved eating food more than I do writing about it. I can talk about it endlessly, and even photograph it fairly well, but somehow the words do not seem quite adequate when trying to tell about a tasting experience or culinary surprise that left my heart beating just a bit faster.

Over the summer holidays, my family and I made a few discoveries in Athens and in the coastal town of Costa Navarino, which had me thinking, that I should post about the food experiences we'd had. So here's to sharing.

As far as eating some authentic Greek food, Athens disappointed.
I tend to stop listening very quickly when at hotels the concierge begins a restaurant recommendation with "It's my cousin's place..." and ends with, "Tell him... sent you." There is a whole system of quid pro quo that keeps the wheels well-oiled in the tourist business, and at times for many tourists, such recommendations can be a hit - we unfortunately had a few misses.
There was one recommended taverna though, whose name I did not note, that had a great view of the city and of the Acropolis, a really friendly owner, but unfortunately a meat-heavy forgettable meal. The ambiance of the place made up for what could have been another disappointing night out.

Daphne's was passable. It came recommended by trip advisor, but not at the top of the list. The section of the restaurant we were seated in was like a cave- well lit and all, but it was not on the terrace. The one thing I took away from this place was that it was hushed. People talking and all, mainly couples really, but all talking in very hushed tones. We didn't say for dessert at that one.

The view of the Acropolis beyond, at the unnamed taverna.

Street view, which was bustling with people.

Our best discovery though was a delightfully hip lounge restaurant, right around the corner from our hotel, that wooed us back for a number of meals from their contemporary Mediterranean food menu.
Contemporary Mediterranean food? Yes, from the Greek salad (not very authentic I know),  to the lamb meals  and everything else in between - the basic ingredients of what would make a typical Greek meal were there but they were cooked and served differently.

Eat at Milton's was a really laid back, lounge-music playing, perfect-service offering hangout for the hip and gorgeous in Athens. So for a few meals we gave up on Uncle Giorgio's taverna (recommended by the concierge of course) and some of the top listed trip-advisor recommendations, we steered really clear of Old Plaka in the evenings, and and just ate really good food in a wonderfully cool restaurant.

Watching the waiter expertly serve my fish was another  highlight.

Moving to the coast was more of a pleasant surprise. Although in Athens we were not paying French prices, it was not as cheap as I had expected it to be. Pylos, a small sea-side town in Costa Navarino was just the experience we had wanted.

We rented a car from our hotel and went exploring the Messinia province. Pylos was one of our stops; it is not a big town, and has the typical setting of a seaside town; the locals sunning themselves on some sparse piece of beach; the old people sitting on their verandas watching the traffic go by, boats in the harbour, and the very many tavernas serving pretty much the same fare. We randomly chose a place for lunch, and ended up eating like kings.

The owner, as it happened had visited South Africa many years before and had really liked it.
"When exactly?" we asked, curiously thinking we could update him on the changes over the past ten years, and how the country was moving forward in overcoming its past and all those good things.
"In 1982." Well that ended that conversation quickly.
"It's a very different country now," was all we could come up with.

The food was well prepared and tasted like home-cooked fare. I had the best lamb sitting at that unnamed little seaside restaurant, and we watched the fish ending up on our plates soon after being caught by an elderly fisherman that the owner seemed to be rewarding with shots of ouzo. We thought it a bizarre exchange but the fisherman didn't  seem to mind.



Inbi became, during our stay in Costa Navarino our go-to restaurant for dinner. With delightful twists on on typical Japanese food, we sampled our way though their menu and each time came away satisfied with each new meal tried. Stylish decor, perfect service and excellent food. Their sake mojito became my sundowner drink and their melt-in-the-mouth black cod was perfect every time.

Needless to say, as always after the summer, I have been hitting the running trails.

Photos taken from the Inbi webite.