I was walking around to the city centre just before catching my flight to Cyprus and I wanted to have a last taste of the Greek food, then in the long distance right on a nice stone paved road my eyes caught the Old Ithaki Restaurant claiming to be open since 1988 , what else do you need more than that ?
Over welcomed by the waiter I was sited next to a nice Phuket of flowers and under a nice shadow of trees. As I sat and started to feel really comfortable bunch of gypsies came around me asking for money, unfortunately it seems that this restaurant it is located exactly on the path where these people are passing by very often.
Regardless the last comment the waiter offered me the menu and asked me if I wanted to have fish or meat , at this point let me clarify that this restaurant except of the meat dishes is also famous for the fish , which in the menu the prices would easily cost you an arm and a hand.
I always ask for the specialty and the waiter suggested the “Kleftiko” as always I have ordered the famous Greek Salad along with the main dish and of course the ALFA local beer, I know that it sounds like an advertisement, but it is not!
The salad arrived which it was ok , nice presentable and the feta was really delicious and fresh covert with fresh oregano, really refreshing for the lunch time, a nice surprise was also the small white bread drippled with Greek virgin olive oil.
The “Kleftiko” arrived in a white oven-proof paper and that was in a delay of 40 minutes and when I asked the waiter why it took so long the reply was that it is freshly made , which by the way it is not true as the real “kleftiko” needs to stay in the oven for 3 hours plus.
When I opened the oven-proof paper I could see the potatoes, green peppers, onions and tomatoes , with the meat to be nowhere to be found and a lot of digging needed to see the minimal meat portion which all the fuss was about. Moving to the taste was really bland like it was literally boiled in the casserole a really huge disappointment especially after waiting that long.
Moving forward I asked for the bill which the waiter offered a complimentary Greek coffee and a Greek sweet called “galaktompoureko” which is creamy with baklava leafs and a lot of sugar syrup , tasting the last was really super delicious and very fresh , still warm I can safely say that it was the dish of the day.
And then the bill came super charged I had to pay 35 euro for a single person which I again find it bit too far for a lunch of that low quality and the question would I visit this place again, absolutely no although the location looks nice, you cab harassed a lot by the gypsies, for the bland food and comparing the price it is overpriced.
Old Ithaki Restaurant in Athens,