A delicious walk along Piraeus’ coastline
The walk along Peiraiki, Piraeus’ coastline, is one of the most beautiful you can enjoy in the city: your eyes open wide as you can’t get enough of looking at the sea. When it starts getting dark, the blazing sunset is spectacular.
We spent an entire day wandering around it. From the Hadzikyriakio and the Peiraiki’s rocks, we found ourselves in Kallipoli and Freatida.
In between, we made a few delectable stops to enjoy fresh fish and seafood, Cretan delicacies, wine, cocktails and takeaway picnics, always with views that took our breath away and a sea breeze that pleasantly refreshed us.
At Ormos Aphroditis for squid and snails
Mr Kostas, together with his wife, Niki, has created and maintained a neat, simple and authentic place with luscious food. They don’t serve a lot of stuff, but it’s all fresh and tasty.
A rich rustic salad to start, with coarsely chopped juicy tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, plenty of onion, mizithra cheese from Crete, small olives from their field and olive oil from the olive press in their village, Kalyvia Monofatsiou in southern Heraklion. The fried foods followed: potatoes that are hand-cut and fried in fresh olive oil, squid that’s crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside, and on the side, sweet and juicy prawns, accompanied by the trademark ouzo.
When he has some, he also brings apaki from the island. He grills fish when Mihalis the fisherman, who comes every morning from the bay below, has caught some red mullet or other small fish.
His snails are a dream. He collects them himself when he goes to Crete and cooks them with mastery. He puts the snails in a frying pan with hot olive oil, tops them with plenty of oregano and salt, then vinegar, stirs and covers for a few minutes. His tsikoudia from his own casks is tasty, easy to drink and lifts the spirits.
Thea Thalassa for heart-warming views
After a decade of successful operation in Mikrolimano, Thea Thalassa opened in Peiraiki in 2019. Their new spot is located on the beachfront with sidewalk tables and a beautifully designed interior. The menu is essentially the same as that of Mikrolimano.
At Thea Thalassa they respect seasonality, so we found crayfish, lobster, clams and Amvrakikos gulf crabs gathered only when the season allows. Fresh fish is the order of the day and is supplied by divers from all over Greece.
Here we also ate more special fish and seafood dishes such as carpaccio of the fresh fish of the day, ceviche with shrimp from Pefki, taramosalata made into a mousse and served with handmade pita bread, and cuttlefish ink and crab “ribs.”
Akri for dolmades and handmade pasta
Overlooking the rocks of Peiraiki, the fish tavern takes its name from the neighborhood of the same name in the village of Agia Marina on Kasos, where the owners hail from.
The decoration in Akri reminds you of being on an island. Here we stop to eat, apart from more fresh fish, excellent delicacies from the island. The famous bite-sized dolmadakia, from the experienced hands of a local cook, and the handmade pasta with shitake mushrooms. Their seafood, such as the mussels and tiny Symi prawns, perfectly accompany our meal.
At Tsikoudia for tsikoudia and ofto lamb
This is where Cretan cuisine and culture lovers gather to enjoy traditional recipes, cooked with care and love for pure ingredients, many of which are brought by the owners directly from the island.
Traditional Cretan fare such as Sfakiani pie, staka, xinohontros with apaki, tsigariasto, gammopilafo, ofto lamb and even kreatotourta (a traditional Hania cake with lamb, mizithra and mint) are on the menu. But also more modern dishes such as fried chicken with curry and staka, a special and very tasty recipe.
On the plus side are the flavors, service and the beautiful vistas, especially upstairs. On the minus side, are the over-stylized dishes.
At Margaro, because it’s an institution
At the beginning of the Peiraiki, at the end of Chatzikyriakou Avenue is Margaro, the fish taverna-institution of Piraeus, which has even been written about by the New York Times. At the turn of the 20th century, it operated as a taverna under a different management, and later, in the 1940s, as a wine shop and cookhouse under the supervision of Mrs Margaro from Mykonos.
Old-time customers remember her as a master of the pans, cooking on two large hobs. At that time she cooked for builders, sailors and the workers of the area. This was where the households of the Hadzikyriakio got their wine, from the large barrels in the basement.
In those days the floor was gravel and the food was charged by the head instead of the quantity. There is no menu at Margaro because they serve only three things all in all: shrimps or crayfish, red mullet and Greek salad.
The fish is crispy, juicy and seasoned with plenty of coarse salt. The shrimps, uncleaned, need to be eaten by hand – some people eat them with the crunchy shells, others peel them to eat only the tasty flesh.
Sisu wine and coffee for takeaway drinks
Sisu Wine and Coffee is a very interesting project we come across at the highest point of Kallipoli. A petite store with no tables to sit at but that gives you the option to take coffee, juices, cocktails, wine (in a bottle) and snacks away and enjoy them on the rocks across the street. For the wine, they even “rent” out a glass which if you bring back, you’re refunded.
They work with the Halari wine cellar, which has an interesting list. Now we’re into the white Klepsydra from Ktima Samartzi, Thalassitis from Gaia and the rosé Grannatus from Papagiannakos. They also have ready-made cocktails mixed by award-winning The Clumsies. The negroni is perfect with an airy view of the sunset. For a side-dish we get the pinsa greca with tomato sauce, goat cheese, Mykonos luza ham, cherry tomatoes, capers, olives and chives or the cheese and charcuterie platter.
This article appeared in Greece Is (www.greece-is.com), a Kathimerini publishing initiative.
