Piperia

I am often caught between wanting to go to every new place and wanting to go back to places I like, in order to see, if nothing else, whether I still like them. Piperia, a friendly, busy seafood meze place in N. Psychiko falls into this latter category. I had been there a little more than a year ago and I have recommended it numerous times to friends. This time, though, I was mildly disappointed.
The place itself is handsome, all white, light, and pleasant, with old-style wooden cafeneion chairs painted white, white floors, big white lamp shades and butcher's paper on the table. The general feel is one of tradition gone slightly upscale. The menu has changed in the last year with an unwelcome (by moi) tilt toward more international fare and more gentrified Greek fare. Translation: the food has lost some of its character. For example, the taramosalata, made from white tarama (fish roe), pungent and fairly dense, comes served with homemade tortilla chips. We tried the black- eyed pea salad with ouzo vinaigrette, a version of which was on the old menu, too. This time around the salad was quite acidic, mainly because too many tomatoes threw it off balance. The fried squid with spicy sauce, also on last year’s menu, came out rubbery. But, we loved the fava, which had a beautiful presentation and a delicious, silky texture. It comes served with cracked black pepper and a smart combination of thin, raw sliced onion rings and sweet caramelized Stifado onions, which mellow the whole plate. Concentrating on starters, we also sampled one of the salads with arugula, spinach, and a creamy dressing based on honey and mustard. The salad itself is large and studded with dried figs, pomegranate seeds, and several pieces of crostini around the edge that are smothered in the soft goat's cheese, katiki. But the dressing is a little overwhelming. My pet peeve with most restaurant kitchens: please don’t let the salad greens swim in their sauce!
The main courses were less interesting. The pork loin (psaronefri) for example, stuffed with arugula and provolone and served with mustard sauce, is very tough, maybe because this normally tender piece was grilled. We loved the fried potatoes, which are cut thick and fried with their skins and served with a soothing yogurt sauce. The thin salmon fillet had no flavor and it came drenched in a syrupy teriyaki sauce that camouflaged everything on the plate.
Piperia’s menu includes, of course, lots of things we didn’t try, such as a selection of risotto and pasta dishes. Risotti included one with shrimp and zucchini and with mushrooms and black truffle pesto. There is at least one regional pasta dish, supposedly from Skyros, with spaghetti (!), and ouzo-sautéed prawns. The meze selection runs a gamut that I can only describe as Mediter-asian, with choices like salmon tataki and squid sautéed with ginger, chili, and soy sauce. The best stuff seems to be the stuff that’s closest to home. The seafood mezedes are plentiful and main courses include fillets of sole, guilt head bream (tsipoura), sea bass (lavraki), and more.
The drinks list includes a few choice ouzos, decent house wine and a small but competent wine list that is mainly Greek but also dotted with some Italian labels.


Cuisine: Mezedes from the sea and more, a Greek-Mediter-Asian mixture
Athens Area: northern suburbs, Neo Psychiko
Decor-Atmosphere: all-white, light, upscaled tradition
Service: Just fine
Wine List: Greek and some Italian labels, ouzo, beer, etc.
Prices: 30-40 euro a person
Address: 8, Agg. Sikelianou str. & Adrianiou str., Neo Psychiko, tel. 210 6729114