Politika kai Apla

Sometimes you pass a place a hundred times and somewhere in the back of your mind you wonder what it is. That’s more or less how I felt when, trying to find “Politika kai Apla” I realized it was literally almost up the street from me. This five-month old restaurant sits on the corner of a busy street in Halandri. Ironically, it’s one of three restaurants serving eastern cuisine within a two block radius. (The other two are O Kipos tis Edem and Ex Anatolis, which happens to belong to the same owner.)

Politika kai Apla doesn’t have any of the cliché design elements most Middle Eastern and Anatolian restaurants share. In fact, the opposite is true. Instead of the fun kitch gaudiness that describes most restaurants in the category, Politika kai Apla is downright bland. All beige and modern, with a few interesting elements, such as the lanky, curved, arm-like chandeliers and the bathroom with its shelf of colognes and other potential necessities, the room is totally nondescript.

The menu (which, by the way, is very hard to read) has a wide selection of all sorts of things for vegetable lovers, cheese lovers, meat or fish lovers. Not everything we tried was stellar. The mushrooms islik, stuffed with a spicy, pleasant mixture, were flavorful, but a little wet. The roasted eggplant salad was not babaganoush, but a more Greek rendition, smokey and without tahini. We sampled a thin pita with ground up soutzouki, which sounded better than it actually was. It was a little dry and tough to eat. The Saganaki Anatolis, is heavy with cheese and soutzouki slices. Heart-attack food!

We tried two main courses, the yiaourtlou and the Bulgur Kebab. The yiaourtlou is not up there with the greats, that’s for sure. The yogurt was already congealed when it came out and the meat was not so tender. The bulgur kebab, in which bulgur is mixed into the ground meat, was a little more interesting, served up with tomatoes and thinly sliced onions.

Politika kai Apla seems to have a steady clientele, despite the owners’ nearby restaurant and the close competition up the road. I have eaten better politiki cooking in many other places around Athens. Here, despite the terseness of the space, the food was heavy-handed.

Cuisine: 'Politiki', eastern fare
Athens Area: northern suburbs
Atmosphere: modern, neutral
Service: friendly Wine List: ok
Prices: 20-30 euro a person
Address: corner of I. Paleologou str. & 2, Valaoritou str., Halandri, tel. 2106856466