Taverna Giannikos (Ταβέρνα Γιαννίκος) — Restaurant in Kassandra Municipality

Read the full review and see the exact rating about Giannikos Tavern on the blog palcescases.com See ....

…. The tavern is located in the small picturesque village of Paliuri, which is the last marked on Google maps village at the end of the leg;

…. There are two main taverns in the village - Giannikos tavern and Limonis and they are opposite to each other;

…. The pub is on the very central square, which is very small;

…. The interior inside and on the terrace is nothing special, but the tables to the square look attractive with the geranium around them;

…. The waiters wear a plexiglass helmet in front of their mouths, for the safety of the tourists.

Feel ....

…. The typical for Greece friendly and fast service, including moving tables, adding chairs, etc .;

…. The detailed receipt is written by hand and in Greek, which makes it difficult to verify its content. But at least one can be pay with a card;

…. There was always fresh catch of fish and seafood. Fresh fish is priced from 55 to 105 euros, but if you are a regular customer or order large fish for a group, Aris, the boss, will give you a discount.

Hear ….

…. Unfortunately, on one of the visits, there was loud football game broadcasted on the TV, instead of playing music;

…. The noise of the square - children play, run back and forth, ride scooters- it is pleasant. Unfortunately, cars pass by quite often.

I find it ridiculous to allow car traffic through such pedestrian-filled central areas or coastal streets in seaside towns. There are usually a lot of children in such places, people are not careful because they are on vacation and walking calmly and there is no guarantee that drivers are guarding them. Among other things, tourists breathe exhaust fumes constantly.

See a short movie about Giannikos Tavern on placescases.com

Smell ....

…. Toilet that smells like a SPA. To my biggest surprise, the women's toilet is very nice, clean, stylish, flavored with special essential oils. The male is not like this, as far as I understand, but we ladies appreciated the efforts of the owners for this often neglected room;

…. Oregano, the typical Greek spice in many of the dishes - mackerel, octopus, Greek salad, cheese, etc.

…. The spicy aroma of sea dill or also known as rock samphire.

Rock samphire or sea fennel  is found only along the Mediterranean coast and that of Great Britain. It has a slightly sour and salty taste. It is very suitable for garnish with fish. It is rich in Vitamin C, magnesium, sodium, iron and calcium, has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Recommended for gastrointestinal problems and obesity, but not only.[i] It was not on the menu and I did not expect it and I was very happy when Aris brought it to me.

Rock samphire, Giannikos Tavern, placescases.com Taste ....

…. The menu is full of all known traditional Greek dishes - Greek salad, tzatziki, tiro salad, htipiti, tarama, kyopoolu (egg-plant salad), here called melidzano salad, mussels, shrimp, lobster, moussaka, stuffed peppers and tomatoes, souvlaki, i.e. skewers, steaks, etc. Everything is delicious. If you want fish soup, however, you have to pre-order it the day before;

…. There was not a wide choice of desserts - mostly fruit, ice cream, semolina halva and pie with syrup, but they were delicious and plentiful for us; …. Shrimp Saganaki - if you haven't tried this dish, it's good to know that it has tomato sauce and cheese, slightly spicy. Be sure to try it, but have in mind that it wants a lot of bread to dip in the delicious sauce;

… Fresh langoustines – quite much squeezing and crashing with the tool, but they are very tasty, the meat is slightly sweet and is naturally salty. The price is 85 euros per kilogram; …. My daughter really liked the fried shrimps - she ordered them every time. They measure as much as you want and say whether you want them on the grill, fried or saganakyt with white sauce. The price is 60 euros per kilo; .... Read the full review about Giannikos on the blog...

This restaurant is in prime location in Paliuri and it was always full even on weekdays when we went out on our evening walks through the tiny town center (which was always lively and beautiful). Of course we had to see what was so amazing about this restaurant and we visited one evening. Nothing inherently was bad or wrong but we just expected a bit more maybe. A lot of tiny things we didn't like that added up. The prices are high compared to all the other restaurants we visited on our vacation (we visited a taverna every night). The owner (I presume) who took our order seemed a bit impatient. The food was just okay. We were asked if we wanted bread which we said we did, and we never got it but it was charged to us. We weren't asked if we wanted water which we never touched and of course it was charged to us. All these on their own are not a big problem but when they add up, it feels like a 3 star experience. The reason I left 4 stars in the end is the fact that the location is nice, the plates are beautiful and the experience ended up being just okay but...

So where do I start. Food: First of all, I got Lamb ribs as a starter for me and my friend. I precisely asked a waiter how big they are and do they come with bones or no, he said "yes they come with bones but a portion is 600g for 2 person there is a lot of meat". When the Lamb came it was overcooked and full with bones there was around 500g bones 100g meat. The whole plate was full of bones. We ordered greek bifteki and the waiter said "it's really big just you know" suprise suprise the "bifteki" was 150g. The bifteki was good and had a good taste but how is 150g "really big". The waiter was arrogant and came 2 3 times to repeat the order and forgot some food we ordered, I am not cold hearted I get it 100% maybe he was tired it was busy also but still he could write it down then but okay. The restaurant by itself is good looking and it's comfy. At the end We waited 15+minutes for a bill....