Mpakal — Restaurant in Municipality of Thessaloniki

Very mixed feelings!

We had a superb CAIR Velvet sparkling wine in the afternoon and a good conversation with one of their managers, which gave good background knowledge about greek sparkling wines.

So we decided to do a reservation for the dinner.

Long story short

Fancy and heavily overpriced food, prepared in a production line style, due to the sheer sice of the restaurant.

Salat not fresh, bread good, hot peppers minimal size at maximal price.

We choose 2 meat dishes, both out of stock-bit with no upfront information of the waiter and exactly that's the problem. Things may run out-but let the guests do their choice and create upfront happiness in the expectations of the meal is unnecessary.

We travel the world for good food, nice restaurants and excellent service.

For us, it was disappointing, never the less, the restaurant seems to be hyped, for whatever reason.

Ok, we have been offered a free dessert, which we denied, because we wanted to get a good mains course, which we have found 200 meter away at 30% cheaper in fabulous quality in a not nice, but excellent...

This is a solid place for mac and cheese where it doesn't seem like you can go wrong with any combination you make. My friends and I placed vastly different orders, but we were all very pleased with how they turned out. Pricing was very transparent and I liked how there was no limit to the number of toppings you can add and no extra charge for standard proteins like chicken and sausage. The restaurant is extremely accommodating to those with dietary restrictions- a vegan sauce and cauliflower "pasta" is available if classic mac and cheese isn't your thing.

Downside is that they still have issues to iron out in their supply chain. I arrived 30 minutes before closing on a Sunday night, and they were out of whole wheat pasta and chicken, amongst several other ingredients. The line to order took about 10 minutes, and the employee left twice to help finish other tasks in the kitchen. MAC'D is presented as a fast-casual restaurant, and perhaps opening weekend was much busier than usual, but it took 20 minutes for our food to come out- waaay longer than similar restaurants in...

Mpakal has a trendy, modern, spacious dining room with a menu featuring Green mezzes and grilled meats, along with dishes from Italian and Turkish influence. The Starter Platter came with an assortment of hot and cold appetizers including grilled meatballs, grilled sausage, anchovies, smoked mackerel, and three different dips: skordalia (potato and garlic), eggplant, and whipped feta. The platter was rounded out with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, and pickled peppers, and everything went nicely with the basket of bread that came on the side. The components I liked best were the skordalia, the meatballs, and the sausages, though everything on the platter seemed to be on the salty side. But my favorite dish of all was the Carob salad, made of Cretan rusks (dried bread) topped with cherry tomatoes, arugula, basil pesto, and Katiki, a creamy goat/sheep cheese from Domokos. The flavors of the salad were unbelievable, and the combination of the crunchy rusks; the sweet, juicy tomatoes; the herbaceous pesto; and the creamy cheese...