CLICK ON THE MAIN PHOTO ABOVE TO VIEW CAPTIONS IN GALLERY FORMAT
Image 1: www.spondi.gr Chef: Arnaud Bignon
5, Pyrronos Str., Varnavas Square
11636 Pagrati, Athen
+30 210 7564 021
Image 2: À la carte menu: About €30 appetizer and €40 main course
Open daily for dinner only.
Image 3: Immediately after they took our order of the 3-course from the carte, a long plate of amuse bouche arrived - chickpea potato cone, tuna sushi, melon peppermint jelly, foie mousse.
Our menu was accompanied by a bottle of Greek wine - Nemea, 2004 Monopati Albayin.
Image 4: The menu had two choices of foie gras and it wasn’t an easy decision as both sounded interesting! I decided to go with a seared foie gras dusted with Sichuan pepper along with a terrine of citrus orange. The numbing effect from Sichuan pepper was intense. A sensational foie gras course!
Image 5: What a surprise! Knowing that I wanted both, our friendly server provided us a free sample of the other foie gras dish! Foie gras terrine with a layer of orange flavoured chocolate on top with a warm brioche on the side. Chocolate and foie gras are always a lovely pair. In addition, the orange flavour nicely carried throughout the dish.
Image 6: The other starter was herb jelly and cauliflower layered on a crab salad. Simple but nice.
Image 7: For main Course, a piece of fried monk fish in liquorice and fino sauce with parsley, morel and white asparagus. Nothing to write home about. I expected more!
Image 8: And a meat course, two simple strips of spice roasted milk fed lamb with a skewer of souvlaki of breaded lamb shoulder, zucchini, and basil. Served with a spoon of tandoori tomato on the side. The meat was tender but not sure about the purpose of the tomato.
Image 9: A sophisticated looking two-layer pre-dessert. Mixed crunchy nuts smothered by almond mousse on a glass cone resting on a glass with apricot jelly underneath. Complex combination of texture!
Image 10: A dessert of PINEAPPLE
Fresh and roasted diced pineapple, lightly salted sorbet with caramel, millefeuille with vanilla infusion.
Image 11: The other one was ORANGE! It composed of saffron and passion fruit iced lollipop, orange marshmallows, hot soufflé scented with lemongrass, and a tall shot glass of peppermint lime juice.
Image 12: Since we wasn't too full, we added an extra COFFEE dessert. It fell apart before arriving to our table. Two meringue spheres of Arabica with lemon thyme and hazelnut praline cream inside. Served with a glass of translucent coffee on the side.
Image 13: Petits-fours
Overall, it was an average meal with international influence, but if you prefer a more regional cuisine while you are in Greece, Varoulko would be a better choice - good food and superb view!