Friday 4 January 2014 I visited Botrini’s restaurant for dinner and to try its cuisine. The restaurant is located in halandri in an area which is close to a department store and simultaneously far enough from it so you won’t find any traffic. Clean and tidy tables, comfortable chairs, plenty of light and focused over every table in order for the costumer tobe able to see what he is being served and lastly discreet and not annoying music. The kitchen was behind a glass partition so the costumers could see what was happening “in the back”. However, this helds great risk for the restaurant, because, even if the cooks aren’t ocupied it must seem like they are busy. In addition you can also see if the patron chef spends time in his restaurant. I chose the degustation menu and my wife the discovery menu. The flow of the dishes was pretty good but unfortunately they failed to synchronize properly the two menus where mine had 9 dishes and my wife’s 4. It could be improved because they brought the first two dishes from both menus simultaneously, but the next three dishes which were for me were brough and my wife waited while I was eating. There could be a pause between each dish as I will explain below. The dining time didn’t exceed 3 hours.
FOOD
The dinner began with “appetizers” for my wife and “vegi creams” for me, meaning pepper, eggplant, cucumber, tzatziki, everything in cream form and rusk. Interesting presentation without anything special in regards of taste. I did not eat the rusk because it was burnt. The dish was accompanied with a sparkling moschofilero. The next dish was “Swordfish Carpaccio” for my wife and “beetroot in it’s natural environment” for me. I aso tried the swordfish and it was amazing with a successful combination of sweet and sour. I also liked the beetroot which was together with feta cheese powder, very good try of showing off Greek cuisine. The beetroot was accompanied with a nice Rosé wine of Palyvos winery. My wife had to wait three dishes after the previous, whereas the “swordfish carpaccio” could come with the “shrimp in lard”. After the beetroot “Egg-stravagantza” came which was an egg shaped bite which was made from seafood (one of the waiters told me confidentially it was cuttlefish). The concept was that it should be eaten in one bite, however, it was really big and there was danger of chocking. Neutral in taste and flabby in texture… it was accompanied by a very nice chardonnay of Tselepos. The “shrimp in lard and hazelnut crumb” followed, good combination of flavors. The dish was accopmanied by an Assyrtiko of Argyros, which accompanied the next dish as well which I loved. “Octopus in its natural environment. Stuffed octopus tentacle, where the octopus had been filleted and “reconstructed” in order to take its original form. The final result was memorable. It was time for my wife’s dish. A “risotto with citrus fruit from my garde, peas and squid”, successful dish, where all the flavours matched with each other and for me “gnocchi with smoked crayfish and Indian sauce” which was accompanied by the wine “2 friends” of the Gewurztraminer variety. Nice dish and wine. The main dish for my wife was “sea bass with Eggplant mousse” and for me “calf cheeks with potato cream and potato croquette”. Both dishes lacked flavor. The sea bass was overcooked, dry and it’s skin wasn’t crispy. The calf was tasty and well-cooked, however choosing the cheek wasn’t the best choice because it had a lot of gelatin which a lot of people dislike. The potato croquette was very tasty. Accompanied by “Mega Spileo” mavrodaphne and black of Kalavryta variety. He started with “ypovrihio of my childhood” which is a vanilla flavored ball in rosewater for desserts. Next, for my wife “goat cheese ice cream with tomato jam and lemon cream” and for me “Egg stravaganza 2” which was neutral in taste.
SERVICE
Service was very good, the waiters always present.
ENVIRONMENT
The restaurant, excluding the Christmas decoration, was nicely decorated.
WINE LIST
Unfortunately I didn’t look at the wine list because I got a fix menu.
CONCLUSION
Nice restaurant with good food and good service. The only mistake was when I asked a waiter who was the Chef de Cuisine and he did not know in order to answer me.