In the dining room, natural wood, fabric-upholstered booths and linen tablecloths create a sense of understated luxury, while the floor-to-ceiling windows look out towards the sea. The deck, set right beside the waters of the Saronic Gulf, has its own appeal, with palm trees swaying in the breeze and oversized parasols shading the tables. Wall lights, ceiling and wall spotlights, and contemporary fittings leave little doubt about the central role lighting plays in the overall design. The bar, occupying a spacious corner of the patio, makes its own confident statement about the importance of drinks in the life of Casa Fish.
The restaurant’s name leaves little doubt as to the protagonist of its gastronomic one-act play, with the flavours bearing the signature of the well-known chef Giorgos Economidis. A specialist in the precious ingredients drawn from the sea, Economidis has designed for Casa Fish a menu of classic seafood cookery with contemporary touches, filtered through his own perspective. The dishes bring familiar, largely delicious flavours to the table, supported by sound culinary technique. The kitchen team, led by head chef Stratos Koutrompilas, performs well, especially given how young the restaurant still is. It is also worth noting that the service team is operating at a very good level, under the supervision of Dimitris Gkorilas, a long-standing collaborator of the chef.
On my first visit to Casa Fish, with the clear blue dome of the sky slowly turning crimson and gold as the sun began to set, I started dinner with a velvety white taramosalata with olive oil, bottarga and halva. I cannot say the addition of the halva appealed to me, either in terms of flavour or texture. The fluffy Thessaloniki-style koulouri served alongside it, however, was delicious and suited it perfectly.
Next came oysters with Koilada prawn tartare, caviar and radish. They brought a sea breeze to the table, though they lacked the intensity one might have expected. By contrast, both the yellowfin tuna tartare with olive oil, lime, pickled cucumber and bottarga, and the Koilada prawn carpaccio with lemon and coriander, arrived impeccably cut, full of freshness and gentle acidity. The steamed mussels with fennel, green curry, ginger and garlic butter kept calling me back to their broth, while the fried Symi shrimps showed the kitchen’s command of the frying pan: light and delightfully crisp. As a lover of prawns, I decided to try them grilled as well. They retained their bite and took on enticing aromas from the charcoal.
Among the pasta dishes, the linguine arrived perfectly al dente, with a well-emulsified savoro sauce, while the red mullet, served both as a grilled fillet and as tartare, added finesse and depth of flavour.
The grilled golden grouper, with a beautifully crisp surface, lightly caramelised edges, juicy flesh and rich flavour, is reason enough on its own for me to return to this seaside restaurant.
The desserts, which do not yet stand quite on equal footing with the rest of the menu, were led by a refreshing and delicately sweet-sour vanilla frozen yoghurt. The honey that coated it created a pleasing interplay of flavours, although the toasted pecans scattered over the top added a slightly sharp edge.
The wine list brings together more than 200 labels from Greece and beyond.
Information: Konstantinou Karamanli Avenue, Voula
Tel.: +30 210 899 2454
Photography: Anna Tasioula
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