The narrow entrance of the Regal Hotel in Mitropoleos needs to give away something of what is happening on the rooftop. The elevator goes up to the 6th floor. From there, a few stairs lead to the 7th floor and the restaurant Taratsa by Giorgos Melissaris and his partners at Ami, Alexandros Tselepis, and Konstantinos Theodorakopoulos of the much-talked-about bar in front of the bar that achieved 98th place in last year`s The World´s 50 Best Bars. Chef Alexandros Karakatsanis run the kitchen.
The first thing that captivates the eye is the uninterrupted view of the Acropolis right in front of the Metropolis Square. To the left is a large, open kitchen with a pass-through. Coffee tables (thankfully large) in retro green and wooden benches in the light brown of the marble that once decorated bourgeoisie apartments, with metal stools, are placed in front of the railings. A little further in, there are even larger tables for groups of up to 12 people, but also the bar, run by the team of The Bar in Front of the Bar with the DJ. The wine list includes about 60 labels and focuses on Greek wine, but there are also essential labels from Italy, Spain, the USA and New Zealand. However, the restaurant proposes to pair the food with spicy and original cocktails, several of which are named after famous dishes of Levantine cuisine, such as Tabbouleh and Fattoush.
Besides, the menu concept is based on marrying Levantine cuisine (mainly Middle Eastern delicacies from Middle Eastern countries such as Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria) with Greek cuisine. Chef Alexandros Karakatsanis, with his team, has done an excellent job. The restaurant was super busy on Sunday night, the second day of operation. All 22 dishes on the menu and 4 desserts are characterised by originality in terms of combinations of ingredients. The flavours are original and familiar, while the presentations and utensils align with the concept. The most impressive thing about the flavours is that while I expected the spices in the dishes to be strong, not only were they not, but they were used "wisely" to bring out the flavours of the raw materials rather than dominate them.
Of the cold dishes, I tried the tender handmade Souza (a Mykonos variant), the also handmade cheese with low intensity and subtle flavours of brioche, as it had cardamom and blackcurrant with a bit of vanilla honey of spruce on the top, and the subtly intense Palamida pastrami served with grilled fatoush salad. The dish that drove my palate crazy was the green beans. As simple as it sounds, here it`s the beans. They are passed through the robata, resulting in a subtle smoky aroma and then topped with a chardonnay vinegar and pomegranate molasses vinaigrette and topped with smoked sour cheese and crunchy nuts. Of course, such a cuisine could only be with kebabs, which are made from 4 different cuts of meat from beef and sheep and served on a Turkish slow-ripened bazlama (pita). As the focus is on the meze, there are also those dishes that invite the guest to make their own compositions. Typical of this category is the Shawarma (for two), which is based on a perfectly tender beef stew and a large straw of roasted celeriac, which invites the guest to place them in a handmade Arabic pie and add the sides, which are yoghurt with tahini, tabbouleh, pickled cucumber and spicy red sauce. There was a slight miss on the celery root, which took a bit of a bite, but the final taste was okay. Aligned with the concept and the original and intense flavours were the desserts, including the Lebanese café au lait with kaimaki ice cream, the wood-fired brioche, and chocolate truffles with spicy ice cream served with Arabic coffee.
Info: «Athenian Tarats», Regal Hotel, Mitropoleos 60, open daily 6.00pm .-12:00am . τηλ: 2110080660, from 20-50 euro per person.
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