retiredmartin

ADVISORY : NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH

26th February 2023.

Three (3) nights in Athens, as the old Murray Head hit almost went; let’s hit the town.

Mrs RM didn’t fancy a walk up the Acropolis in the dark, which I consequently didn’t even see on that first night. What I did see was a young, vibrant, safe city busier than Manchester on a Sunday night.

I had Duncan’s Guide to Athens Craft downloaded and was determined to tick ’em all (Spoiler : I failed).

First up, Barley Cargo, a name which reminds me of this chap.

It seemed to have the biggest choice, and you’ll know how us CAMRAs love our CHOICE.

Reminiscent of Port St Beer House with lots of taps and bottles and trestle tables, and to be honest the prices weren’t that far off PSBH.

That’s 8.80 euros for 0.4l of the local Strange Brew Jasmine IPA, which one of you will have already converted into a £/pint of £11.36 in your head.

Because Athens doesn’t have a Wetherspoons, or even a Sam Smiths, I can’t really tell you where the cheap places are. Stick with Mythos lager for about £4 a pint if you must.

We enjoyed the Jasmine, and the Dark Crops, and the Saison, and the soundtrack (Jennifer Warnes, Tom Waits), and the generous free snackage, and left £20 lighter and with Mrs RM having been told off for taking photos. Which is ironic.

But we eventually left to explore the gritty cosmopolitan area of Pysri, which is Ancoats before gentrification, sort of. The transition from grotty to charming is as rapid as you get around Thomas Street.

Now, some of you may be doubtful about the merits of Athens curry scene, but Curry-heute himself has four such caffs in his Top 50 recommended places, which is a bit like Godalming getting 10 entries in the Beer Guide.

Pak Taka Tak is down a side alley that will remind you of the approach to Manchester’s This & That.

If you get lost, just look for the shop with the animal heads;

No Rice & Three here, just curries you’ve heard of.

The 5 euros brings you a bubbling Nihari and naans, so there’s actually no need to order extra naan and rice, so obviously we did and ended up somehow spending 16 euros.

Mrs RM though it a bit “oily”, which is why she’s a food critic. I reckoned it the tastiest curry in months, and was still easting the keema naan we secreted away months later, too.

I don’t know if they get many English curry and beer tourists, but the locals showed complete disinterest in us.

No way could we add more beer to our tummies after that, so we headed back via the central cafe quarter filled with stag groupd leading to the main markets,

where (just as Duncan promised) there was a big rave about to start.

Clearly Mrs RM was keen to relive her previous trip to a Greek nightclub in 1987, but I had to gently tell her I doubted they’d still be playing this number;