Restaurant Review: Garbi. Athens & Paris For Dollars A Day
Welcome to my multi-part review of our summer vacation. We spent 12 days abroad, predominately in Athens and Paris. We did squeeze in about half a day in Amsterdam before heading home. While I’m writing the series, I’m happy to answer any questions you have ahead of time. We traveled in mid-July, so right in the middle of the Athens financial crisis. Here’s most of what I expect to cover, including links to posts I’ve already completed:
- Planning Our Summer Vacation!
- British Airways First and Business Class Lounges at Philadelphia Airport
- US Airways Business Class from Philadelphia to Athens
- A Speed Bump Upon Arrival At Arion
- Arion Guest Room Review
- Arion & Westin Amenities
- Arion Restaurant Reviews
- A Quick Trip To The Acropolis And Parthenon
- Athens Metro System
- Temple of Poseidon at Sounio
- Swimming With The Fishes
- Flying From Athens To Paris
- Hyatt Regency Etoile Paris
- Eiffel Tower
- Arc de Triomphe
- Disneyland Paris
- A Study of Macaroons
- Various Restaurant Reviews
- Taking The Train From Paris To Amsterdam
- Sheraton Schiphol Airport
- US Airways Business Class from Amsterdam to Philadelphia
Garbi is a restaurant we read about in our Fodor’s guide for Greece, something we’ve had pretty good luck with for good restaurant and activities. It was also recommended by the hotel. Their website seems to be down right now, but you can find it (and their sister location) using the Google. You can also see just their menu page here.
The restaurant was highly recommended by both Fodor’s and the hotel for having a great view as well as a solid menu. While they do have meat options on the menu, you’re going here for the seafood and the view. We dined a bit on the early side and there were still swimmers on the beach. The view of the sun setting was a very pleasant addition to dinner. The restaurant has a very open atmosphere. Even as it got crowded near the end of the meal it wasn’t loud.
The restaurant features only fish from the local waters. For the most part, you’re buying a whole fish from their inventory that evening. That means a lengthy cook time of 30 minutes or better. We selected the Stira (Golden Grouper).
Since we had some time to kill we also ordered some starters. The waiter recommended a bottle of Greek wine and a zucchini fritter to start. My wife and kids love zucchini, me not so much, so we also added on an order of mussels finished in white wine.
The zucchini fritters were as advertised, wherein my wife loved them but I didn’t. Nobody else really liked them either. The mussels were awesome. If you’re a fan of mussels, you know there are okay mussels and really good mussels. These were really good. Flavorful, juicy and a decent size. The kids both tried mussels for the first time and loved them.
From there we were on to our Golden Grouper. Since Catherine has also really taken a liking to shrimp, we ordered some of the sizable shrimp they had on the menu for her.
The kids were willing to try the Golden Grouper as well. They didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. I prefer fish like Tuna and Swordfish, but I really did enjoy the flavor of the fish. And, everyone had fun picking at the fish and watching it stare at them.
All in all, it was a really enjoyable meal. The atmosphere is great, the staff is very friendly. They were very helpful in selecting some fish and wine choices we weren’t familiar with. And, everything we ate was delightful (well, except for those zucchini fritters Michelle loved). Eating outside but in the shade is one of my favorite ways to dine. The sunset was a good ending to a perfect meal.
