Food Adventures - Pt 2

We had lunch in Limenas on Thassos Island today after going to church there (previous post).

After perusing the waterfront restaurants, we decided to eat at "Platanakia", a very attractive looking place with a reasonable priced menu. Our waiter (left) suggested we try the fish. You can see how careful and intelligent I was trying to be in making our decision. Actually...we had already decided we wanted to try the local fish earlier (after all, we are staying in a fishing village) So, we took him up on his suggestion. It was more complicated than we thought. He asked what kind of fish we wanted. There were kinds?? When we asked what kinds they had, he began uttering words that had no meaning to us whatsoever. It wasn't his fault. As it turns out, we know less than nothing at all about fish! We needed help!

He brought an older gentleman (right) over to our table who took us back to the kitchen to show us what types of fish they had... Really! After I carefully and expertly evaluated the various fishes and asked revealing and intelligent questions like, "Is that white fish?" "Ne, (yes)", was his answer, he handed one to the chef (left) to, I assumed, fillet it, bread it and make it look like the primary ingredient to a McDonalds fillet of fish sandwich. That's our fish in the scales behind him. I chose to call the fish "Charlie" (after the only fish I actually knew the name of). You can see Charlie's tail sticking up out of the tray.

We went back to our table and waited patiently for our meal. We also ordered a Greek Salad, quickly becoming one of our favorite dishes and easy to make at home, too.

Well, It was worth the wait because, about a half hour later, this is what they brought to our table...

Charlie! What have they done to you? The humanity!

Do you remember the OCTOPUS from a few days ago? Then, I was concerned they were going to bring us something that would be staring back at us from our dinner plate? No need for concern back then! All they did was chop of one of the octopus' arms and serve it to us, fairly benign compared to what we were witnessing today. Now....when we least expected it....our dinner....all of it....was looking back at us...as if to say, "Well. I just hope you're happy now that you see what I have to go through just so you can have something 'fun'. Have a ball, Buckey!" I've never had to look my McFish sandwich in the eye nor felt like apologizing to it for being hungry.

After a lot of hand motions and loud, slower talking (it doesn't work for us either) from one of the staff, we were able to figure out how to use our knives and forks to eat the parts that seemed reasonably edible (not including the eyes or tail, in case any of you are wondering).

Here's the big surprise.......It was incredibly delicious! No kidding! We loved it! Look at the aftermath.....(notice the undisturbed head and tail)

Sorry, Charlie!!!

The entire meal was absolutely superb. Great fish (whatever kind it was), fresh bread, another excellent Greek Salad and "chips" (which looked and tasted suspiciously like french fries). They even brought us fresh watermelon for dessert, compliments of the house! Our service was excellent and the whole meal was expertly prepared. It was the perfect coda to a really wonderful day on the Island.