Psarotaverna: To Fresko Psari

When in Thessaloniki and one is looking for fish and seafood, locals will often direct you towards Kalamaria and Nea Krini for such fare. I’m telling you to do the exact opposite by traveling west of the city center and head to the Eleftherio-Kordelio neighborhood. Kordelio was founded in 1924 by refugees who came from the town of Kordelio in Asia Minor.

From speaking to other friends in Thessaloniki, Kordelio has a good reputation for having great food at affordable prices (good news for those in a pinch in this economy). Off we drive to Kordelio and we settled in at the Psarotaverna (fish tavern) called “To Fresko Psari” (or fresh fish). After gleaning over the photos of Greek “celebrities” on the dining room wall we settled in at our tables and ordered away.

First up was a bottle of Babatzim Tsipouro. Anestis Babatzimopoulos’ family came to Thessaloniki from Constantinople and the family once even made this eau de vie for the Sultan! Tsipouro is made much like a grappa and it’s either left alone or flavoured with anise. We opted for anise.

You’ve already seen the delicious grilled octopus in the lead photo. It was crisp on the outside, the taste of charcoal and tender, succulent on the inside. Perfect. We also ordered some fries and when they are done this well, I never tire of a good fried potato.

One Thessaloniki favourite are mussels and one the dishes that’s popular at this taverna is the Mussels Pilaf. Served in a large shell it does indeed make for a snazzy presentation. There was evidence of some other seafood in the mix and the dish would have been better if it only contained mussels.

We also ordered an “angouro & tomata” salad which basically a Greek salad without the Feta (no need for photo). The next meze was monfish served in a “saganaki” style (saganaki is any dish made in the two-handled pan) in a zesty mustard-based sauce with crumbled Feta in it.

Last meze to arrive at our table was some fried Koutsoumoures. Koutsoumoures are the poorer cousin to red mullet and to my surprise, these were easy to clean and sweet and succulent. This made for great finger-eating!

This meal (for two) set us back about 50 Euros and for the quality of service and freshness of the fish and seafood…it’s a good deal! “To Fresko Psari” is located at Ag. Georgo 20 (at Karamanli), Kordelio, tel. 2310-771045.