Margaro

Margaro is a Piraeus institution with an almost cult following among Athenians, operating on Hatzikyriakoy Street in a working-class port neighbourhood and serving a menu of barely five items to a clientele that has often been coming for decades. The restaurant's reputation rests entirely on the quality of its fried seafood: shrimp, calamari, whitebait, and red mullet battered and fried in fresh oil to a standard that the city's finest seafood restaurants do not always match. The decor is minimal to the point of austerity — plastic chairs, paper tablecloths, fluorescent lighting — and the service is brisk. No one comes to Margaro for ambience. The fried shrimp arrive in a heap, golden and crisp, with only lemon on the side, and they represent one of the genuinely superlative eating experiences available in Attica. The calamari are cut to rings of consistent size and fried with the same care. House wine from a plain carafe and cold beer are the appropriate accompaniments. The restaurant closes early — typically by 6 PM — and does not open on Sundays. Getting there requires effort from central Athens (25 minutes by taxi or a combination of Metro and a walk through Piraeus), but the devoted Athenian food community considers that effort irrelevant. For those who place fried seafood at the centre of the Greek dining experience, Margaro is a required pilgrimage.