To Barbounaki

To Barbounaki — 'the little red mullet' — sits on Themistokleous on the south side of Exarchia Square, and runs the cheap-and-honest tsipouro-and-meze format that the alternative quarter built half its identity on. The kitchen turns out twenty small plates a day, charcuterie and seafood and the wild-greens-and-feta variations, alongside tsipouro by the carafe and a handful of small-grower Greek wines. The dining room is one open level, mid-century tile and chrome, the regulars old enough that they argue politics at the next table. İstanbullu seconders use Barbounaki as the Exarchia version of the Mavro Provato format — same grammar, half the formality, more graffiti outside.