Full tou Meze

Ordering your meal at this establishment in the heart of the bustling Ladadika district is quite an experience. The waiters bring their own eccentric individuality to this often mundane ritual, and the menu is printed on a "newspaper" with photos from old Greek films and articles heralding the dishes you're about to munch on. The taverna itself is done up as a deli (as a matter of fact you can buy Greek charcuterie and cheeses), which gives a rough idea of the fare served.

But our eyes were attracted to a place right across the square that was decorated like a traditional old grocery store called Foul tou Meze with food much better than its name implied. The restaurant had a long list of smoked, salted and pickled mezes which includes filet sardines from Spain, smoked grilled skoumbri(mackerel) which was the best fish meze I have ever had, smoked and pickled herring, pickled lakerda (bonito-tuna), pickled anchovies, at least a dozen different cheeses from all over Greece, twenty different salads ranging from the two different flavors of tarama salata (3 if you include the rare tarama from Messolonghi), fava, the spicy cabbage and carrot politiki salad which we found at most restaurants, meatballs made from beef as well as octopus, zucchini, chickpeas, octopus grilled or in wine, kalamari stuffed and baked, or fried or grilled and various meat, pasta and vegetable dishes as well as all the typical dishes from Thessaloniki and northern Greece. They had twenty varieties of ouzo, and equal number of tsipuro and twenty or thirty different bottled wine and an excellent white xima (barrel supposedly but actually it comes in a box) which was their house wine from the island of Limnos.

If you want to try the best traditional food at affordable prices, you must visit the tavern Full tou Meze!. It’s located on a small but lively square in the Ladadika district, with a very pleasant atmosphere and an interesting interior. You can find an up-to-date menu in English on the website – HERE.

The main goal of Full of Meze team is to satisfy every customer with their supreme, handmade delights. The philosophy of the cooking method is based exclusively on the high quality of the raw materials, the conservation of their original taste and the thorough execution of the traditional recipes.

Two great Ladadika choices: Full Tou Meze (Katouni 3) where the exhaustive meze menu has 20 different types of cheese alone and Panellinion (Doxis 1) with its delicatessen aesthetic and regional specialties (leek sausages from Elassona, syglino from Mani, fig salads, oil-cheese from Lesvos).

Full of Meze (3 Katouni) in the Laladika district serves hearty mezze, or “Greek-style tapas”. Traditional dishes from all over Greece are served in a sunny square. For connoisseurs, a wide choice of ouzo and tsipouro.

Try the taverns in Modiano Market for lunch or a restaurant focused on meze for dinner, Ful Tou Meze. Find the full menu here.