Apxontapiki Restaurant, Meteora District, Greece, Dec. 2012

This restaurant was a true dining delight. I ordered two main dishes and would have ordered a third not knowing how large they were had I not been advised by the gracious and English speaking waiter. Apxontapiki rests under the rocks of Meteora. It's picturesque and quaint with old world elegance. I first noted it because a little dog that reminded me of Gilbert was lying beneath the outside Christmas tree. I had only stopped in the town having been visiting the Meteora Monasteries for a coke. Stopping to talk to the dog and ooking in at the happy diners I remembered I hadn't eaten since breakfast and this was mid afternoon.
I couldn't resist ordering goat soup having seen herds of Greek goats as I drove cross country up from Delphi. There is nothing to describe the delicate flavour of this goat soup. Unbelievable. I've eaten goat and enjoyed it but it's usually heavily flavoured. Not this. Exquisitely spiced. I couldn't recognize the flavour but savoured every sip enjoying the meat as well that fell off the bone.
This was followed by lamb chops. Now I love Greek lamb. My friend John and I often go out for Greek lamb dinners. This lamb tasted right off the spit. It was really char broiled in a primitive very good way again with remarkable spices that brought out the flavour of the barbecued meat. I gnawed the bones enjoying the french fries they call 'chips' in Greece. As meals in Greece go it was also very reasonably priced.
 I confess I enjoyed that there were smokers in this well ventilated restaurant even though I prefer the anti smoking laws in Canada. Here it added to the old country ambience and gave me a sense of being 20 years in my past, when frankly I was younger and did a lot more dining out than I tend to these days except travelling.
I prefer eating at home with the dog and sometimes friends something I've hunted and cooked myself than eating out. This restaurant would change that. I wanted to try everything on the menu after the goat and lamb. Great food, great atmosphere. Wonderful sacred place.