Kounelas

On our first night in Mykonos, we had passed by a fish tavern called Kounelas which had an amusing sign with a rabbit fishing. We really wanted to get some fish before leaving Mykonos so we decided on Kounelas for our last dinner. As we mentioned before, fish seemed really expensive at a lot of places in Mykonos, but Kounelas didn't seem as overpriced and they were busy (always a good sign).


Our meal started out with a bread basket which came with an olive dip. We don't remember much about it right now, but think we liked it.


We also got a bottle of retsina to split. This was like a good white wine and we enjoyed it. It had a bit more bite than most whites we've had before, and that was most likely due to the resin. Neither of us are really wine experts sadly.


We also got a few appetizers. One was the grilled feta cheese stuffed with tomatoes and peppers.


I was expecting blocks of grilled cheese (like saganaki) with tomatoes and peppers inside it (not sure how that would work). What arrived instead was warm grilled cheese with a layer of tomatoes and peppers over it like a salsa. It was delicious. The cheese was nice and gooey, and the tomatoes and peppers added a nice spice and complemented it well.

We also got a salad of rocket, tomato and ksinotyro (a local Mykonian cheese) which was light, healthy and refreshing. I loved salads in Greece because all the ingredients were so fresh and the salads kept us from feeling too weighed down by our meals.


The last appetizer we got was the taramosalata. While this was pretty good, the taramosalata at our hotel snack bar was less fishy and better.


The starring dish of our meal was the fish (not shocking since it is a fish tavern). Most of the fish and seafood at Kounelas was not listed on the menu by price and what you could get depended on the catch of the day. In order to get our main course, A went downstairs to the kitchen where they had him choose an estimated weight/size and then look at the fish in various drawers to choose the one we wanted. We ended up getting a sea bass (about 1/2 kilo), which turned out to be much less expensive than we thought it would be. We really liked how our choice was dictated by the fresh catch. The whole fish was simply grilled in their coal oven and then brought to our table.


Putting into practice the techniques we've learned from watching the waiters at NYC Chinese restaurants, A prepared the fish for our consumption:


The fish was meaty and proved to be more than enough food for dinner along with our 3 appetizers. It was delicious, very clean, flaky and full of flavor even though it was prepared simply with just olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. We were really happy with our choice.


To close the meal, they dropped off a complimentary bottle of alcohol in an "interesting" shape. We declined since we had just had a whole bottle of retsina. We were, however, amused to watch another couple drinking theirs to the point where they were completely drunk since they felt obligated to drink it. If we had taken part, I'm not sure we would have been awake enough to pack that night.


I think if we had gone to Kounelas earlier in our trip we might have returned there for another dinner. The fish was that good, the prices were reasonable, the atmosphere was casual and relaxed, and the people were nice. This was the type of dinner we had been looking forward to before going to Greece - whole grilled fish and tasty appetizers. We would recommend a visit to Kounelas without hesitation. Excellent fish!