About 10 days ago we decided with me wife to enjoy a nice late lunch in a very much suggested restaurant about an hour’s drive from home. It had been four years that people first proposed it to us, but it was only 10 days ago we finally got around it and drove there.

The place is called “Thomas”, it boasts numerous awards and you can find it in http://www.agonari.gr/thomas/thomas.html

The day was rainy, dump and cold and I was aiming for a nice warm, cosy, quiet, with few people restaurant to enjoy our lunch.

When we arrived we were… informally greeted by a travel bus. There was no place around other than the restaurant, which pointed to the fact that all travelers were eating inside the restaurant. It was not going to be the quietest lunch I had ever eaten and bear in mind it was Tuesday. (Luckily half an hour after we entered the place, all women (there were no males in the group…just the bus driver) emptied the place and we were left along with another couple to enjoy the serenity all around. Superb!

We were offered a butter-based starter to get our appetite going. It was tasty but they should have kept it a bit more outside the fridge to start the melting process and be able to spread it on our warm bread easier.

Then we ordered a rocket and lettuce salad with dried tomatoes, goat – if I remember well – cheese, vinegar and honey. As we were both very hungry the salad just disappeared from the plate in just under 5 minutes.

The second to-share dish, which was the highlight of the day, was a pasta rice- based dish (“Kritharoto”) with mushrooms and small pieces of truffle sprinkled on top. Next time, remind me to order two of those – for me solely. The dish ..rocked! It was beautiful. It was awesome! They could, of course, make it a bit spicier, but even as it was offered to us it was enough to just make that day unforgettable!

While we were finishing our divine dish, the wine made its appearance. It was a 1998 “Ktima Filiaria – Boutaris”, dry wine which kept changing its …scents as time was passing by. Not every day one does have the chance to sample such a wine – and sometimes I do get skeptical on how one can identify a good, aged wine – but this one was standing out from other wines I drink on a normal basis.

Then we ordered our two main dishes that were both wild boar-based.

The first one was a plain boar steak with potatoes. A straightforward dish. The meat was not so tender, but that is what “wild” designates in a “wild boar” dish (although there are some tricks to make it tenderer like dipping it- before cooking it- in a plate with vinegar).

The second main dish was again wild boar with pasta and a delicate sauce based on wine, grapes and onions. I just loved the onions and I just loved this dish although it was not…my selection. The meat was very tender and I just loved how on could cut it even…by looking at it.

We sipped the last drops of our wine and after asking for the bill we were offered a plate with ice cream and bitter chocolate.

The lunch ended in style. It was not any arty-farty, gourmet restaurant but it was just what one designated with the words a damn good simple, straightforward meal! We stayed for another half an hour letting our lunch settle in our stomach and then we decided to call it a day.

We slowly moved our bodies outside the restaurant. The rain had stopped and we enjoyed the peacefulness all around. I looked on the West Mountains and decided that next time we should climb those and then come back for another nice meal. (The East Mountains view was mostly covered by the Ptolemaida Electricity Power Plants) It was a deal!