Longevity doesn't always guarantee quality

So often we see businesses, especially restaurants, that have been around for many years and we instantly assume that, in order to last that long, they must be good at what they do. Sometimes I'm sure it's true, though you are more likely than not to be disappointed by places that once upon a time may have been good but has become simply tourist traps.

Such was my fate today when a group of hungry friends persuaded me to go to a traditional taverna in the centre of Athens, in an area that - I know, I know - is full of places aimed at the tourist trade. Nestling directly under the Acropolis is the Plaka neighbourhood with its beautiful older buildings, some impressive and imposing, others humble but picturesque. Many of these beauties are now repaired and used as houses again, but in the aftermath of WW2 and until the sixties many were neglected, abandoned or turned into commercial enterprises like bars and tavernas. With the rise of tourism in the sixties their numbers grew as well, at some point completely overrunning the area but the innocence of that era turned into the sleaziness of the seventies and the area suffered, as did its buildings.

The improving economic conditions of the late 20th century meant that people not only started appreciating beautiful older buildings but were able to afford to repair and live in them, which gave the Plaka a new lease of life. Some traditional hostelries remained, many as well-established tourist destinations where no self-respecting Athenian would be seen, others - admittedly few - stubbornly aimed at a local clientele. The place I ended up visiting today was one of the latter and for many years had remained a reliable destination for a decent traditional Greek taverna meal. I'm here to report that this is not the case today.

Platanos (plane tree) has old-world charm (having been around apparently since 1932), a pleasant-looking interior and a nice, if a bit cramped, outdoor space; it had been a haunt of the Athenian litterati in the past, but also of many ordinary folk. What we saw and all this tradition created in our group of friends expectations of a lovely Sunday afternoon's eating and drinking. Alas reality chose to intervene: the food we were served was largely indifferent and served cool, with probably the worst moussaka I have tried in recent years! Nothing was notably good, though there was a spinach pie that wasn't bad and meat dolmadhes that were about acceptable. The house wine - we tried a white and a retsina - was drinkable, sort of, but nothing more. And the multilingual menu, complete with national flags, gave the game away, as did the rather high prices.

Why has an old favourite slipped like this? Why do they choose to serve food and wine that's palatable, but barely? It's hard to know for sure without asking them, something I'm not about to do in a hurry. My theory is that it's either greed or indifference, or a combination of both, because it cannot be incompetence. If it were, how could they have gotten it right in the past?

All we can do - no, all we MUST do - as customers is to let them know of our displeasure and give them a wide berth until they improve. They MUST up their act, they MUST respect customers more! If they choose not to then they must die, at least for anyone who values quality and value for money.

P.S. : If, dear reader, you intend visiting Athens as a tourist, please do wander around the Plaka area on foot, drink in the surroundings, immerse yourself in the culture and gorge on the ancient monuments. Then go five minutes away to the centre of Athens, near Syntagma square, where there are many pleasant restaurants of all shapes and sizes that are not tourist traps. Not everyone is out there to take advantage of you, and they deserve your money more than others.