The View from the Taverna

You can always tell a good place to eat. Walk into any town past all the quiet restaurants and join the queue for a table outside the one that's heaving!

We've had a number of excellent Greek meals at a Taverna in Lakka called Nionio's - or Onions as the Brits call it. It's been in business since 1945 and you can tell why. The food is excellent, the front man positively exudes charm and the prices are reasonable.

Anyway, enough of the plug. I got chatting to the guy who runs it. His English is a hell of a sight better than my Greek. So I asked him where the people were? He replied "They don't come this year." simple, but sussinct and to the point. "Why?", I persisted. "They don't got no money." Good point.

Digging a little deeper, I asked what he thought had gone wrong? "Is your government", he replied. "They take all your money. And the exchange rate," he continued, "it's no so good for you. But now you have new government, so we hope this will be a good thing."

I explained that we thought everything was a good thing compared to the dreaded Broon. He replied "Your man did not seem very bright to me." So there you have it in a nutshell...

We discussed the other Broon stuff - i.e. the Broon stuff Greece seemed to be in. He replied "Keep the pound. Worst thing we ever do is to join the Euro. Prices went up 300% overnight." I've never heard a figure that extreme before, but this is a small island off the beaten track, so who am I to argue?

(I discovered a few days later that the reason for this was that Greeks tended to think of a minimum price of 100 drachma and when the Euro was introduced the thought processes moved to a minimum price of €1. Hence the 300% increase!)

Onions is a great place to eat and the prices are keen, but you still won't eat dinner for two there for less than about €30. A few years ago you could eat well for about €20 - and the exchange rate was better.

On the bill I was handed there were two columns headed 8% and 18%. These reflect the VAT rates of food and others (specifically booze). The current rate is 10% and 21%. He explained to me that these receipts were recently printed and if he were to change them every time the VAT rate changed, it would cost a fortune in printing! The higher rate is to go up to 23% shortly...

It made me reflect on what could happen in the forthcoming emergency budget once the true extent of the mess Broon left the UK's finances in is finally revealed!