5 nights in Athens

[nikkib]

Ok so there hasnt been much action on this topic since busboys mammoth and very helpful posts a few years back so here is a dining in athens blog from my trip there last week. 5 lunches and dinners out ( and a couple of breakfasts) to start you off and then some piccies from the central market which is a real treat that should not be missed.

[nikkib]

My flight from Beirut landed mid morning, just enough time for me to head to my hotel the INTERCONTINENTAL ATHANEUM, have a quick massage and then head out for lunch. The hotel is located a 5Euro cab ride (or complimentary shuttle bus timings allowing) from the main Syntagma square and has a couple of nice looking restaurants and bars but i didnt come here to eat in them. First stop was the area around Monastiriki near the Acropolis and main Roman Agora. It is a nice area full of amazing sites (Hadrians Library, the Tower of the Wind) as well as a flea market and an awful lot of restaurants, cafes and bars. I wandered around for a bit before settling on one called "Kuisine" simply because i liked the sage green colour of its outdoor furniture - then i saw the recommneded by Michelin stickers mmmmhmmmm - Its going to be a good lunch!!!

The menu offered a "lunch menu" made up of one plate dishes such as chicken roasted with garlic and rosemary, Aubergine stuffed with minced veal, pasta with veal ragout etc or an A La Carte option which was a mix of local dishes and dishes from further afield (there was a pork dish with banana for example)

As it was only lunch time i opted for two starters, a great shrimp soup with chilli and pumpkin crouton and another dish of Bottarga from "greeces best producer" on lemon bruschetta

The soup was like a classic bisque with the shrimp as a garnish - beautifully cooked and seasoned, the crouton had been submerged under the soup with some cheese on it too and there was a hint of fresh chopped chilli on the top - the soup could have been a bit hotter but a minor quibble ( and i do like my soup hotter than it should probably be served) The bottarga was very soft and pretty mild, the lemon scented olive oil was a nice addition - another success

With a glass of wine, water and coffee i think the damage was about 40 Euros, not cheap but delicious all the same - At this point i became fairly confident i would eat well last week

[nikkib]

My Mum arrived later that evening so we just had time for a quick drink in the hotel bar ( very slick and modern with a great view of the Acroplois)which set us back around 10 E each for a glass of wine/Campari. We had a quick intro into Greek pronunciation "Eff A Ris TOE" is thank you (excuse the phoenetics)and headed out to Psarras near the Acroplis in Plaka which we had seen in the tourist guide and it sounded like a safe bet.The restaurant is in a beautiful spot on some white steps in the cobbled Plaka streets, in Summer i'm sure its mental but off season it was pretty sedate and we had the full attention of the staff. We sat outside which coming from London my Mum was delighted about (didn't match the 21 degree weather we had in lebanon last week but still was nice ;-) ) and ordered a bottle of Greek white for around 24 E a bottle ( there were only one or two cheaper)

WE ordered courgette fritters to start and an aubergine dish whcih turned out to be very simliar - oh well, we like both vegetables, we like the preparation - still it would have been better if we had ordered some tzatziki or something like taht as opposed to what we did, despite them both being good. My Mum had lamb souvlaki which she said was good and i had veal braised with vegetables and served with roasted aubfergine. The Veal was very tender and the aubergine had been slightly smoked, i would have liked a bit of tomato sauce or something ( im sure the waiter said it was cooked in tomato ) but maybe thats just me.. A couple of coffees saw the bill pushed up to 75 E in total, not bad but i had a feeling we could get better for less and saw it as a challenge.

[heidih]

Nikkib- thanks for taking the time to document your Athens meals. Looking forward to the full story.

[nikkib]

Breakfast the next morning was in a cafe in the centre of town whos name escapes me - Greek Coffee, slightly sweetened and some spanakopita - i have no idea if this is a traditional breakfast or not but damn it i like spinach, i like pie - why not....

(yes the picture is of a different spanokopita - sorry the breakfast version didnt come out - anyway it was exactly the same sans fancy lemon garnish)

Suitably sated we headed to the Acropolis and the new Acvropolis museum ( did you know the Acropolis only took 9 years to build? well i didn't) some fairly uncomfortable foot shuffling moments in the museum as they spoke of the "Thief" Lord Elgin stealing the marbles from the Acropolis (Ummm - can i pass for Canadian? Everyone likes them right?!) and then astonishingly (or not so as hours had passed) it was time for lunch...

[nikkib]

Now here we struck gold. We had wandered past a little taverna the night before and it had a real buzz so we thought we'd check it out for lunch, the place is near Psarras in Plaka, not far from the Acropolis and is called Scholiarhio on TRIPODON 14 . You get a set menu ( you can go ALC but it didnt appear anyone did) which is basically 18 dishes on a tray bought to your table for you to choose from depending on how many of you there are. 28 E for 2 people gets you 5 dishes, bread, water, dessert and 500mls of wine. We arrived to a bustling terrace (outdoors again!!) and a warm welcome. We chose Greek Salad, a fava bean dip,some fried aubergine and 2 dishes that were cooked to order - calamari and gavos (small fish like baby sardines that you eat whole)

Oh Boy.....

The Gavos were the star, perfectly cooked and beautifully fresh - you really felt they had been caught that morning. The greek salad was also excellent, the tomatoes were juicy and ripe but retained some crunch and the feta was mild and not too salty.

If anyone knows what dessert was - please let me know - it was like a chilled semolina cake? Or just semolina and sugar - im really not sure but it was all we needed - they compd us coffees (a nice effect of tipping above the norm?) ands off we went

I'd really recommend this place if you are in Athens - aimple, honest food and a hard working charming owner/waiter (?) this is what i hoped for this holiday...

[nikkib]

Dinner that night was to be in Daphnes - also in Plaka and a haunt of celebrities such as Hilary Clinton (back when she was still Rodham Clinton) and various Kings/Queens etc We stopped in O Brettos on Kydathinaion - a small local distillery/bar in Plaka that distills its own Ouzo, brandy & fruit liqueuers as well as selling something like 50 Greek wines by the glass. Coming from Lebanon and drinking plenty of Arak, i stupidly passed on the Ouzo and opted for local wine - the charming bartender actually talked us into ordering something cheaper than we planned which was a nice touch. The wines start at 4 E a glass or so and head up to about 10. Definitely worth a drink (or 3 here)

and i will leave you to enjoy those until i catch up with some sleep - all that eating was hard work let me tell you ;-)

[heidih]

The fried calamari and gavos have me drooling. I notice lemon halves or slices in many of the presentations. Are they like the ubiquitous parsley as a garnish or are they used to bring the dish together?

[nikkib]

The fried calamari and gavos have me drooling. I notice lemon halves or slices in many of the presentations. Are they like the ubiquitous parsley as a garnish or are they used to bring the dish together?

AS the food can be quite oily the lemon really helps break it down a bit so i would say they bring the dish together for sure..

[Scarpetta]

I don't know about the dessert, but the fish that you had is called gavros, which is fresh anchovies.

[nikkib]

I'd read about a coffee shop called clemente vii which was supposed to be excellent so breakfast the next day was an iced espresso here. DAMN - i like my coffee strong but this literally gave me heart palpitations. Its in a glitzy part of town near the designer shops so a good place to people spot too

Lunch was O platanos - again near Plaka/Acroplis in a very pituresque sqaure. Again we struck gold - simple honest well prepared taverna food. We had a dish described as fried aubergine but it was a delicous sort of slow cooked aubergine and tomato dish, the by now ubiquitous greek salad, some saganaki (fried cheese) and tzatziki. The Tzatiki was great - really thick, creamy and garlicky - something that is so easy to make but so easily messed up. The saganaki was something i'd heard of but had no idea what it actually was - i personally prefer grilled halloumi to this fried cheese but it was interesting to try ( salty like halloumi and almost the same texture) The greek salad was a little too heavy on the onion but all in all a good, well priced meal with a huge menu (lots of meat/fish dishes but we werent too hungy hence the releatively light meal.)

[nikkib]

Frank Bruni wrote a piece i'd founs that made MARGARO in Piraeus sound like an unmissable place to have lunch so off we dutifully trotted on Sunday after we had spent the morning visiting the nearby Island of Aegina. Piraeus is a not particularly pretty industrial port where many of the Olympic sites were about 15minutes from the Centre of Athens.

There was not a tourist in site, just a buzzy (crazy busy) local restauarnt where you got the impression the same people came every week - certainly many of the tables knew each other and swapped seats to . Luckily we only had to wait 5 minutes for a table to free up - this is the open kitchn - the only chef is pictured and there must have been 100 people or so sat there eating! Amazing when you think about it.

The waiter explained there was no menu just shrimp, red mullet and greek salad so we had one of each and some local wine to wash it down with.

WOW this was good - so crisp and un greasy and beautifully cooked, The mullet and salad came first and the shrimp followed after about 10 minutes. These were a revelation, juicy, plump and tender and again cooked to perfection

Dessert was fruit and halva sprinkled in cinnamon - all we needed to finish with really. Really an unmissable meal that set us back 45 euros inclusive of the wine - unbelievable value really when you think about it... i would go back to athens to eat here alone...

Edited March 26, 2011 by nikkib (log)

[nikkib]

oh - i seemed to have missed a dinner out here. We went to Gazi, a new upcoming and trendy industrial area. Mamacas is a contemporary taverna - all in white and eggshell blue (uniforms walls etc)with delicious modern greek cuisine

a delicious selection of home made breads with tapenade and a cheese dip to start off with and then roasted peppers and beetroot "salad to start" the beetroot had walnuts in there for added texture and was great and the roasted peppers were truly delicous too

followed by a rolled stuffed pork dish with cheese and spinach and peppers as well as roasted - almost pulled pork which was the stand out dish, so moist yet crispy on the outside and so flavourful - it wasnt my dish but i think i ate most of it!!!!

dessert was a pannacotta (photo didnt really come out) and complimentary local muscat. I really recommend checking mamacas out - we had a great night!

[nikkib]

The next night (after the lunch at margaro) we were quite tired and so stumbled only as far as the secret hidden taverna under O Brettos the bar mentioned in previous posts in Plaka. Another success! Incredibly cheap too - literally 1/2 the price of any of our other meals and surprisingly full of locals despite being in quite a "touristy" area. We shared a salad, some halloumi, some deliciously tasty fried aubergine & moussaka (literally the best i have eaten, juicy, moist and packed full of flavour - i loved the potato layer at the bottom too - like a reversed shepherds pie)with local wine and finished with some more complimentary muscat ( i could get used to this...)

[heidih]

Thanks for posting these lovely meals. That red mullet and shrimp in the one chef restaurant calls to me the most with its simplicity and considering your freshness description. In the images from the secret taverna under O Brettos is the first one the fried aubergine? Can you describe the coating - it looks like something I want to try when eggplant season arrives. And your haloumi photo is the one that will drive me over the edge and finally try to make this. Is it molten inside or chewy?

[nikkib]

hi heidih - it was literally a batter coating the aubergines - thicker than a tempura and excellent, really very good. Halloumi doesnt get molten inside when heated (or not when i've done it/eaten it any way) it is quite chewy. I usually do it by slicing it more thinly than in the picture and putting it into a hot non stick pan - no oil or anything needed. lave it maybe 15 seconds or so and then turn it over, if its not browned enough i just repeat again until i get it the way i like it. One of my favourite ways to eat it is in a pitta bread with a fine dice of cucumber, red onion, tomatoes, pepperdew sweet peppers and lots of coriander. Its also great with sweet figs in syrup - give it a go.....

[heidih]

My neighbor has figs, his wife does not care for them- I will be making figs in syrup in fig season. For now I will try your pita method. Thank you! I will experiment with that type of coating for the eggplant which I adore in many styles, but once in a while the coated and fried and eaten as soon as it has cooled enough to avoid injury just needs to be done.

[Kim Shook]

What an amazing trip, Nikki! Thank you so much for this! Greece is on my list of dream destinations, so I am thoroughly enjoying this report.

[thampik]

off to Athens for a week next week and decided to check on eG for any threads...jackpot!

niikib...really cool to find your notes of a number of places that I have been short listing (some from the Frank Bruni piece in the NYT)..will update if they are as good as they were in 2011!

[nikkib]

Have fun! I had such a great time in Athens, was truly surprised with how well we ate - enjoy it!

[thampik]

First day in Athens and two completely different meals.

To Kati Allo for lunch at the recommendation of the lady we are renting our apartment from - had Greek salad, moussaka and Crepes filed with spinach and cheese (no, not spanakopita!). All washed down with Fix lager. Underwhelmed by the Greek salad, but Moussaka and Crepes are very good. Brilliant value as it is 20 Euros for the three of us. Very unassuming place right behind the Acropolis museum and a good introduction to the joys of Greek food.

Dinner at Strofi Taverna - just outstanding. We were offered tsipouradiko as an appetiser and also presented with some bread to be dipped (softened) in water and then eaten with Feta and a tomato relish. The Feta was like nothing I had tasted before - this was a rather loose and runny version that reminded us of Mozzarella - very complex and moreish. We also had fantastic Spanakopita and Dolmadakia. The only off note was squid which had an under seasoned batter and as a result was bland. We had two carafes of house white that had a pronounced Moscatel-type flavour minus the sweetness - very agreeable. Finished off with Ekmek(fried bread soaked in sugar syrup) and Ice Cream, Baklava and Kaffe Elleniko. Stuffed, delighted and all for 50 Euros for the three of us. Oh and it is a rooftop terrace looking on to the Acropolis.

Good way to start :-)

[thampik]

Back from our trip to Athens and boy did we eat well! Greek food was such a revelation.

Two places to add for the consideration of those intending to go to Athens.

Taverna Theklas (Roberto Galli 2, road by the back of the Acropolis museum) :- By far and away the best food we ate in Athens (including at Strofi). We ate there on three separate occasions and gave the menu a real going over! Superb Greek food made by a gifted cook (the clarity of flavour was astonishing) in a charming restaurant run by three generations of the same family.

Geros Tou Maria (Mnisikleous 27, Plaka) :- Lovely location and matched by some excellent seafood - Gavros and Sardines were super fresh. Rest of the dishes were also pretty good.

[nikkib]

Glad you had fun and ate well!