Athens for Foodies

One of the pleasures of visiting Athens is simply eating the food there. Feasts for your palate abound in the Greek capital whose cuisine is also a meeting place for East and West. Greek cuisine combines many essential ingredients of the Mediterranean diet, including olive oil, fresh vegetables, fish and meats, but also typical components of Balkan and Middle Eastern cuisines such as dairy-based sauces and spices.

If you plan on traveling to Athens, don’t miss out on trying souvlaki, a skewer of meat or grilled fish served in pita bread and accompanied by tzatziki, a yogurt-based sauce with cucumber and garlic. Another popular Greek dish is the famous mousakka, which is similar to Italian lasagna. It’s served hot and includes minced lamb, eggplant and tomato as main ingredients. The price for main courses in Athens ranges from 8 to 12 euros, and Athenian water is often free.

Furthermore, Greek cuisine also includes its own version of take-out: gyros. This meal consists of pita bread stuffed with roast chicken or lamb, tomato, onion and sauce, which is usually yogurt-based. Gyros gets its name due to its being turned on the grill, as meat kebabs usually are cooked. You can get one in a restaurant or at food stalls, where they sell for about 2 euros. Vegetarian travelers will enjoy Spanakotiropites, or pastry filled with traditional Greek feta cheese and spinach, or a Greek salad, which is made with tomato, cucumber, bell pepper and red onion and seasoned with olive oil, salt, black pepper, and oregano.

Although it’s possible to find restaurants to try typical Greek dishes in most neighborhoods in Athens, the most desirable areas to tempt your palate are Plaka and Monastiraki. Strofi is one of the best restaurant options for dinner, and it’s one of the top ten restaurants with the best views worldwide.  Enjoying dinner at a reasonable price with an illuminated Acropolis as a backdrop can make for a memorable experience during your Athenian adventure.

And during your stay in Athens, you won’t want to miss out on one of their most popular desserts: Greek yogurt. One of that I highly recommend can be found in the establishment Fresko Yogurt Bar, which is located between the Acropolis and Hadrian’s Gate.

Greeks usually eat lunch between 1: 30 pm and 4:00 pm and dinner between 9:30 and 11 pm, but to accommodate the many tourists, you won’t have a problem finding restaurants that are open throughout the day.