Greece Information
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 Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 3:39 am Post subject: FOOD & DINING IN GREECE/ GREECE DINING GUIDE |
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FOOD & DINING IN GREECE
GENERAL
Greek food and wine is famous for its good quality products and the amazing taste of its food and wines. Some dishes are the same everywhere in Greece and the Greek Islands, whereas some others are local culinary specialties or same dishes cooked in different manners (in islands, Crete, Thessaloniki, etc).
Here is a basic list of some of the most famous food of Greece:
Mezedes
The mezedes (one meze) are appetizers, served before or with the main dishes, usually accompanied with ouzo or tsipouro. They come in small plates and are one of the basic elements of the Mediterranean culture of sharing food and wine with friends, in a joyful and unhurried environment.
- Horiatiki Salata: Also know as "Greek salad", the horiatiki is a mix of fresh tomatoes, olives, cucumber, onions, green pepper, feta cheese, olive oil and oregano.
- Tzatziki: Greek yogurt with finely chopped cucumber, garlic and olive oil. Ideal to eat with fresh Greek bread, fried potatoes or fried meatballs.
- Melitzanosalata: An eggplant purée with finely chopped garlic and olive oil. It is succulent with fresh bread.
- Taramosalata: Crushed fish's eggs.
- Saganaki: Fried cheese. Different sorts of cheese can be found in saganaki. Excellent with a zest of lemon.
- Keftedakia: Fried meatballs: beef, garlic and bread. Excellent with a lot of lemon on.
- Spanakopitakia: Little spinach pies with crushed feta cheese.
- Tiropitakia: Little cheese pies, usually made of feta or kasseri.
- Horta: Boiled wild greens with olive oil, salt and lemon.
- Briam: Mix of roast potatoes, eggplants, onions, garlic, tomato sauce and olive oil.
- Dolmadakia: Grape leaves filled with rice and onions and sometimes minced beef.
- Kalamarakia: Small pieces of fried squid with lemon juice.
- Htapodi: Small pieces of octopus served either fried with lemon juice or boiled, with olive oil, vinegar and oregano.
- Feta cheese: The famous Greek cheese can also be eaten alone, as a meze, with olive oil and oregano.
Main dishes
Greeks have a lot of excellent main dishes containing, almost always, meat.
- Moussaka: This famous Greek dish has a base made of potatoes topped with eggplants onions, minced beef and béchamel.
- Pastitsio: This is another well-known Greek dish reminding of the Italian Lasagnas. It consists of a base made of a kind of noodles topped with minced beef, onions, tomato sauce and béchamel.
- Paidakia: Grilled lamb's ribs served with lemon.
- Kokoretsi: This is one of the favorite dishes of Greeks; they mostly eat it during Easter. It consists of wrapped and roasted entrails of lamb, served with a lot of lemon.
Soups
Greek soups are succulent and Greeks favorite dish during winter.
- Kotossoupa: Chicken soup usually with avgolemono (sauce made with eggs and lemon).
- Psarossoupa: Fish soup with parsley, potatoes and carrots.
- Fassolada: White bean soup with parsley and, sometimes, tomato sauce.
- Fakies: Lentil soup with tomato sauce.
- Mayiritsa: Easter soup made of the inside of lamb, dill and the avgolemono sauce (egg and lemon).
- Patsa: Tripe soup, considered by Greeks as a very good remedy to hangovers.
Herbs & Spices
Greece is famous for its unique herbs and spices which they use in every dish to add an extra taste and delight the senses. The excellent quality of Greek spices and herbs is due to the long sunshine periods, making the Greek flora particularly rich, producing an incredible variety of the best herbs and spices in the world.
Famous herbs of great quality and easy to find in Greece are the chamomile, the mountain tea, sage, basil, mint, parsley, tilio (lime leaves used as an infusion) and much more. Supreme Greek spices are the sesame (white sesame also), the cumin, the machlepi and the valuable red saffron.
Wines & Alcohol
Greece is a big producer of wines and local alcohols.
- Tsipouro: This really strong alcohol looks a bit like Ouzo but with a stronger taste of anis. Greeks drink it with ice and sometimes add a bit of water. It is always accompanying with mezedes and good friends. In different parts of Greece such as Crete, some islands and the northern Greece made there own home made Tsipouro, also called Raki (depending of the region) which is really strong.
- Ouzo: This is the most famous Greek alcohol, trade mark of the country. It is a strong alcohol, drinkable with straight with ice or with a bit of water. It is ideal to drink with all kinds of mezedes. The best ouzo is made in Lesvo (or Mytilini) and the best trades are Ouzo Plomariou and Barbayanni.
- Mavrodafni: This sweet wine is made in Patras (big town in the Peloponnese). It is really thick and dark (almost black) and can be compared to the Portuguese Porto. It is usually drink like liquor, a digestive or like a night drink.
- Retsina: The famous Retsina is a Greek white wine with a particular resin taste. This taste is due to the way of production of this wine: they put the grapes in new cask which have still the wood resin on, giving to the whine that special taste.
- Wines of Greece: There is a huge diversity of Greek wines: red, white and rose, sweet or dry.
INTERESTING PLACES TO DINE IN ATHENS
Spondi
Frequently cited as Athens' top restaurant, the Michelin-starred Spondi occupies a vaulted stone cellar, with tasteful minimalist furnishing and subtle lighting. In summer, there are tables outside in a pretty courtyard. The menu features fusion cuisine, with an abundant use of aromatic herbs and spices. Reservations recommended. No lunch.
Pyrronos 5, Pangrati
Tel: 210 752 0658.
Website: www.spondi.gr
To Varoulko
Relocated to Gazi in 2005, Varoulko boasts a sleek modern wood-and-glass interior, plus a stunning roof terrace with Acropolis views. Considered by many the best seafood eatery in town, it was awarded a Michelin star in 2002. The menu varies daily according to what is available in the fish market.
Pireos 80, Gazi
Tel: 210 522 8400.
48 The Restaurant
With its polished concrete interior and floodlit water garden, 48 scored an instant success with rich, glitzy Athenians when it opened in autumn 2003. The menu, featuring new Greek cuisine, changes with the seasons. Its possible to take a stool at the bar for cocktails and finger food.
Armatolon & Klefton 48, Ambelokipi
Tel: 210 641 1082.
Boschetto
Set in a small park, close to the Evangelismos metro station, Boschetto specializes in Italian nouvelle cuisine. Tables are arranged in a glass conservatory, as well as outside beneath the trees. The service is efficient and professional and the espresso coffee reputedly the best in town.
Alsos Evangelismos
Tel: 210 721 0893.
Central
Overlooking Kolonaki Square, in the heart of the business district, Central is a smart lounge-bar and restaurant, popular with Athenian socialites. The smoked-glass windows hide an open-plan interior adorned with wooden floors and creamy-white leather chairs and sofas. Ideal for lunch: Livens up with cocktails and sushi in the evening.
Platia Kolonaki 14, Kolonaki
Tel: 210 724 5938.
Jimmy and the Fish
Overlooking the delightful harbor of Mikrolimano, in Piraeus, this excellent fish restaurant offers a refined ambience indoors and a rather more informal, breezy atmosphere at the waterside tables outside. Discreet waiters, clad in hallmark blue and white aprons, serve discerning diners ranging from shipping magnets to Orthodox priests. Reservations recommended.
Akti Koumoundrou 46, Piraeus
Tel: 210 412 4417.
Aristera-Dexia
Gazi means ‘gas’ and this district, once down-at-heel but now very trendy, takes its name from the city gasworks. Aristera-Dexia was one of the first restaurants to open in Gazi, and young, sophisticated Athenians flock here to feast on fusion cuisine. The interior is quite impressive, with a glass catwalk leading over an underground wine cellar. On warm evenings there are tables outside in the courtyard.
Andronikou 3, Gazi
Tel: 210 342 2380.
Balthazar
Possibly Athens’ most fashionable summer venue, Balthazar is a chic bar-restaurant, contained within a subtly lit, walled garden planted with trees and shrubs. Some people come here just to drink (and be seen) but there is also a tempting choice of eats. Indoor dining through winter. Reservations recommended. Valet parking.
Tsoha 27, Kolonáki
Tel: 210 641 2300.
Mamacas
Another fine restaurant in Gazi, Mamacas is situated at a crossroads and, in summer, this location is quite surreal, with candlelit, whitewashed wooden tables on four street corners and the towering gasworks in the background. The color is supplied by the people and the food: taverna classics with a twist. There is a wine bar annex across the street.
Persefonis 14, Gazi
Tel: 210 346 4984.
Website: www.mamacas.gr
O Platanos
One of Pláka’s oldest tavernas, located near the Tower of the Winds, O Platanos has served up home cooking since 1932. There is a good choice of stews, while the only dessert on offer is syrup-drenched baklava. The house wine, a barrel retsina, is excellent. Through summer, tables are arranged on a pretty bougainvillea-covered terrace.
Diogenous 4, Pláka
Tel: 210 322 0666.
Scholiarhio
Located in the heart of Pláka, close to small Byzantine church of Ag Nikolaos, this charming ouzeri occupies two floors, linked by a head-spinning spiral staircase. The menu is in Greek only but waiters bring a selection of dishes on trays so diners can chose what they like the look of. Open until 0200.
Tripidon 14, Pláka
Tel: 210 324 7605.
Thanasis
A classic place to stop for souvlaki kalamaki (shish kebab) served with pitta bread and chips, Thanasis is popular with locals and gets unbelievably busy, especially at weekends. The atmosphere is fast and chaotic but traditional and fun. Tables both indoors and out, just around the corner from the Monastiráki metro station.
Mitropoleos 69, Monastiráki
Tel: 210 324 4705.
Achinos
This beautifully designed split-level restaurant is built into a cliffside on the coast, offering fantastic views over the sea. The atmosphere is romantic but relaxed, and the waiters professional but friendly. The kitchen employs authentic regional ingredients to turn out carefully presented dishes, creative salads and delicious stewed meats.
Akti Themistokleous 51, Freatida, Piraeus
Tel: 210 452 6944.
Eden
In the heart of Pláka, just below the Acropolis, Eden struck instant success when it opened in 1982 as the country’s first vegetarian restaurant. Everything on the menu is organic, including the wines, freshly squeezed juices and herbal teas. It is a relaxed and cheerful place, with salmon-pink walls hung with framed art posters.
Lissiou 12, Pláka
Tel: 210 324 8858.
To Kouti
To Kouti (meaning ‘the box’) is located close to the Monastiráki antique market. The interior comprises lofty space with ochre-painted walls, wooden floors and marble-top tables. The menu features colorful salads and creative meat dishes. It is possible to come here just for coffee or a drink and in summer there are tables outside.
Adrianou 23, Monastiráki
Tel: 210 321 3229. |
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