Last Updated on May 7, 2020 by Fiona Maclean
Gastronomy in Athens, Greece – a Walking Tour
I was in Greece as the guest of Gastronomos magazine, the foodie magazine published by the respected Kathimerini daily newspaper. I was there to cover their Food Producer Awards which were in their 9th year and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Gastronomos with an ‘Athens Foodie Walking Tour’. I travel to Greece regularly to visit family in Athens and as a non-Greek speaker (OK – I can say where’s the cake shop…) I have struggled to get a sense of the Greek gastro scene which has been a source of frustration for me as I know how great the produce and cuisine can be.
I see the awards as part of a burgeoning sense of self-awareness and an understanding of the necessity to package and promote Greek food for the international market in a more sophisticated way than hitherto. So there were prizes for the international recognition of Greek food to chef Konstantinos Enrikonglou of Notos restaurant in Brussels, to Prokopis Mayiatis, the scientist who created an index for the health properties of olive oil, to the Kivernitis company for the best quality Greek olive oil made by a pair of charming brothers from Corfu;
and of course for the best olives, huge, meaty Prune olives from the Damaskinoelies Ainatzoglou company. Support for traditional Greek products needs to be strengthened and events like this are great for raising their profile. Following the event, there was a feast of food and drink provided by the prize-winners which was great fun and congratulations to everyone at Gastronomos for organising it.On the day of the ceremony I went with a bunch of international food bloggers on an amazing day-long foodie tour around central Athens so here are my top nine Athens food experiences!
Start your day as all Greeks do with a coffee at the prizewinning flagship store of TAF Coffee (7 Emmanuel Benaki Street, Tel: +30.210-38.00.014). TAF is the company which introduced specialist coffee to Athens eight years ago after their owner made a trip to Seattle and have done much to upgrade Greek coffee culture from the low-grade ‘Greek’ coffee of yesteryear. They work directly with producers to support sustainability working with single estate producers and not only import but roast their beans to ensure quality.
I tried a delicious freddo caffe latte made with the ‘cold drip’ method-try their coffee in the UK at Ergon in London at 322 Regent St if you can’t make it to Athens.
Your next stop should be Galaktopoleio I Stani (10 Marika Kotopouli Street, Tel: +30.210-52.33.637), an atmospheric dairy/patisserie founded in 1931. We had a wonderful tasting of a variety of milk-based dishes; yoghurt with honey and walnuts, rice pudding sprinkled with cinnamon, galaktoboureko (a Turkish semolina custard in filo pastry), and my favourite-a luxurious dish of cream, honey and nuts. It’s no surprise that they won a gold medal at the International Food Exhibition of Thessaloniki.
If the sound of deep-fried balls of honey and cinnamon goodness known as Loukoumades gets you excited then make a pit-stop at Chanion Th. Ktisaki (59 Sokratous Street, Tel: +30.210-52.40.891). who started making them in 1912 in the Cretan town of Chania.
If you don’t eat them all up, take them back to your hotel as they are just as good cold from the fridge the next day.
The fourth stop on our gastro-tour is at The Pantopoleion: The Store of Mediterranean Diet (1 Sofokleous Street, Tel: +30.210-32.34.612). Here you have the opportunity to try and buy a wide range of traditional Greek products from small artisanal producers ranging from premium Corinth currants to delicious cheeses and meats by way of top-quality olive oils, herbs and the new wave of amazing Greek wines that are starting to make an impact internationally.
For fresh fish, seafood and meat nothing beats a visit to the Varvakeios Central Market. If you are a fan of the hustle and bustle of food markets then it’s a must-see.
Karamanlidika by Fanis, named after the Greek diaspora in Turkey (1 Sokratous & Evripidou Street, Tel: +30.210-32.54.184) is renowned in Athens for serving up the traditional tastes of Byzantium and Cappadocia (aged cheese, cured, seasoned and aged ham, sausages and pastrami among other fine cold cuts).
We visited allegedly to taste the cheeses and cold meats and ended up having a sumptuous feast with selections of delicious soft and hard cheeses, a smoky aubergine salad, a spicy, earthy hummus, a rich shrimp saganaki, plates of salami, lemony freshly stuffed vine leaves all washed down with shots of Tsipouro, the fiery Greek spirit that is similar to Grappa.
If you have time pay a visit to the spice shops in Evripidou Street right next to Karamanlidika. They stock beautiful soaps alongside the herbs amongst other goodies at bargain prices.
For the best souvlaki in the world go to O Kostas 1950 (5 Pentelis & Mitropoleos Street, Tel: +30.210-32.28.502). The warm bread is subtly spiced with the crispness of fresh parsley framing the sweet tender lamb with a vegetal crunch -sublime!
Our final stop was a million miles away from the gutsy street food of O Kostas. The world famous French patissier Arnaud Larher has collaborated with Athens’ two swankiest hotels, the King George and the Hotel Grande Bretagne, that sit together in Syntagma Square. We were taken to the exquisite Tudor Hall restaurant of The King George for a tasting of 10 different of his desserts in Arnaud’s classic French style as delivered by his very talented lieutenant Eugenios Vardakastanis all washed down by a welcome chilled glass of Moscato.
If you want proper top-end old school patisserie in Athens then this is the place to go. I loved the Rum Baba, lubricated with citrus syrup and rum with a cloud of Vanilla cream on top. A Strawberry Charlotte was unusually flavoured with a mint infusion and featured poached and fresh strawberries.A luscious Tarte Citron was made with soft Italian meringue and a salted biscuit base, and everyone’s favourite Tiramisu was made with Blue mountain coffee flavoured ice cream and mascarpone cream. If you are in Athens please take some time out to investigate these diverse and delicious food worlds. Greece has such a rich food heritage that is the foundation for the Mediterranean diet that we really need to explore it in more detail. I’d like to thank all the staff at Gastronomos for their kindness and help in finding more out about it.
I love Greece, the people are wonderful and the food is out of this world, never been to Athens, this is one city on my bucket list
What a heavenly trip you had! The food all looks so fantastic.. the desserts particularly so. I would dive into that .. but might not come up for air on those sweets!
I love joining food tours, I feel its also a good way to know and learn about a neighborhood.
All of this food looks amazing. Just one small thing – I think I should have been invited to eat all of this food instead. 😉
We did a food tour in Athens as well–such a great spot to take a food tour. So many amazing places to eat there, and it sounds like you found a great tour! Everything looked so delicious, especially all the sweets and coffee! Will have to check this tour out if we visit again sometime!
Ah yes, I did one of theses while TBEX a couple of years ago and loved it … Athens food is awesome!
Wow! It all looks amazing. I love exploring cities through their food. Athens would not be an exception. Karamanlidika by Fanis looks exceptionally amazing!
Everything looks amazing except for the olives– I’ve never been able to make myself like them! I don’t know why. Everything else I would love though.
I think ‘where is the cake shop’ is an excellent phrase to know in any language 🙂 I’ve been to Athens a couple of times and we stay at the Grand Hotel Bretagne – next time I’ll be sure to swing by for the patisseries at the King George. We love the hotel breakfast at the Bretagne by the way – great morning views of the Acropolis.
Athens is high up on my list! Great post, thanks for sharing. Happy travels 🙂
I’m literally salivating looking at your photos. I love Greek food (besides the olives) and would love to visit the country in the near future. The pastries look especially delicious!
Holy smokes that sounds delicious- definitely a must-do for foodies!
Oh everything looks so gorgeous, thank you for such a great post! Now all I have to do is go back to Athens lol. Recently I attended a Greek Wine show in my town, a real eye opener on wonderful wines
I really need to get to Greece! Before I go, I hope you’ll teach me how to ask for directions to the cake shop.
Oh, yum. Though I do not eat meat I think the diversity in Greece is very good and there a couple of pictures which made me really hungry, actually. hah
Walking food tours seem like an amazing way to experience a place. And anything with “fried” and “honey” in the same sentence sounds super delicious!
This is a lovely write up! I am quite fond of Greek food , though I haven’t been to Greece but used to live in “Greektown” Toronto and had some of the best foods in my life, of course Athens is bound to be more authentic in taste! Those cold cuts look gorgeous!!
I think the concept of ‘leftover’ loukoumades is lost on me. I have enjoyed a whole bowl to myself, but alas they weren’t made in Greece. Although they were made with love and by the friendliest of ladies. Your yogurt smothered in walnuts and honey would be a perfect way to start the day.
Oh my goodness, I bet this experience was almost a sensory overload, so much to do, see and taste too. I love the foods dangling from strings, I wish it was more of a thing here in Australia, it just makes a foodie experience so much more wonderful. I had no idea that Athens was such a hot spot for food. WOW. Adding to my list.