ATHENS FOOD & RESTAURANT GUIDE

Athens is one incredible foodie city. Greek food should be a good enough reason alone to justify visiting. The local food is fresh, tasty and downright good for the soul. We arrived for a four day visit to Athens with a long list of local delights we absolutely had to try and restaurant recommendations to tick off the list. The city has so many good foodie spots it was impossible to try all of them in the short space of time we had, but of course we did our best and every single meal was utterly delicious. Athens is very reasonably priced if you visit local restaurants and areas slightly off the tourist grid. This food guide has a mix of local restaurants, hole in the wall cheap eats and restaurants in the main tourist area which are still worth a visit. For drinks check out my Athens Best Bars guide here. 

Food in Koukaki: 

This local neighbourhood is bursting with great restaurants, local bakeries and good bars. Koukaki is definitely the place you want to stay in Athens if you are a foodie. Check out my Athens 48 hour guide for more info. 

Lolos: Lolos restaurant is small and filled with locals. It’s no surprise it’s the busiest restaurant in the street and you won’t get a table if you don’t visit early. The seafood is really good – you MUST get succulent octopus served in oil and vinegar. The greek salad is juicy, the tzatiki is creamy and the bread is baked fresh at the bakery next door. We loved this place so much we dined here two nights in a row. 

Papadaloup – INCREDIBLE coffee is an understatement. Smooth and strong coffee served many ways. Favourites amongst the table were the regular double shot Americano and the ice cold cappuccino (sounds weird but is creamy and delicious) 

Bakery – next door to Lolos. If it’s good enough for our favourite restaurant to get its bread it’s good enough for us. The spanakopita spinach pastries were utter heaven, as were the lukomades honey ball doughnuts. We got our breakfast here every day. 

Guarantee Sandwiches – Athens best sandwich shop. 12 different types of bread to choose from and endless toppings. Grilled aubergine, halloumi, fresh black forest ham, slow roasted vegetables of pretty much any kind you name it they have it. The sandwiches were SO.DAMN.GOOD. We actually picked them up to have on the plane home which ensued huge regret for not visiting earlier. An absolute must visit for the tastiest 4€ sandwich you’ll ever eat. 

Hole in the Wall: 

O kostas

Voted the best souvlaki in Athens, this cheap and cheerful hole in the wall is worth the wait for a pork or beef skewered meats served in hot fresh pita. It’s hard to get souvlaki wrong with such simple ingredients, yet this really is on another level and will only set you back 3€. 

Best Tourist Zone Restaurants

Lunch in Plaka at Yiasemi. The quaint steps up to the Acroplois in Plaka are filled with tiny cafes with tiny tables spilling out onto the steps. Dine outside and enjoy the world going by. Yiasemi gets my vote out of the large choice of restaurants in this area, everything is homemade, the greek salad is fresh, the lemon and mint juice is incredibly zingy and the tomato, feta and olive pie is flavoursome and comforting.

Filema

located in the main touristy area of Athens, even though this restaurant is in a busy and convenient location it hasn’t compromised on the quality of its dishes. The food is still great – especially the aubergine, tomato and yoghurt dish, as is the tzatziki, aubergine dip and deep fried cheese (Saganaki).

Authentic 

Avli psiri restaurant 

Blink and you’ll miss this place. A light and bright white and blue restaurant hidden behind the facade of a beige wall with no sign. This restaurant was one of our best meals in Athens. The fava split pea dip was pure heaven. It also serves incredible creamy tzatziki. Definitely worth a visit as it’s reasonably priced, mainly filled with locals and the food is wonderful. 

Taverna Klimataria

This typical Greek taverna is located in a back street of a less than desirable area to be alone in at night, however don’t be put off by this, it doesn’t stop people visiting. The restaurant is busy and making a booking is essential. Their famous dish is the lamb with braised potatoes, all slow cooked together and served straight from the vat to the table. The fava dip here is delicious as is the Moussaka. The tzatziki is creamy and salty packed with capers and dill. Make sure to order the smokey roasted aubergine appetiser (as pictured). The food is very local and extremely tasty. 

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