Eating Your Way Through Greece

Last Spring, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Greece and visit Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini. Along the way, I had some extraordinary dishes and ate at many fantastic restaurants. Though I have traveled to many places in Europe, Greek Cuisine is by the far the most unique that I have had and offers a deeper look into Greek Culture. This post is to serve as a a guide to eat your way through Greece: what restaurants to go to, what dishes to eat, and how big a serving is.
ATHENS
The first stop on our journey through Greek cuisine is Athens. A bright and colorful city with some great food options. Our first destination was Filopappou Hill. After a climb to the top for some views of the city, we were eager to find lunch and were happy to be greeted by a plethora of options along Apostolou Pavlou, the street that led up to the hill. The street was lined with open air restaurants, all offering similar options of a variety of salads and sandwiches. We ended up at a restaurant called Kafeneion Akropoleos. One of the first things we wanted to try was a Greek salad actually in Greece. Much different than what one would expect when ordering the salad in the states, a real Greek salad is served without any lettuce and is rather mostly made from cucumbers. A mix of tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese make up the rest of the dish.

Next stop after a long day of touring is a break for drinks before dinner. Our favorite spot in the city was the rooftop bar A is for Athens. Offering gorgeous views of the city and wide variety of beverages, this bar is a must. I chose to order fresh squeezed orange juice, a staple in Greece, that was just the refreshing drink I needed after a long day of touring. Another delicious before dinner treat is Loukoumades. Donut holes covered honey, chocolate, or whatever you prefer. These delectable treats are a Greek specialty. They can be found on many restaurant dessert menus or, in the widest variety, at the Lukumades cafe in Athens.

Dinner is where one will get the deepest dive into Greek cuisine. For cheap and easy, head to Adrinou street. The street is lined with restaurants, all with menus filled with a variety of meats and offering a view of the Acropolis. Although the area is quite touristy, the food is good, inexpensive, and comes with a beautiful view. We eventually settled on a restaurant down the street that also offered a view of the Temple of Hephaestus, but as we glanced at menus along the way, they all offered the same thing — different types of meat. We ordered a meat plate to share between four of us, and a medium was more than enough. The platter contained four burgers, six chicken breast, a few lamp sausages, and a couple of pork chops. Extraordinarily delicious, however way too much for four people to eat.

MYKONOS
Next stop on our tour through Greece is the island of Mykonos. Known for its white house and winding streets, the island boasts some delicious options for dining. As one wanders the streets of Mykonos town, one may easily find themselves lost and hungry — but never fear, as long as you are able to head back towards the water you will find a string of inexpensive restaurants all overlooking the Aegean Sea. Our personal favorite was a place called Rouvera. The staff was very friendly, the views were unbelievable and the wide variety of food options were all very delicious. As you sit in the cute and comfy dining area, you overlook the old port of Mykonos and can have all your questions answered by the helpful and attentive staff. The menu boast a range of choices including pasta, seafood, and traditional Greek food. Each dish we tried was delicious and this is definitely a place I would recommend to visitors of the island. Another tasty restaurant just a little closer to the old port is Kazarma. We went there for dinner and the food was scrumptious. Kazarma focuses more on seafood, with fresh fish on ice in the interior of the restaurant and waiters filleting fish for costumers right at their tables. I ordered a risotto with cuttlefish ink and squid. It was honestly one of my favorite meals on the entire trip. Although it was a little scary looking, dark black with stark white squid on top, the dish was absolutely worth the temporary teeth stain.

My Mother ordered fresh fish and she reported back that it was also delicious, but what else would be expected from a restaurant situated right on the port.

SANTORINI
For our final stop, we took the ferry from Mykonos to Santorini, where we tasted even more delectable food. We arrived on the island around lunch time so we headed straight to a restaurant called Roka. A quaint little restaurant, with an adorable outdoor seating area and a delicious menu. I ordered Grilled Buffalo Soutzoukakia, essentially meatballs in tomato sauce. They were a delightful meal and a great way to start our dining experience in Oia.

Unfortunately, a storm blew in that evening so we has to postpone our reservation down in Ammoudi Bay but we found a restaurant just a few blocks from our hotel on the main street of Oia, as there are plenty restaurants offering enclosed seating and bearing a menu with lots of yummy options. The following day, we took the bus to Fira and ate at a restaurant called Pelican Kipos. The restaurant was surrounded by a beautiful garden and offered many great lunch options. I had the green salad and it was, not surprisingly, entirely green with lettuce, avocado, green apple slices, and pine nuts. It was fresh and tasty and gave me energy for the rest of the day. I would recommend the restaurant to visitors to Fira who are looking for a cute place to eat with many healthy options.

Our last night we made the trek down to Ammoudi Bay and ate the Ammoudi Fish Tavern and watched the sunset. If you are looking for seafood, this is definitely the place to go. Every dish had some fish or other sea creature in it. I had pasta with muscles and prawns and it was the perfect last dinner to end the trip with.

The rest of our group split a fresh fish that they went downstairs and picked out themselves from the cooler. It was then cooked and brought the to table to be filleted right in front of our eyes. For dessert we had one lest batch of loukoumades and the brought the trip to a sweet and sticky close. I loved to restaurant, however it was quite pricy so it was definitely a last-stop-of-the-trip type place.

Our last afternoon in Greece was spent hiking along the caldera of Santorini from Fira to Oia. The six hour hike called for a lunch break around the half way point in the village of Imerovigli. We were there during the off season in April, so many places were closed, however we were able to eat at a restaurant called Avocado. A super charming little restaurant that overlooked the caldera and had a scrumptious menu with a wide variety of options. Since it was our last day, I went with the classic Greek dish of moussaka. Eggplant and ground beef combined to make a tasty treat that gave me energy for the rest of the the hike.

Of course, I cannot finish this post without talking about our favorite after dinner treat, gelato. We had gelato almost every night from anywhere we could find it. There were gelato shops everywhere so it was not difficult to locate, and once inside you have tons of options to choose from. One of the common gelato chains that you will find throughout Greece is Davinci Gelato. They have over 30 flavors and hand dipped cones for a fun and tasty treat.

This is my experience with Greek food. I am not an expert and can simply tell of my own experiences, but I hope that this post is helpful to anyone wishing to visit Greece. I enjoyed my time there and the food that I ate and am happy to be sharing my advice to future travelers to Greece. I tried many traditional Greek dishes during my visit and was overwhelmingly pleased with the flavors and quality of the food. While not everything I ate was specific to Greece, many of the dishes we ate while there were traditional Greek meals such as moussaka, grilled meats, and fresh fish.