Eating Athens: Where to eat in Athens

It’s my last couple of hours in Athens and as I wait for my flight, enjoying my final Cappucino Freddo, I’m flicking through the pictures of the delicious things I’ve eaten over the past couple of weeks. Before I came to Athens, I got a lot of “a couple of days will be enough” and “it’s just another grimy city”, but the Athens I discovered is a vibrant, energetic city, with a great food scene and friendly locals.

I think that one of the most interesting things about travelling is that everyone has different objectives when visiting a new country or city. Some people want to explore every museum and art gallery, others want to shop. I want to eat.

I believe that you can learn a lot about a culture and a people through it’s flavours. For instance, the flavours of Cape Town’s Malay curries reflect much about the Indian and South-East Asian roots of the colourful community of Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap. In the same way the moussakas, stuffed vine leaves and creamy feta tell stories about Greek history and food culture.

I’ve eaten a lot over the past two weeks and I can honestly say that every bite, from lunch at the higher-end Mare Marina to a quick Souvlaki at locals’ favourite, Kostas in Agias Irinis Square, has been utterly delicious. I usually make a point of eating exclusively local food when I travel (skipping the McDonalds and Starbucks and Italian food in Thailand, for instance) and in Greece that was incredibly easy, since local food is actually easier to find than take-out.

Here are a few of my foodie highlights in delicious Athens.

KOSTAS SOUVLAKI

There are actually two souvlaki places in Athens called Kostas which can cause some confusion. But it was on the recommendation of two trusted locals, Elena from Greek food blog Elena’s Cooking and Andreas Litis from My Secret Athens that we went in search of both.

The Kostas on the Agais Irinis Square (where you’ll find lots of bustling bars, restaurants and trendy locals) serves probably one of the most delicious meals you’ll find in Athens. They serve their souvlaki with a red sauce that is just so flavourful and delicious my mouth waters as I type.

The other Kostas, which has been around for more than 50 years, is only a few minutes walk away and serves light, tasty souvlaki with a creamy yogurt sauce.

Address: Agias Irinis Square 2, downtown
Telephone: +30 210 323 2971
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm

Address: Pentelis 5 (intersection with Mitropoleos), Plaka/Syntagma
Telephone: +30 210 322 8502
Hours: 9am-3pm; closed Sunday 

TA KARAMANLIDIKA TOU FANI

We ate here on our first night in Athens and it was the one meal I kept going back to every time I thought “what’s the best thing we’ve eaten in Greece?” The restaurant’s name is impossible to pronounce so I can’t help you there, but the food is Turkish-inspired Greek and we just asked our companion, Athens local Andreas Litis to order for us.

Address: Sokratous 1 & Evripidou 52, 10554 Athens, Greece