Five Things I Ate in Athens 🇬🇷
Sun-dried olives, loukoumades drizzled with honey and cinnamon, and more.
Hello and welcome back to a special Athens version of Five Things I Ate. Read past posts here, and please follow my Instagram, @fivethingsiate, where you can find photos of this week’s recommendations.
Loukoumades with honey and cinnamon at Lukumades
Eolou 21, & Aghias Irinis Str, Athina 105 51, Greece
Loukoumades are Greece’s famous donuts – and IMO they are the perfect way to start off the day, and this week’s Athen’s themed newsletter. Some may say that donuts are dessert, but because I’m American, I prefer this sugary treat at breakfast, accompanied by my first (of many) freddo cappuccino of the day. The traditional order is with cinnamon and honey, which is what our tour guide, Anna, at Happy Belly Tours, recommended. The loukoumades were perfectly light and Not-Too-Sweet, with a strong dash of cinnamon. Although, the table next to us couldn’t finish their Nutella-topped concoction, and I happily tried a few of those, which were chocolatey and indulgent in an addictive way.
Sun-dried olives (throumpa) at Ariana Olive Store
Sokratous 11, Athina 105 52, Greece
I never liked olives much till I went to Greece, and now I’m obsessed, which I recognize is exactly the kind of thing a 20-year old who just went on study abroad would say. Still, I didn’t realize how olives could be so buttery and have so much nuance in taste, with a slightly fermented vibe, instead of just being jarred salt bombs. If you’re not an olive fan already, Ariana Olive store might just convert you. We tried multiple types of olives (green, kalamata, stuffed, even pickled Rock Samphire, which is a type of seaweed) but the most unique to me was the throumpa, or sun-dried Greek olives. Roughly the texture and color of a raisin, these had the most dense and sweet taste.
Bougatsa at Creme Royale
Evripidou 39, Athina 105 54, Greece
Throughout our trip to the Greek islands and Athens, I kept a running list of notes on all the baked goods I consumed, and the bougatsa at Creme Royale won the Bakery-Off for me! Bougatsa is a sweet Greek pie filled with semolina custard, and at Creme Royale, a very unassuming bakery, it was served warm in a cardboard takeout box, sliced into small squares from a large slab. With flaky phyllo dough, hints of cinnamon and a large dusting of powdered sugar, it almost felt like eating a fresh donut in the fall but creamy and custardy too. The semolina custard managed to be Not Too Sweet, although the powdered sugar probably takes it over the edge for that.
Note: It did not taste nearly as good cold, so this might be one of those things I may have to learn to bake myself. Until then, does anyone have a source for a good bakery in the NYC/NJ area?
Mezze at Ouzeri Karayiannis
Located in Varvakios Central Municipal Market - Νο68 Βαρβακειος Αγορα, Athina, Greece
There is no written menu at Ouzeri Karayiannis – Just a large poster taped to the wall, with six pictures of mezze superimposed onto a high-def image of the acropolis. There is a single word, “mackerel”, scrawled on top of one image, presumably because people kept getting confused by what kind of fish it was. Add one chain-smoking Greek uncle, three bar stools total, located in the middle of a busy fish market, and you have my ideal lunch spot. My favorite mezze was the seafood plate, with fresh prawns (head-on of course!), smoked mussels, and what appeared to be chunks of fresh bread topped with pickled herring. I could skip the ouzo at lunch time, though I gave it a polite little sip.
Roasted leg of lamb at Krasopoulio tou Kokkora
Esopou 4, Athina 105 54, Greece
Reaching this homey Greek restaurant is a bit of an odyssey. Although it’s located pretty centrally (near the Acropolis), to reach Krasopoulio tou Kokkora, you must first traverse the horrors of Little Kook, a kitschy fever dream of a “fairytale” themed cafe. I’ve never met a more terrifying place with more than 23,000 five-star reviews on Google Maps. It sprawls before you like a copyright violation of Disney World, a nightmare of neon, that is strangely filled with adults posing for Instagram, and not children (who can be excused for liking horrifying things). Despite all this, your suffering is temporary, for Little Kook is just one block long, and you’ll soon be rewarded by a quiet side street. Thankfully, though Krasopoulio tou Kokkora is also popular, its popularity is justified. It has the ambience of a Red Sauce joint, if a Red Sauce joint was Greek. The staff is super friendly, portions are massive, and the dishes taste home-cooked. I got the leg of lamb, which turned out to be enough food for four. Stewed in spices, and served on top of fresh white rice, it was comforting and cozy, exactly the antidote I needed for surviving Little Kook.
Have a nice weekend,
Soph
P.S. Reference photos for this week’s ‘letter can be found on my Instagram.
P.P.S. Credit to the lovely Anna from Happy Belly Tours, who introduced us to these places.