Harry's Greek Food and Wine Tips
Hello and welcome to a topic full of my opinions,
observations and hopefully your gastronomic delight. I have almost 20 years of first
hand experience with Greek Food. On this page I'll
discuss the broader issues of Food in Greece and let you decide where to go
to from here. For those of you in
hurry I'll put some major issues here.
By the way the the food and wine links are now above far right where it says Food & Wine!
Smoking in Restaurants and bars in Greece
Are you an avid non-smoker? Greece recently passed a law requiring non-smoking areas in restaurants and bars. Greece has to match EU laws in order to get money from the Union. It is flagrantly ignored by everyone including politicians and police! Sorry! On the plus side, in summer, one usually eats outside in Greece so the smell is diminished or not an issue. In case any one out there cares: I have quit smoking. It will be 5 years soon! Other people's smoke in indoor restaurants can and often is annoying. No fear as In season its always salubrious enough to always eat outside!
Greek Restaurants Pics: hours, menus, prices
Many Greek restaurateurs live and work for the tourist euro so hours are much more flexible than they used to be in places that are known tourist haunts. In fact on really touristy islands like Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Kos, Skiathos and similar many of the restaurants are a seasonal phenomenon and closed in winter.
Traditional Estiatoria or Restaurants usually serve lunch between 1 pm and 3 pm and dinner 9 pm to 1 am but even they are of course, open 'all day'.
There is usually a menu posted by the entrance informing prospective patrons of the dishes available, the category of restaurant Lux, A - D. and the prices and often translated into English, French or German.
Above is a menu that's a bit different and of a restaurant which i recommend called the One and Only or in Greek the "Monadikos'. Click it see it larger. If you take the tram from Syntagma Sq to Phaliron and get off at the last stop the Monadikos is a block or two further up and really excellent and quite inexpensive.
This particular culinary delight is a combo of Cypriot and Greek cuisine so its a bit spicier than your typical Greek fare. Greeks are not used to spicy food - just like their inordinate fear of drafts (as in open windows) they abhor hot food which, I personally love! Greeks really are wimps in this respect and to each his own and pass the tzatziki and teero-kaf-teri please! (Tzatziki is a garlic, cucumber and yougurt spread of mid-eastern origin and Tiro Kafteri is a very mildly spicy cheese spread.)
In the summer when most of you will be in Greece you'll notice that real resident Greeks tend to eat dinner late, maybe because it stays hot until after sunset 9:15 PM. Consequently you'll rarely find them eating before 10 PM or later. When they do finally start to eat, they stay at the table for a couple of hours usually, eating, drinking, chatting, gossiping, smoking, making eyes at your companion, whatever. Of course many sit-down establishments open earlier for foreigners so you can basically eat whenever you get hungry.
Tipping in Greece
The tip is included in the price of the meal. If the service was decent and I didn't wait too long to order or for my food I tip decently. Plan on tipping, about 10%.
If there is an extra waiter or a bus boy leave some small change on the table for him or her too. You do not have to tip.
Greeks will sometimes leave a pitiful amount for a tip but that's harder to do with the euro for some reason. French and English people are tied for being the worst tippers, Germans are a close second! Come on! FCOL!
Water, meat and fish safety in Greece
Food Is generally safe in mainland Greece and so is the water.
On Islands ask about the water.
BOMBA WARNING: Cocktails and Call Liquor Drinkers
in bars, cafeterias, discos and night clubs
Now Listen up this is Important!
Because You'll be seeing a lot of these kiosks or Peripterals
The Ubiquitous Kiosk
Traditionally Kiosk a.k.a. Periptero licenses were awarded to the Anipirous or disabled war veterans of Grecian conflicts and are still propagated through a prize winning Byzantine inheritance system.
What customers do is: open the fridge door, grab the refreshments you want, walk over to the periptero and pay the attendant. Do not ask them to get it for you.
Water costs 1 euro and 50 euro cents respectively and don't pay more. Here is a typical outdoor kiosk or periptero cooler, its a free standing refrigerator and there on the bottom right shelf; the small water bottles. Click to see larger
On the other shelves one may find, and this depends on the periptero owner I guess: fruit juices, sodas, milk, power drinks, soft drinks, beers and wine coolers too. In Greece you can order scotch whiskey or a cinzano or campari soda in a movie theater so why not beer from a sidewalk cooler?
Strung around the periptero you will see Magazines, newspapers, potato
chip/crisps (pronounced "tseeps") , Chewing gum with lots of American brands, Candy Bars with American,
Greek & Swiss brands, lighters and may even purchase prophylactics,
batteries, porno videos, naughty magazines, newspapers, nice magazines, stupid magazines, inane magazines, absurd magazines and a myriad of other items:
cigarettes, lighters and so on. And many also sell magazines of every type and description in case you didn't notice already. Then there are the peripteros with no magazines at all and just when you wish you had something to read so dont get cocky about reading matter!
In fact the publishing business is huge in Greece - Greek society sees Publishing as the road to power, you start small and work your way up to TV and Politics in the end! The big publishers pull the strings - Heck even G. W. Bush senior is here right now on a Greek Publishers (Liatsis) yacht vacationing. Mr. Liatsis makes his yacht available to royalty and other political and financial movers and shakers. What a philanthropist! At least George has good taste in vacation locales! But I digress yet again! Click right to get a really good idea of what a well stocked periptero has to offer, many unfortunately, are not as well stocked as Omonia Sq or this one in Syntagma aka Constitution Sq. Athens.
Meat in Greece
Moscow-reese-ee-os for beef
Hear-ee-nosse for pork
Ko-To-pou-LO for chicken
Loo-Ka-nee-Ko for sausage
You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words? To See what they mean by that click on these pictures left and right and get a righteous picture of the way meat is very often traditionally served here in Greece and the whole Levant.
The plate of meat above left is a chop which in Greece is called a Bree-Zo-La. Chops can be beef or pork.
That's Moscho-reese-ee-os for beef or Hear-ee-nosse for pork. Charcoal Grills are a very common method of cooking in Greek traditional restaurants.
Since Greece has its own domestic sheep, pigs, goats and chickens you can, more often than not, dine like a member of Euro-Parliament on a working vacation. Or for short euro cents.
On this menu (a traditional Greek Cypriot restaurants' menu), the most expensive thing (the veal) costs 8 euro!
The best cuts of pork on many menus are called sparo nefri and are the most expensive things on the menu and usually very good. Filet or Fee-letto is the best cut of beef. Say Filet Mignon enough times and they'll get the idea. Last time I bought any filet mignon at the butcher it was 19 eu the kilo. The Athens central market is where to buy meat freshest and least expensive. Its true that you can ask your local butcher for the best cut of meat he has and then you will get steak quality meat or fillet mignon but its @30% more expensive than the central market for sure! Same with fish!
More meat: Rotisserie lamb, codo souvli, kokoretsi! YUM!
Incidentally the central market is where the restaurateurs where you will be munchng buy a
lot of the food that they will be serving you.
And speaking of Greek Restaurants, one of the ones I recommend within the market is pictured right and called "the Ipiros" and it is, to me at least, a new twist in Greek restaurant genre!
We got the taverna, we got the speestaria (grill), we got the ouzeri (ouzo bar), we got the tsipouradiko (tsipouro bar), we got the koutoukaki (hip traditional Greek) and now we got the Oinomagerio wine restaurant! Click the menu photo above to see an extensive offering in Englsh and Greek. There are plain vegitable dishes including soups too. Photo left shows yet another restaurant within the market. Plain, simple, fresh and inexpensive! These people know how to cook too!
Fish in Greece
Fish is available, expensive and usually pretty good but in summer be wary of its freshness. After all things can go bad a lot faster in summer when its 95 F. Better be safe than sorry! Just in case you forgot: Fresh fish have dark shiny eyes, not dull opaque ones. They don't smell either or at least very little. In most sea food restaurants you'll see a case where you can pick out your own personal fish so look at its eyes. If it blinks back eat it! Watch out for the bones too! If a bone should get stuck in your throat a piece of bread will help dislodge it or the embarrassing heimlich maneuver.
The fish you choose will
be weighed then and there and you will be charged according to the daily market price of the
fish. So you'll be able to compare what the restaurant is charging you with
what the Athens Central Fish Market charges you (locally fresh caught on-island
fish should be less in theory) and what a local street market vendor (Lie-ee-ki
Ago-ra) will try and charge you here are some prices. A kilo
(KG) is a thousand grams and weighs 2.2 lbs. .
Click fish pics below to see larger prices April 07:
Left to right > Salmon 7.95 kg (Solomos), Gild Head Bream (Tsipoura) 3.98KG, Couch's Sea Breem or (Fagri) 17eu kg. CLICK TO SEE LARGER IMAGES
Left to right > Giant Black Shrimp (Garyee-dees) 38 eu kg, 2 varieties of Squid (Kalamaria) 7 and 10 eu kg., 2 varieties of Octopus larger and smaller from the look of it costing 9 and 11 eu kg (Octopodi). CLICK TO SEE LARGER IMAGES
I bought some
salmon last Saturday at the local Exarhia Street Market (called the Liakee Agora) to cook up for my girlfriend
and myself and paid 11 EU for a KG. Then because I like salmon I went down to the Athens Central Market
3 days later and bought some more. At the market I only paid 8 EU for a KG and it was fresher too!
I marinate it with soy sauce and olive oil for a few hours in a plastic bag and then pan fry it or broil it and it comes out 'magnifique' every time! Unfortunately they do not have scallops in Greece. These prices change with the season of course and they go up as we make fish extinct. which is exactly what we are doing and you have to be blind or a fisherman not to see it.
Raw shell fish should always contract when lemon juice is squeezed on it too! You can die from bad shell fish although no one has here as far as I know, nor have I heard of any contamination of beds either. Oysters (ah-he-vadhia) are rare but do exist in some localities during July & August. Clams (mheedia) are more common. Fish are expensive unless you buy them yourself at the fish market (icthi-poleo) or on an island or in a coastal area direct from the "psa-ra-des" (fisherman) which you can do if you get up early enough. You can even catch them yourself with a spear gun (sparo-toufeko) or fishing pole (kalami yia sparema) and take them into a Taverna and they will cook them for you/serve them to you for a fee. I've done it, its no big deal depending on the Taverna (better ask the chef first). This kind of fishing can be a big relief from the monotony of the island grind and beach scene. Its also good exercise and you can purchase mask, fins, snorkel, and spear guns here in Athens for less and on islands for more. I doubt they'll let you on the plane these days armed with a spear gun? Sharks are very rare in Greece.
Spicy Food in Greece
Are you a pepper head? I am and its difficult to indulge oneself here in Greece. Mild Mexican salsa is considered HOT here. Of course they don't sell it anyway. Thai or Malaysian food is rare or nonexistent respectively. There are however a few dishes with a little spice in them and one is called spicy cheese or (tiro-kafteri). This is a bread-spread or appetizer dish worth trying. Occasionally you'll run into other spicy treats too. On Mykonos an island specialty is Tiro vol-Yia ! Saltsa Kafteri from the town of Larrissa is reputed to be good hot sauce too! If you want to, ask the waiter if they have anything hot no matter where you are: Kati kaf-te-Ro eparhee?
American Fast Food Chains in Greece
In Athens check out my Athens Restaurant Guide for locations of Mcdonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and a few more. You may run into them on the more touristy bigger islands too but don't count on it. There is TGIF Fridays too if you are desperate for a frozen drink and have a car (its on Kiffisias). The burgers were way overcooked at the Fokionos Negri Applebees IMHO which has since closed. The onion rings were the best thing I had there. I'd go again, I have nothing against corporate mentality they actually called me about it to complain. Like I said I know there is one in Glyfada and a Hagen Daz too.
Bakeries Sweets Shops, Fast food Chains and Independents
Goody's & Everest are the two major fast food chains along with a few more like Grigories' & Black Sheep and they are actually better than stateside ones but have different items on the menus. Toasts, sandwiches and assorted pies salty and sweet are the main proffering's along with soft drinks and beer. Why are they better? Well because they have more variety and the food is fresher since it doesn't come by ship frozen from abroad as does, I suspect, all the American fast food sold here. Greece is small so distances traveled to market are shorter and food is fresher. Independent hole in the wall establishments, Mom & Pop's and bakeries all offer food of varying types and many are better than the chains. Bakeries in particular are less expensive, the bread baked that morning and still hot if you get there before 10 am. Sour Dough & Rye bread or sisal is difficult to find unfortunately. My favorite bakery is at 64 Emanuel Benaki in Exarhia and is called ARTOPOIA ZACHAROPLASTIKH. (which I cant even pronounce)
Sweet/Pastry Shops are called Zacharoplastia and there are many to choose from. Some of the more well know are Asimakopoulos, Leonidas and Flocafe. Dodonhi is a good ice cream chain that you will se around a lot too in addition to Hagen Das.
A Galaktopoleon or an Evgha is a dairy store where a simple breakfast may be had and fresh milk, eggs and yogurt obtained.
Foreign Cuisine in Greece
Most foreign cuisine such as Japanese, Indian, Chinese (the most common), Mexican, and Thai, if you can find it, is over priced. The Greeks believe they are being served something exotic and are willing to pay extra for it. I am talking double or even triple what you'd pay for the same thing in the States. The 12$ Burrito for example. The $10 Pad Thai. Where is the wasabi and my buddy General Gau?
Unlike the USA, UK, France, Germany, Austria and other heavily industrialized countries, Greece isn't full of emigres from all over the world... from the Balkans and China Yes, but Japan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Mexico, NO! There are very few.
So, to give them their due (the Greeks), they haven't been as exposed to the "real thing" (or what, to us, passes as the "real thing") as lots of us. There are good Italian restaurants here, however, as lots of Italians have moved here and opened restaurants.
Fresh Vegetables in Greece
There is an abundance of inexpensive seasonal produce to be had in Greece. Its far less expensive than the USA where we often pay a dollar or more for 3 lemons. Here you'd pay 20 cents or less. Lettuce, cabbage, apples, pears, cantaloupe, watermelon, onions, carrots and just about everything you can think of and a few you can't are to be had here. Prices have risen 20% to 30% with the introduction of the Euro!
But some are grown with hormones and the way to tell is that they look too big. Also they should be thoroughly washed before ingestion and my mother even peels them. Hormones are not supposed to be legal in Greece but some of these fruit & vegetables looks as though Jack in the Bean Stalk grew them!
For a list of the rotating Athens Street Farmers Markets when and where go here.
One can always purchase, during business hours, meats and veggies at the Athens Central Market and numerous MANAVIES or vegetable shops sprinkled around Athens too.
Pharmacies & Health Food Stores
Vitamins, prophylactics, Ladies products , shoes/sandals like Dr.Scholls and even cosmetics can all be obtained from most pharmacies. There are at least two decent organic-health food stores in Downtown Athens.
- Biologikos, Academias 84, 19678 Athens, Tel: 210-382-1800/1805
- Movement for Organic Health: 57 Panepistimiou Street, 19678, Athens Tel: 210-321-0966
- Green Farm is a chain of Organic grocery stores with Kolonaki being the most central location: Dimokritou 13, Tel: 210-36 14 001 http://www.greenfarm.gr/ They have 6 other locations including: Glyfada, Kifissia and Piraeus
There is an agency that certifies the organic nature of these claims called BIO ELLAS. I don't know who certifies them...
Non Traditional Greek or Nouvelle Cuisine in Greece
These days, for better or for worse, there are a variety of other types of Greek restaurants, some mediocre, some poor, and some excellent. See the Athens Restaurant Guide for some I have dined in and some I lifted from The Athinoroma List of the Best Restaurants in Greece which in Greek. My favorite is the Yellow Bicycle or Kitrino Podhilato in GAZI. Its priced moderately by big city USA standards. There are one or two good ones in the Exarhia area too like wishbone on Valtitsiou Street right next to the Riviera open air Cinema. Its not a budget place but has a wonderful outdoor garden and micro-brewery beer from Crete as well as bottled Greek wine and house wine.
Street Vendors selling Food in Greece
No discussion of Greek food can be complete with out the street vendors. They sell a variety of things. The best of which are nuts grown in Greece. Hot corn on the cob, bread, donuts, chestnuts and sweets are also to be seen on Athens streets. Coolouria are circular, sesame encrusted bread sticks and not particularly nutritious, but just the thing for a quick snack on the hoof, these round bread sticks, which look like bracelets, are inexpensive (about .70 euro cents) and readily available to busy Athenians on many downtown corners. You have to try them at least once! They traditionally have sesame seeds on them but sugared ones are sold too. The nut vendor should also be patronized and treated with respect as the nuts are fresh and well worth the price. They can be purchased for less and in bulk for taking back home
Below are some photos of various street vendors you will encounter in Greece and
From left to Right they are
Coolurie Vendor, Nut Vendor, Hot
corn Vendor, Coconut Vendor, Chestnut Vendor, Salepi Nut Drink Vendor
