For a morning breakfast with a view in Oia...
After the long hot hike down in Oia (and before the longer hotter hike up) and a refreshing swim in some of the clearest waters on Earth, there was the dilemma of choosing a restaurant for lunch. They all look similar to be honest and cook the same food.
I'm not why we chose Dimitris but probably it just looked good, as did the grilling seafood over charcoal.
The octopus we didn't try but definitely should have. The photo is my food envy at the end of the meal. It's on the list for next time...
We went out to look for somewhere with octopus and ended up in an ouzerie. I remember trying ouzo during year 11 cadet camp from one of the Greek guys there and thinking why does anyone drink this stuff? Years later and with a higher tolerance for aniseed, I still wonder the same, although I can tolerate it similar to sambuca.
The highlight of the meal was the grilled calamari stuffed with cheese and herbs. Lovely and oozy (or "ouzy").
- Green salad "Athinaikon" with manouri cheese (rocket, cherry tomatoes, French salad, sundried tomato, red pepper, walnuts) €7.5;
- Fresh stuffed squid on the grill (yellow salted cheese, feta, tomato, pepper, capers) €15;
- Seafood in the frying pan (shrimp, crawfish, mussels, mushrooms, feta, kefalotiri cheese) €12.5.
The more backstreety parts of Athens brought out a new feel to the city. Far from the ruins of buildings, these cobble-stoned streets with al fresco cafes and manicured greenery are really lovely to stroll along.
I was looking for To Kafeneio and I will always remember it for my first experience with kefalograviera, the incredible salty hard Greek sheep cheese that blew my mind in flavour and is now my preferred (when available) for saganaki. I think it was the Bekris Mezes (food for drunks) and the chef decided to throw a bit of cheese on top. Lucky he did!
Seafood mix platter (marinated Gavros, mackerel fillet, smoked mackerel, octopus).
After arriving in Greece all I wanted was grilled meat or a giro specifically. Unfortunately it was felt that shouldn't be the first meal of the trip and so we sat at a random place that served kebabs. They were tasty and flavoursome and my first encounter with real Greek pitas.
After first revelling in the juicy flavoursome lamb souvlaki of Stalactites in Melbourne, I've always enjoyed a good one although generally later in the evening and occasionally the early hours of the morning.
Once I reached Athens, the first course was to visit somewhere for food. Bairaktaris happened to be in the main plaza, the meat drew us in, and fortunately my reservations about eating somewhere in the main square were quickly allayed. As much as I wanted, I wasn't able to eat there for the first meal, but the daytime before taking the overnight ferry to Santorini there would be no stopping me. And I wished I'd gone there earlier.
The pork giro was remarkable. The flavour I still dream of now rich with the grilled Maillard riddled throughout. I even wanted to use the 2 hour break at the airport before leaving to sneak out for a final taste but common sense told me missing the flight to Istanbul wouldn't be worth it (obviously). The pitas were thick and had soaked some dripping from the meat and the fresh salad and tzatziki balanced everything perfectly.
I'll come back for you.
Matt Barrett's guide to Chania recommended Tamam as the most successful tavern in the past 20 years and Well of the Turk as a quieter but famous and unmissable place to eat.
Naturally we went a tiny bit more off the beaten path to Turk, but unfortunately lack of availability meant heading back to Tamam instead. Oh well, it was hardly a compromise.
- Giaourtlou (boneless lamb in tomato sauce with raisins & fresh mint);
- Tender goat fillet with “staka” butter & baked potatoes;
- Halvas semolina pudding with raki (complimentary);
- Cretan cheese pie with honey.
After the expensive high-end tourist Oia, a drive down south to the funkiest accommodation I've ever seen (at that stage of my life at least) and its pool with local beaches and views was a nice change. Unfortunately it was much cooler and windier which made beach-going a little difficult.
However the jacuzzi outside along with breakfast served overlooking a beautiful caldera view made it worthwhile. Worth the money again? Possibly not, but good fun at the time.
It was my first experience with moussaka and a lovely version at that. The lamb shank was also good albeit small for the price.
The meal was good without being particularly spectacular. I wonder how much better Ambrosia is?
After 7.5 years I'm finally getting around to uploading my photos from Greece. I'm surprised I hadn't gotten to it sooner considering I haven't made any other trips to Greece and so it was a big hole in my country tags section. Oh well, here it is...
After driving down from Oia to the funky Avant Garde suites along with the lunch stop for a souvlaki, I only had one restaurant name to visit. Back then there was only one good blog for Greece/Santorini which unfortunately I can't find and credit (was Matt Barrett?) and The Cave Of Nikolas was the target. It was a quite evening and before the real advent of Google Maps and thus finding this place in the dark was impossible until a local directed us lost looking tourists driving on a dark road.
There are some starters but the real highlight is picking the fresh seafood from containers inside the restaurant.