We have just spent 3 days in Athens and wanted to report on the good, the bad, and the ugly food (actually there wasn’t any ugly food :). Our favorite casual restaurant was Massina, just down the street from where we stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel (Massina had a great Greek salad, souvlaki, souvlaki wraps, pita bread and tzatziki).

Our favorite place in the old part of Athens (near the Parthenon) was Akropolis (at 248 Mnisikleous Street…you will get lost trying to find it but that’s part of the fun. We were perched on ancient steps, and they just kept bringing the food. Max had great (enormous) pork chops, Ali had an omelette, the parents had something Greek (eggplant rolls and feta cheese?) and then we had desserts and a huge platter of fruit. The most disappointing place? the restaurant at the New Acropolis Museum. The food was ok (pasta bolognese for Max, burgers for Alex but the service was really awful…downright rude. [NOTE MOST OF THE TIME WHEN YOU ORDER A BURGER IN GREECE, DO NOT EXPECT KETCHUP OR BUNS, BUT DO EXPECT THAT YOUR BURGER WILL HAVE LOTS OF HERBS IN IT.]

But, the best place we ate (and the most wonderful experience) was Orizones, on top of Mt. Lycatteus. First of all, the view is amazing: you look over all of Athens with a birds eye view of the Parthenon. You take a funicular (like a gondola on a track) to get up there. We watched the sun set and then the Parthenon glow. Everything was beautiful (the table setting, the food, and the view). To start off dinner, the restaurant served us a wonderful gazpacho soup (on the house). Then we all shared a Greek salad. Then we (Max and Alex) shared an magnificent rib eye steak with potatoes. Mom had sea bream and dad had pork chops. Then we (Max and Alex only) got a tour of the kitchen and got to meet the head chef because he had heard about our website: kidscookdinner.com. It was really interesting to talk to him and to learn about what being a restaurant chef is like. After that we had a napoleon pastry filled with whipped ice cream… delicious.

To burn off that meal we walked down the mountain (note use Uber when you get down to the bottom otherwise you will never find a cab, plus uber is cheaper than most cabs).

QUICK TIPS FOR ATHENS EATS: burgers are not what you expect; ketchup is hard to find, Greek salads do not have lettuce here, and they will charge you for bread. Also most of the time they will only give you bottled water…just go with it. As my mom says, when in Greece, do as the Greeks do.

Massina Photos

Soulvaki wrap from Massina

Greek salad, pita and tzatziki from Massina

Pork skewer from Massina

Orizones Photos

Orizones gazpacho

Orizones Greek salad

Orizones ribeye steak

Orizones Sea Bream

Orizones Ice cream Napoleon