Athens on a plate – a food-lover’s guide to the Greek capital

Coffee

Normally we enactment astir Plaka, truthful Anana is the java store I spell to astir often. There’s besides Behold The Man successful Exarchia, which is 1 of the coolest java shops I’ve been to. Exarchia has a truly rebellious, anti-establishment consciousness and this spot wholly fits that – it has large music, large java and it’s conscionable precise cool. I don’t deliberation there’s a java store successful London that’s rather similar it. DC

‘Casual and low-key’: Anäna Cafe, Plaka, Athens.

My favourite is besides Anana; It’s casual and low-key, with determination to beryllium down and relax. I’ll person a freddo espresso (espresso shaken implicit ice), which is fundamentally the Greek nationalist java now. NM

Bakeries

For pastries, Akra is 1 of the champion places successful Athens. The nutrient itself is rustic, elemental and delicious, and the pastries are unbelievably technical. There’s thing astir incongruous astir it – you devour precise elemental savoury nutrient and past a dessert arrives that’s incredibly elaborate. It shouldn’t needfully work, but it does. DC

Roll up! No Crumbs bakery.

No Crumbs opened this twelvemonth and I’ve already been a fewer times. It’s a small extracurricular the centre, but it’s wherever I’d spell for meal oregon thing to devour connected the move. In cardinal Athens, I besides similar Fillo, which specialises successful accepted pies from astir Greece. Last clip I went, they had 3 antithetic spanakopitas from 3 antithetic regions. NM

Breakfast

I don’t truly bash meal successful Athens. We’ll usually get coffee, past astatine astir 11am spell to Diporto, which is usually our archetypal due stop. It’s this incredible, old, rundown edifice adjacent the market: currency only, orders taken with a pen, monolithic vino barrels successful the room, nary prime of wine. They conscionable enactment vino and h2o connected the table. The nutrient is incredibly simple: chickpeas, beans, vegetables cooked down slowly, sometimes grilled sardines oregon food from the market. You could recreate a Greek taverna successful London, but you could ne'er recreate Diporto. There’s specified magic successful it. DC

‘Such magic’: Diporto restaurant, Athens. Photograph: Hector Christiaen/Alamy

If I privation to commencement the time properly, I spell to Ipiros wrong the nutrient market, astatine astir 10.30am. It’s not truly breakfast; it’s a due meal. They service slow-cooked dishes successful immense pots and we usually get the tripe soup, which is bully for a hangover, with loads of bread. Then we locomotion astir the country to Diporto and person the opposite: braised beans, chickpeas, crockery and, immoderate clip it is, wine. NM

Traditional tavernas

Whenever we alert into Athens, we effort to spell consecutive to Taverna To Trigono successful Kalyvia, retired by the airport. It’s arsenic magic arsenic a taverna gets. One broadside of the paper is salads, tzatziki, cheeses and breads; the different is grilled nutrient specified arsenic sausage, spit-roast lamb, offal, lamb chops, sheep chops. Everything is cooked to bid and served with unthinkable abundance and generosity. It’s precise simple: bully produce, salt, oregano and lemon; thing is over-embellished. I wouldn’t spell to Athens without going there. DC

Chop-chop! Manári restaurant, Athens.

Manári is simply a due nutrient chop location successful cardinal Athens. It’s comparatively new, but it feels arsenic accepted arsenic possible, and you don’t request to question into the mountains extracurricular the metropolis to find nutrient that good. I bid the lamb chops, pasta with nutrient juices and herb salad. The lamb chops are arsenic bully arsenic – if not amended than – a bully dry-aged steak. Another favourite is Tavern Spanos successful Kato Patisia, for lamb chops and meats cooked dilatory connected the spit. Once they tally out, they tally out. NM

New-wave restaurants

Linou Soumpasis & Sia is astir apt the astir forward-thinking edifice successful Athens close now, and astir apt 1 of the champion successful Greece. It takes rather humble, seafood-led nutrient and gives it a good borderline without losing its simplicity. The country is incredibly elemental and each item is truly considered. Last clip I went, they served a mentation of kakavia, the accepted food soup, which was fundamentally a beauteous food and rootlike broth with olive oil. Something that simple, done that well, is incredible. DC

‘Restrained and modern’: Linou Soumpasis and Sia restaurant, Athens.

Linou is 1 of my go-tos, too. It reminds maine a spot of Lyle’s meets Brat. It has a restrained attack to nutrient that inactive feels precise modern. I’d besides spell to Pharaoh, peculiarly for the vegetables and immoderate they’re doing with fermented wheat, and Ateno, which we went to doubly successful 2 days connected my past trip. Get the Greek salad, stuffed vegetables and fries with mushrooms and eggs. I besides truly similar Ex Machina: their saganaki is fried food but served cold, and I ever privation to spot what [the chef] Adam Kodovas is doing with the seafood broth due to the fact that the crockery changes each fewer months, portion the look remains the same. I spell to Akra for luncheon due to the fact that they service smaller portions and I tin bid arsenic galore dishes arsenic possible. NM

Seafood

Travolta is banging; it’s old-school and a spot similar Bentley’s successful London. You get immense plates of crudo and full fish, and they person an astonishing prawn and squid skewer with squid ink and olive lipid that they premix astatine the table. It tin get costly (fish is incredibly costly successful Greece), but if you’re truly into seafood it’s precise cool. Phita is different bully seafood place, a small further out. DC

‘Old school’: Travolta restaurant, Athens. Photograph: Monika Kritikou

Travolta would beryllium my prime for much classical seafood, too. If you privation thing much elevated, I’d spell to Iodio adjacent Kolonaki. There’s 1 crockery I’ll ever remember, which is earthy food served acold with a crisp expanse of atom insubstantial connected apical and a lukewarm avgolemono condiment – a classical Greek condiment made with ovum and lemon. You drawback everything unneurotic successful 1 wound and it’s great. NM

Cheap eats

For souvlaki, the champion is often astatine small roadside oregon marketplace stalls. Last clip we were successful Exarchia, we recovered a tiny souvlaki stall chiefly serving the marketplace vendors. For souvla, the bigger rotisserie-style meats, we spell to Psitopoleio Peloponnhsos. They service immense pieces of meat, lamb heads; each sorts of beauteous gnarly worldly cooking connected the rotisserie. DC

Gyros are a unsafe taxable for Greeks due to the fact that everyone has their favourite. Achilleas successful Neos Kosmos is 1 of the fewer places that inactive makes their ain [meat rotisserie] (rather than buying it ready-made). In the centre, I truly similar Hoocut. They aren’t technically gyros due to the fact that they portion the nutrient raw, navigator it and past chop it again into tiny strips, but the mentality is similar. For a late-night version, spell to Mandraki successful Kaisariani. They’re unfastened until astir 2am and navigator nutrient connected spits precocious into the night. Their gyros are immense and often merchantability out. It’s cheap, accepted and the benignant of happening radical really devour each day. NM

Wine and cocktails

Wine is Fine is truly bully for a pre-dinner drink, and I besides emotion Epta Martyres, from the radical down Loggia [on Sifnos]; I’d been to some loads of times earlier I adjacent realised they were connected. In Greece, I thin to privation wines that are airy and bright. Assyrtiko is the evident one; successful that clime you privation thing truly zippy. DC

Baba Au Rum, Athens.

Pharaoh has a large vino list, and Tanini Agapi Mou is an astonishing vino bar. A Greek grape I discovered this twelvemonth is Vidiano. Vidiano tin thin rather adust but inactive feels truly pleasant and crisp; depending connected wherever it’s grown, the effect and minerality alteration a lot. It’s easygoing but analyzable astatine the aforesaid time. NM

Line Athens is rather molecular and it’s the benignant of spot you enactment for the night. The cocktails are immoderate of the champion I’ve ever had successful my life, fto unsocial Athens. Baba au Rum is close successful the mix, too. There’s besides Rumble successful the Jungle down The Bar successful Front of the Bar. The archetypal is simply a barroom wherever you locomotion successful and think, “This is cool,” past spell done different doorway into the second, adjacent cooler barroom hidden down it. It’s precise Athens. DC

You person to notation Line and The Bar successful Front of the Bar. At Bar successful Front, they’re trying to beryllium arsenic zero discarded arsenic possible, and you fundamentally bid done a model successful a partition and beryllium drinking successful the street. I take what to portion according to the upwind – past clip I had a frozen martini that was astir similar a slushie. At Line, the Paloma is usually my go-to, though connected my past 2 visits I had 1 of their punches, which changes regularly. NM

We ever spell to Athens’ cardinal food and nutrient markets. I peculiarly urge being successful Athens connected a Saturday due to the fact that that’s erstwhile you find each these farmers’ markets astir the city. Some of my champion times successful Athens person been wandering astir those. DC

Preparing food up of a engaged time astatine the cardinal food market. Photograph: Image Professionals GmbH/Alamy

Near Diporto there’s Miran, a charcuterie store with a immense scope of cheeses and cured meats that they marque themselves. Buy thing there, prime up immoderate breadstuff and instrumentality it home. There’s besides a immense farmers’ marketplace each Saturday astir Exarchia with outstanding produce. NM

Out of town

I truly similar Vouliagmeni, down connected the seashore wherever the Four Seasons is. We utilized to thrust down determination successful the greeting for sunrise, oregon pursuit the sunset if we were filming. Lake Vouliagmeni is there, too. It’s overmuch much suburban, with immense houses and tree-lined boulevards, and it’s perfectly beautiful. You astir apt request a car. I don’t person 1 peculiar edifice to nonstop you to; for maine it’s the country itself. DC

Lake Vouliagmeni, adjacent Athens.
Photograph: Nito/Shutterstock

For meat, spell retired towards the airdrome to Kalyvia. There are 2 tremendous tavernas, Christoforos and To Trigono. During the week they tin beryllium wholly empty, but astatine the play you’ll conflict to get a table. People thin to curse allegiance to 1 oregon the other; I don’t person a favourite. It usually depends connected who’s driving maine and wherever they privation to go. Although the past fewer times I’ve been to Christoforos. NM