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A Hedgehog in the Kitchen

Helping you savor life through International recipes and travel adventures

August 12, 2019

Why You Need to Take an Athens Food Tour

There is no better way to learn about Greek cuisine during your time in Athens than taking an Athens food tour. We had the best time trying all the local foods with a local guide.

Table of Contents

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  • Food in Athens
  • Athens Food Tour
  • Athens Food Tour – What We Ate
  • More Athens Food (& Drink) You Cannot Miss During Your Trip
  • Athens Food Tour

Food in Athens

The food in Athens is worth writing home about! Greece is a magical country filled with gorgeous landscapes, phenomenal history, fascinating culture and scrumptious food. If you are planning a trip to Athens, you will want to make an “Athens food list” – all the food you will want to try during your trip!

Save this post for later so you’ll known exactly what foods (and drinks) you need to try during your stay in Athens. Read all about coffee in Greece next!

Athens Food Tour

We highly recommend taking an Athens food tour to make sure that you try the best food in Athens, made using the freshest traditional ingredients, in places recommended by a local.

It was so much fun learning about Greek food from our lovely tour guide, Thalia, who brought us to her secret locations and made us feel right at home in Athens as we were sampling the most delicious Greek treats.

We were invited to review this Athens food tour by Secret Food Tours. All opinions are our own.

Athens Food Tour – What We Ate

Koulouri

Athenians love a delicious breakfast on-the-go and this koulouri is it! A crunchy, circular bread topped with sesame seeds.

Athens food - koulouri, a round crispy bread topped with sesame seeds

Related : How to Say I’m Hungry (learn to say “I’m hungry!” in 21+ different languages, including Greek)

Tyropita (or tiropita or Greek cheese pie)

Traditional oven baked cheese pie topped with phyllo is the perfect snack, lunch or dinner.

Greek cheese pie topped with phyllo

Related : Make your own Greek tiropita at home!

Greek Coffee

Traditional Greek coffee is unfiltered and strong. Some say it even predicts the future!

Greek coffee - a strong, unfiltered coffee in a small red espresso cup

Related : Read our Coffee in Greece

Moustokouloura

A round cookie made of grape must and flavored with clove & cinnamon.  This little cookie is perfect paired with a strong Greek coffee.

A round shaped Greek molasses cookie - food in Athens that you must try

Related : Greek Appetizers (8+ amazing Greek appetizers you can make at home!)

Fried Seafood

Fresh fried shrimp, squid and sardines. We had the chance to walk through the local Athens market and taste seafood.

Plate of fried seafood, some of our favorite Athens food. Shrimp, sardines & squid with a wedge of fresh lemon.

Ouzo

Ouzo is the National alcohol. It is strong and anise flavored. I don’t personally love it, but Hugo enjoyed it while we were in Greece.

Greek ouzo in a large glass with ice.

Tzatziki

Tzatziki is the most famous Greek appetizer made by combining thick Greek yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic and olive oil.

Tzatziki, a Greek yogurt, cucumber & garlic appetizer. One of the best foods in Athens.

Kolokytho-Keftedes

Kolokytho-keftedes are vegetarian fried zucchini balls, filled with feta and dill. After discovering these during the food tour, we ordered them several other times while dining out in Athens.

We loved this tasty Athens street food and have been dreaming about having it again since we left Athens.

Athens food - zucchini balls made with feta & fresh dill

Greek Olive Oil

Greek olive oil is delicious and there are various types to try. The olive oil we tried during the Athens food tour was an extra virgin olive oil from the Messinia area in the Peloponnese Peninsula.

Greek olive oil on a piece of Greek bread

Olives

Greece produces many different types of olives. You will want to make sure to try a variety while you are visiting Athens. Each type of olive has it’s own distinct size, color, flavor and texture. We tried 5 different types of olives during the Athens Secret Food Tour.

A variety of Greek olives - Athens food at its finest. A bottle of Greek olive oil and an olive tree.

Atlas Olives

Hugo and I both agreed that these were our favorite olives that we tried during the food tour. These olives are often served stuffed with other ingredients. They are originally from Halkidiki and almost exclusively cultivated in the area of Makedonia, near Thessaloniki city.

Due to their large size, they are also known as “olives for the heroes” or “donkey olives” in Greece.

Amfissis Olives

Amfissis olives are the most widespread table olives in Greece. They are light brown and originally from Amfissa, a town in the central mainland of Greece.

Kalamata Olives

Kalamata olives are probably the best known Greek olives worldwide. They have Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status – dark purple, meaning the only olives that can use the name “Kalamata” must come from Kalamata city in the south Peloponnese region of Greece.

These olives are more expensive as they must be hand-picked to avoid bruising.

Throumba Thassou Olives

Throumba Thassou olives also have a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. They are black & wrinkled and naturally fermented due to a fungus. They shrivel and become sweet on the tree and are the only olives that can be eaten directly from the tree without going through any post-cultivation process.

They are exclusively cultivated in Thassos, the most Northern Greek island.

Koroneiki Olives

Koroneiki olives are the smallest variety of olives. They are golden-green in color and suitable for the production of the finest quality of olive oil.

They are from the Koroni area in the southwest Peloponnese region of Greece.

Fave Bean Purée

We loved the fave bean purée in Athens! The purée is made using fava beans from Santorini, raw onion, lemon, olive oil and chopped parsley.

Athens food - Greek fava bean puree

Saganaki Kessarias

Saganaki Kessarias is an omelette made with cheese, onions, peppers, tomato, eggs, sujuki (spicy sausage made of lamb and beef) and pastourma (cured veal meat with spices).

Athens food - Greek omelette with Suzuki (spicy sausage) & pastourma (cured veal meat).

Galaktoboureko

During the food tour, we discovered Galaktoboureko. A dreamy Greek dessert made with creamy custard made of semolina and wrapped in sheets of thin phyllo pastry and soaked in syrup.

Galaktoboureko - one of the best Greek desserts filled with cream and topped with flaky phyllo pastry (Athens food)

Kaymaki Ice Cream

Kaymaki ice-cream, made with sahlep for taste & elasticity and mastic (resin from the mastic trees of Chios island) for aroma & flavor + warm 

Dessert topped with kaymaki ice cream.

Rakomelo

Rakomelo is made with boiled raki and honey & cinnamon. It’s strong and sweet and lovely as dessert.

Rakomelo - a small glass of Greek alcohol

More Athens Food (& Drink) You Cannot Miss During Your Trip

Chicken Souvlaki

Souvlaki is is a very popular Athens food. You will see it on pretty much every menu as you explore Athens. We loved trying chicken souvlaki, lamb souvlaki and even tuna souvlaki during our trip.

Chicken Souvlaki - traditional Greek chicken with pita, tomatoes and French fries, tasty Athens food.

Greek Pita

You can’t go to Athens and not enjoy the pita! It is available at most restaurants. Sometimes it is served with your meal and sometimes you need to ask for it. It is delicious with tzatziki, souvlaki and pretty much every other food on this list.

Flat Greek pita, the perfect accompaniment to all Athens food.

Lamb Giaortlou

This is was one of our favorite meals in Athens! This dish is made with lamb souvlaki, thick Greek yogurt and tomato sauce. It is served on a pita and it is absolutely divine.

Lamb Souvlaki skewers topped with yogurt and tomato sauce.

Gyro

The Greek gyro (pronounced yee-roh) may be one of the best known Greek dishes as it has been exported the most worldwide. Typically made with lamb, beef or pork, it is served with red onions, tomato and a Greek yogurt sauce on pita bread. The meat for a gyro is cooked on a vertical rotisserie.

Greek gyro - open faced pita topped with sliced meat and vegetables, the perfect Athens food.

Moussaka

This Greek dish is made with lamb meat, eggplant, tomatoes and Bechamel sauce. It contains cinnamon and nutmeg.

Slice of moussaka, a traditional Athens food, meat with mashed potatoes and topped with Bechamel sauce on a plate.

Greek Salad

Greek Salad is a healthy, balanced and delicious meal and one of our favorite things to order in Athens.

Traditional Greek Salad, the perfect Athens food, vegetables topped with feta cheese.

Dakos Salad

This Cretan salad is not as well known as a traditional Greek Salad, but it is just as delicious! Tomatoes, feta, capers, Kalamata olives, red onion, oregano come together to make this tasty salad served on a thick slice of Cretan bread.

Toasted bread salad topped with vegetables and Greek feta cheese.

Mussels Saganaki

This is such a tasty and unique way to enjoy seafood! The dish includes mussels cooked in tomato sauce and served with feta.

Mussels Saganaki - mussels, tomato sauce & feta is the perfect Athens food.

Grilled Halloumi

Halloumi is a Greek cheese made from a mixture of goat’s and sheep’s milk. It is thick and salty and delicious. When it is grilled, it is an absolute dream!

Related : Halloumi Fries Recipe

Grilled cheese topped with lemon juice

Cappuccino Freddo

Picture your favourite cappuccino and then imagine it iced! I fell in love with my daily cappuccino freddo while we were in Athens. It’s frothy and delicious and I have been missing it since we got back to Paris!

Iced cappuccino - the best Athens food

Fresh Juice

There are incredible fresh juice stands all over Athens. The best part? The juice is so affordable! For 2,75€, you can have a gorgeous and nutritious fresh squeezed juice made with 4 or 5 different kinds of fruit. It’s definitely worth having a daily juice while you are in Athens!

Freshly squeezed juice in Athens, Greece.

Related : Mango Carrot Smoothie Recipe

Kataifi

This is our favorite Greek dessert made from roughly chopped nuts, kataifi dough, lemon syrup and scented with ground clove and cinnamon.

Kataifi - the best Greek dessert. A large piece being held up. This dessert needs to be on your Athens Food List.

Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt topped with candied mandarine peel.

Greek yogurt topped with clementine
  • Coffee in Greece
  • Athens Central Market
  • Wine Tasting in Athens
  • Greek Souvenirs

Athens Food Tour

Are you convinced you need to take an Athens food your yet?!

Pin for later!

Athens Food List - What to Eat in Athens

Pin for later!

Athens Food Tour

If you love taking food tours when you travel, take a look at the Traditional Food in Paris with the Paris Guy.

First published September 9, 2019. Last updated March 19, 2021 with more information, additional tips, and better readability.



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Filed Under: Greece, Travel

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Comments

  1. Eric says

    October 3, 2019 at 5:17 pm

    This Greek food looks delicious! Thanks for sharing all these great foods!

    Reply
    • A Hedgehog in the Kitchen says

      October 3, 2019 at 6:32 pm

      Everything was so good!

      Reply
  2. Lucas says

    December 12, 2019 at 12:42 am

    I’ve always wanted to visit Greece, and have everything they have to offer! Thanks for this list, when I make my trip there I’ll have to check out these!

    Reply
    • A Hedgehog in the Kitchen says

      December 16, 2019 at 11:02 am

      I hope you enjoy Greece as much as we did!

      Reply

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