We enjoyed so many memorable dishes, drinks and desserts on our trip to Greece! These are some of my favorites.
Greek Salad
I had a couple of Greek salads during the trip and they were always refreshing. They usually include tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell peppers, onions, olives, and a block of feta cheese, all drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with pepper and a few capers. Of course, I found that everything tastes a little better when you’re overlooking the view of the sea in Santorini, smitten. 😉
Spanakopita
This buttery and flaky spinach pie pastry was a great breakfast and snack during our trip. Here it’s pictured with a glass of fresh orange juice. Yum!
Gyro Meat and Gyro Pitas
One of my favorite meals was a simple three euro gyro chicken pita eaten standing up beside the restaurant. Simple, fast and so good! The word ‘gyro’ describes the way the meat is cooked: on a broiler that rotates, making the meat very tender and moist. In Greece, the meat is usually chicken or pork, though lamb is popular in other countries. The pitas usually include tomatoes, onion, French fries (fried potatoes) and tzatziki sauce. For dishes, the meat was served with pita or the components of the gyro pita.
Seafood Pasta
Seafood Pasta was a favorite dish among us, and we ate a lot of it on the trip. My favorite seafood pasta plate had perfectly cooked noodles with a slight seafood taste and was accompanied with fresh shrimp, mussels, and squid.
Moussaka
Moussaka – a dish with a similar feel to shepard’s pie – was tasty and a good comfort food. We had some that had a bottom layer of potato slices and it usually includes eggplant.
Octopus
I had one fantastic octopus dish. It was caramelized in sauce, very tender and only slightly chewy. Delicious!
Mussels
We consumed an abundance of mussels on the trip. With pasta, rice, and on its own, mussels were a light and flavorful option. My favorite was this dish with rice.
Santorini Brewing Company Beer
We were recommended the Santorini Brewing Company, which was a short bus ride away. Their beers are Yellow Donkey, Red Donkey and Crazy Donkey (IPA). Funny story: we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss our stop so we asked the ticket person if he knew where the brewery was on the stop. He said he would tell us and sure enough, when the stop was coming up, he started slowly yelling YELLOW DONKEY…YELLOW DONKEY…YELLOW DONKEY so that we would get up and get ready to get off the bus. Slightly embarrassing but we’re glad we didn’t miss it! We had tastings of the beer, which were very enjoyable and on par with other craft beers I’ve tasted. They ship 90% of their beer around Santorini and the rest of it to Athens, New York and Oslo.
Baklava
This baklava, a snack after the beach and while we were walking along the Mykonos shops, was very good. Slightly drenched with honey, the perfect amount of sweetness, and of course, the delicate, flaky layers.
Yogurt and Honey and Nuts Ice Cream
Probably my favorite dessert of the trip, this yogurt and honey with nuts ice cream was a refreshing mid-afternoon treat as we sat at a rooftop Santorini restaurant with a view of the sea to read. Yogurt with honey and nuts is traditional but since Greek yogurt is a hit or miss with me, I was excited to see something traditional but in ice cream form on their menu.
Cupcake
Similar to my dessert experience in Spain, cupcakes are not popular in Greece. By chance, La Petite Baguette was a bakery we kept walking by from our place in Athens to the Metro. They had a sandwich board advertising cupcakes so I had to stop in and look. What was presented to me was a one euro mini chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate buttercream frosting and a dab of cream cheese frosting in the middle and sprinkles. Taken in two bites as an appetizer on the way to dinner, the cupcake was good and I’m happy to say I ate a cupcake in Greece!
We ate at a handful of great restaurants during our trip, and these are the ones I’d recommend:
–Aperanto Galazio in Mykonos: restaurant on the Kalamari Beach. The seafood dishes were great here. (Seafood pasta pictured above.)
–Mama’s House in Santorini: good for traditional Greek plates, specifically the Mama’s Kebap plate (pictured above) that includes gyro meat
–Obliex in Santorini: try a delicious 3 euro gryo pita. It was my favorite pita of the trip. I had a very juicy chicken gyro pita (pictured above).
–Volcano Blue in Santorini: great Greek dishes, specifically mussels and rice (pictured above). Sit upstairs for a fantastic view.
–Roka in Santorini: this restaurant is tucked away on a side street but they had the delicious octopus dish I mentioned above. They also have a patio to watch the sunset.
What is your favorite food dish or memory during your travels?
Also check out: My 10 Favorite Sights in Greece
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