Good morning to a nice and bright day in Athens! Finally we get greeted with warmth and sunshine! We woke up early at 7am to get ready for breakfast downstairs at the hotel, starts at 730am.
Their breakfast has a variety of pastries and fruit salads and grilled vegetables. Slightly different in their offerings than the other hotels but more in certain ways. The hotel itself is more old and outdated, but definitely remodeled to have new interiors and updates bathrooms while still maintaining the ornate style of the building.
Only option of coffee was the basic black drip, with creamers, milk and sugar offered. There was pear juice, fruit juice, orange juice and one more I forgot.. all fresh too!
The food was very simple.. there are a lot of packaged cheese and bars and bread varieties. I think I got spoiled in Mykonos..
Then we met with our walking tour group at 830 to enter the Acropolis and explore all the nearby temples and Parthenon. Then we went into the museum!!
We walked around for a bit, checking out the souvenir shops. I am glad we waited passed Santorini and Mykonos to finally buy souvenirs in Athens. There is just so much more and for a lot cheaper!
We then started to venture to the Panathenaic Stadium and White House, which was also convenient towards the designer shops that we wanted to browse at..
We barely made far before our stomachs were hungry and crying for food so we looked up a very nearby restaurant called Kiouzin. It was had very cute decor and the food was good. Our waitress was also very polite, sweet and nice.
MARINATED ANCHOVY on bruschetta with split peas and florina peppers. This was so delightful!! It was two ginormous toasts made with their homemade bread, topped with split peas purée and peppers with lightly salty anchovies! The contrast of the salt from the anchovies to the more mild split peas pureee married perfectly together.
KATAIFI cheese balls with black sesame, feta cream cheese and a tomato marmalade dip. The furry little fried noodles were an interesting texture. The fried cheese made it kind of heavy so the sweet tomato marmalade was a nice touch of contrast.
SEA BREAM SAUTÉ with smoked greens. They gave a lot of greens with this dish. I think it was spinach? Spinach sandwiches by two fillets of sea bream so it was like a sandwich. I thought that presentation was funny.
When we paid for dinner, the waitress brought out our check with a small silver platter of two cute little goblets of sweet wine. The presentation looks so cute!!
Then we walked around for HOURS trying to shop designer stores (fail), bought really nice chocolates and nuts as souvenirs for the parents (success), saw more touristy stuff like the monument of undead soldier, Old Parliament, temple of Olympian Zeus, and Queen’s Gardens (success) and hunted a Swatch store (fail).
Then we walked around the town center around our hotel to shop for everyone else’s souvenirs (success).
Next, we’re going to eat at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Acropolis called SENSE. It is on the 7th floor of AthensWas Design Hotel. The chef is Alexandros Charalabopoulos and he uses Greek ingredients to cook, inspired by his childhood memories. All his ingredients are all fresh; he even makes his own extra virgin olive oil! His restaurant has earned a MICHELIN Plate award.
We were given a complimentary flute of champagne as an anniversary gift. Thank you!!
Goumenissa Hatzivarytis Estate. PDO Goumenissa, Greece. We got a bottle of wine for the table, a light dry red wine.
Amuse Bouche. Greek salad with tomato, feta cheese ice cream. This greek tomato was like a gelato in the shape of a tomato! It was so cute, refreshing and light. Reminds me of a gazpacho.
Sourdough bread with accompaniments. Goat milk butter, fish roe sauce, Andania extra virgin olive oil. This was so good! I love the very warm bread and the crackles the bread makes when I break into it. The milk butter was like a cooled ice cream, subtle in flavor. The fish roe sauce was cream, light and salty lime the sea. The olive oil was so divine! We asked our waitress if we could bring the rest of the bottle home and she gave us a new one!! Thank you again!!
Split peas fava from Feneos, cherry tomatoes, pepper, olive, capers leaves, pickled onions, sun-dried tomato cream. This was also very delicious! I really like the creamy and smooth texture of the split peas fava. It’s subtle flavors are brought to life by the surrounding and more strong compliments.
Langoustine tartare with chili pepper and fennel, basil dressing, saganaki foam, roasted Messinian sfela cheese cream. This was one of Vince’s favorite! All mixed together was a great harmony between fancy shrimp and cheese.
Roasted sea bream, corfiot bourdeto sauce, bitter orange aroma, seafood mousse, hot and sweet paprika powder. The fish was done a bit too well done for our taste but still tasted good. I really like the seafood mousse. I didn’t really need the orange aroma.
Smoked pork belly on beech tree woods, virtual charcoal, lemon, olive oil dressing sphere, gruyere Panna cotta, oregano jus, thyme cress. This was soooo good!! I loved the pork belly and the cheese Panna cotta was SO GOOOOD. The texture of that cheese.. I’m lost for words at how smooth and soft it was. It was like a soft jello?
Wagyu short ribs, grilled kale, fermented florina pepper, green yogurt, grape sauce. Very tender and very flaky. I was so full at this point and didn’t finish my veggies.
Our waiter suggested swapping out one of our desserts with the other tasting menus to get to try one of each so we did!
The peach, baba with fruit syrup, yogurt mousse with lime, peach gel, lemon balm. This is part of our menu. Very soft, airy and tart.
Armenovil. Almond, lime, aegina pistachios, milk chocolate. This was very interesting! A fun play of different textures with the balance of sweet and salt in the mouth.
Mignardise. Green olive made from white chocolate on the outside and olive cream on the inside. We were so good but then we’re greeted with these two little cute things. The olive cream is so subtle and light and went well with the sharp thin sweetness of the white chocolate.
Oh I almost forgot.. Vince really wanted to try their Sense Negroni because they use some of their own ingredients? He says it’s really good but wish they served it in a different glass.
Service was amazing here! Food was delicious! The view was the best!!
Oh, you can drink tap water in Athens, is what we learned from our licensed archaeologist today. Makes sense that all the restaurants offer tap water. But in the Greek islands is a big No No!
