Greeks spend a lot of time socializing outside the home, and a feast is one of the main forms of this pastime. At the table, everyone behaves at ease: no officialdom, no pretentiousness (no sky-high prices), at least outside of the most luxurious places in Athens and the most luxurious resorts. Greeks consume very little alcohol – they don’t even drink, but wash down their food – although since the mid-1990s there have been a lot more bars and pubs.
Breakfast, picnics and snacks in Greece
The Greeks generally do not recognize breakfast, which is reflected in the disastrous quality of what is called “continental breakfast” in hotels: the choice of juices, for example, is as follows: orange, orange and orange, fresh fruit is a rarity, at least in any institution of the category below B. In Meli me voutiro, it is syrup, commercial honey, and packs of butter (or margarine) to spread on bread or “frigañes” (slices of toasted bread like toast).
To confuse you, marmalade and all types of jam are called “marmalade” in Greek, but if you want real marmalade, order “portokali” – orange. Tea is usually offered, but in bags. Bacon and eggs are found only in resorts full of foreigners, and in establishments owned by those Greeks who lived in North America or Australia and then returned to their homeland. It happens that breakfast at such a point is very good at a good price (5.50-8 € for everything, including sometimes “French” coffee: not from a coffee maker or Turks, but from under a paper filter or cappuccino), especially where there is competition.
- Picnics and snacks in Greece
Food for a picnic in nature is tasty, cheap and plentiful in bakeries and manavika (stalls and market stalls selling vegetables and fruits). It is better to buy bread in a bakery or bakery (furnos – bakery or psomadiko – bakery) for your “olikis” (meal), try sikalicio (rye bread), and it comes in “octasporo” (eight grains), or even “enneasporo” (nine grains), – such bread is baked where there are many Germans or Scandinavians. When buying olives, take fatty ones, those called “Kalamata” or “Amphissa”, they are more expensive, but also tastier.
Olives harvested in the same area where you buy provisions – especially lightly dried hamades or very ripe berries picked up from the ground – are often sold as a nut, for which they can be forgiven for having too large kernels. The best honey is considered to be thyme: it is a honey collection from thyme flowers growing on the most barren islands (Limnos, Naxos , Kalymnos , Astypalea ) or in desert places on the mainland. It is very tasty to pour honey into a cup over the famous local yogurt.
Every major island city has at least one dairy shop selling local yoghurts in plastic or (better) clay containers. Sheep’s milk yogurt is fatter and sweeter, and less honey is needed to sweeten it. Cow’s milk yogurt tastes sharper, but it’s easier to buy. Next to them on the store shelves are “kremes” (cream and custards) and “rhizogal” (rice porridge like pudding) in disposable plastic jars.
Brynza, or feta in Greek, is sold everywhere, the choice is a dozen varieties from goat, sheep and cow milk, or from all three types of milk at once, but in different proportions. Cheeses in the shop are allowed to be tasted, and before buying, try not only feta cheese, but also other local cheeses: perhaps you will like the expensive and Gruyère-like Gravière variety more than others. Despite its membership in the EU, as well as a craving for the exotic, Greece imports very few vegetables from abroad, if you do not take into account bananas, pineapples and mangoes.
Fruits are quite expensive, they are sold only in season, although in the most cosmopolitan places you can even stumble upon avocados (light green fruits of the Fuerte variety from Crete are excellent), and almost all year round. In Greece, there are several types of cherries (June-July), “yiamades” – huge peaches are sold in August and September (later they become mealy and then you should not take them), “crystals” – small, hard green pears that ripen to a divine state a month or two later, as well as vanilla plums with orange peel and crimson flesh, sold from late August to late October.
Appearing in September, yellow-skinned with green interspersed watermelons “chimonyachiko” – in North America, similar gourds are called “casava”. Kiwi cultivation is gaining momentum in Greece, and if the first harvest in October falls at the end of the season, then the fruits themselves are sold until May next year. Juicy figs (figs and figs) are worse for transportation, the first – small – harvest of which is harvested in May, but much more fruit in August. The most reasonable prices are for greens and salads, in addition to the famous huge tomatoes (June-September), with the advent of spring they sell spring onions and lettuce. Common expressions such as “ena tetarto” (250 grams) and “miso kilo” (500 grams) will come in handy in the shop and in the bazaar.
Traditional Greek snacks are a peculiar feature of the local gluttony, although they are increasingly being squeezed by Western fast food – fast food. It is not the multinational hypercompanies that profit from the obsession with this craze in Greece, but the chains that have grown on the national soil: Goodies (burgers larger and better than average, pasta and salad bars), Everest and Grigoris Mikroevmata (all sorts of things), Roma Pizza” and “Thios Vanyas” (pastries and pizzas) – in the Greek version, it must be admitted that such American and international dishes are not as tasteless as in most countries of the world.
Yes, and “souvlaki” (barbecue) comes across at every turn, and in almost any major resort and in cities you will find “gyros” (meat with a side dish) baked inside thick, fluffy pita bread. Among other common snacks, we mention the cheese pies “tiropites” (it is recommended to take “striftes” or “kuru”) and pies with spinach “spanokopites”, bakeries sell these pastries, where there are also “culurnias” – crispy bagels sprinkled with sesame seeds, and “vutimata” – dark cookies with cinnamon. And pizza is also good, they sell it al metro – in pieces.
Restaurants in Greece
Greek cuisine and Greek restaurants are characterized by simplicity and straightforwardness. The Greeks usually treat visiting these establishments as something taken for granted. Every Greek can go to a tavern and a coffee shop, and few people are able to afford it – a hearty lunch or dinner (without seafood) costs no more than 12-16 euros per person, and homemade wine is also served. And even if the food is quite simple, be sure: you will eat properly – the Greeks do not tolerate anything stale. Needless to say, the resorts, of course, have enough lazy chefs who regale foreigners with what these Greek culinary stars believe they are accustomed to – pizza, spaghetti, called Bolognese, sliced \u200b\u200band “tourist-style moussaka”.
You will also notice that recently in Greece the number of those restaurants that the Greeks call “culturiarika” has multiplied: these establishments often portray themselves as the inventors and pioneers of some new Greek cuisine – more precisely, “nouvelle cusine”, decorating, for example, the menu with long wine lists. cards: prices are high, 25-50 euros per person. Below, in context, all successful (and therefore become exceptions) institutions of this new type will be mentioned. The best strategy when choosing a restaurant is to go where the Greeks go.
And, again, despite the intervention of the EU, which cares about preventing overtime and therefore introducing uniformity, including the work schedule, Greek catering is unhurried: lunch is served from 14:00 to 15:30, dinner – from 21:00 to 23 :00. You can eat earlier, but at an odd hour, you are likely to find indifferent service and not the best cooking – this is if you go to an institution that makes money on tourists. A chic entourage is not a very reliable indicator of quality: you will often find the best quality in a discreet, traditional establishment.
It’s a good sign if, although you haven’t asked for anything yet, a decanter of cold water is immediately brought to you instead of being forced on expensive bottled soft drinks. Be careful when ordering: the waiter will try to persuade you to order much more than you need, and then bring you something else that you did not order. And, although the law requires that all catering establishments have cash registers, the bill that they bring you will often only show the final figure with accompanying explanatory text written by hand – and in Greek.
When studying the prices printed on the menu, look at the right column (or top number) – you will pay according to this (higher) figure, which includes all taxes and fees, as well as a service charge, although a small tip given to the waiter is within 7- 10% of the amount in the bill is very welcome, especially since, in fact, the waiter does not count on them. Bread is served as part of a “full” order (and costs €0.50-1 per person), so you still pay for it.
Children are always welcome, day and night, in any tavern, especially if the institution is owned by a family, and children from childhood learn the customs of a Greek feast that drags on until late. There are no special requirements for children – children are children, so the Greeks do not worry in the least if the children frolic between the tables, but the little ones, of course, do not dare to interfere with the pastime of adults.
- Estiatoria in Greece
A restaurant in Greece is called either an “estiatorio” or a tavern. The difference between both varieties is subtle, except that the first type is more common in large cities and is fed in “estatorio” with dishes cooked in the oven and using more complex technology – they are denoted by the term “mayirefta” (literally: “cooked”). Old-fashioned artisans and merchants go to such establishments, accustomed to long waits for orders, and the owners earn on the negligible difference between the cost of a dish and its price on the menu. Alas, “estyatorya” – sometimes they say otheromayiriya (houses of wine and food) – establishments seem to be dying out.
In estiatorio you will be offered a choice of many different boiled and baked meat dishes with vegetables or cereals: moussaka, pastizio, meat broths and broths, including game broths, such as cochinisto and stifado, or yemista (stuffed tomatoes or peppers) , flavored with olive oil, ladera vegetable broths (lean, but with oil) and baked meat or fish. Usually you go to the kitchen and, guided by the aroma of steam, point to the dish that you would like to taste.
Food is prepared in the morning, and then it waits for the visitor – this is why mayireft dishes are often served barely warm, or even just cooled down. The Greeks don’t mind (in fact, most of them believe that eating hot food is bad), and dishes like yemista simply aren’t considered ready until they’re cold. You also have to specifically stipulate the presence of olive oil: do you want a lot of oil or a little bit, or “choris ladi” – without oil, and again, they may decide that something is wrong with you, since the Greeks are sure that without olive oil, food simply cannot be digested.
Desserts (the official Greek name is “epidorpya”) in the form of sweet cereals, cookies and pies with sweet filling are not served in estyatorya, although yogurt is sometimes included in the menu in some places. True, there are always fruits in the season: watermelons (often at the expense of the institution), melons and grapes in the summer are almost mandatory. Of the autumn delicacies, it is recommended to order “kidoni sto fumo”, or “milo psito” – baked quince or pear, doused with syrup or sprinkled with nuts. In taverns on the mainland – especially in Thessaloniki – you can sometimes be offered a slice of “smigdalyios halvas” – this is a sweet semolina halva.
- Taverns and psistaria in Greece
Taverns range from gleaming chic establishments to unpretentious taverns with half a dozen reed-roofed chairs somewhere back on the beach. In those that are completely unpretentious, the menu is small, the owners sometimes do not even bother typing it, and they are too lazy to write by hand, but in establishments of a higher class there is some of the “mayireft” dishes, along with the usual set for a tavern. The latter includes mainly “mezedes” (cold appetizers), or “orektika” (“for appetite” is just another name), and “shh oras” (meat and fish, fried in a pan or grill, of your choice). Half a dozen taverns on the mainland treat guests to game (kinigi are rabbit, venison, quail and turtledoves).
In the mountains to the north, where fast-flowing rivers gurgle, other establishments serve trout, frog legs, eels, and crayfish. Psistarya (a restaurant with a brazier) pampers guests with spit-roasted lamb, pork or goat meat (both are called “kondosuvli”), grilled chickens (“kotopoulo skaras”), grilled tripe roll (kokoretsi) – and in distant mountain villages, some of these dishes can be served directly to your table without a plate, just on a piece of thick waxed paper. Usually in the psysteria they offer a choice of a couple of mezedes and salads (salates), but never a majirefta. In Greek cuisine, dishes are not divided into first, second and other, so the initial appetizers, main dishes and salads will most likely be brought to you together and immediately, if you do not specify the order you want in the order.
It is best to order a few mezedes and salads – it will be really Greek. The waiter may offer you horiatiki salad – the so-called “Greek salad” with feta cheese – but he tries so hard because this salad is the most expensive. If all you want is tomatoes or tomatoes and cucumbers, ask for domatosalata or angurodomat. Winter salad lahano-karoto – cabbage with carrots, and spring maruli – lettuce. Of the mezedes, the most common are tzatziki – cucumbers with garlic in yogurt, melizanosalata (zucchini or eggplant in sauce). Kolokitakya tiganita (zucchini slices fried in butter).
And if slices of zucchini or eggplant are fried in oil, then this is melidzanes tiganites. There is also yigandes – white beans in vinegar or hot tomato sauce. Tiropitakya or, they are also spanakopites – pies with cheese and spinach. Revitokeftedes or pitarudia turkish chickpeas similar to Jewish falafel. Salad of octopus and mauromatica (black-eyed peas). From meat dishes, order souvlaki (barbecue) or brizoles (chops) – you won’t go wrong. Often this is local meat and the same cuisine. In both versions, pork (chirino) is usually better and cheaper than veal (mosharisho). The best souvlaki is made from lamb, but young lamb (arnisio) is not always available.
In psistaria, a meaty lamb chops are a more satisfying dish than paidakya, rib chops from the same lamb. Skewered lambs (arni psito) and kids (katsiki sto furno) are considered food typical of the Estiatorya. Keftedes (minced meatballs with breadcrumbs) and biftekya (the same but more meat) and spicy, homemade sausages with a coarse filling called lukanika are both cheap and tasty. Cotopoulos (chickens and chickens), usually grilled, are sold everywhere, but birds are raised in the poultry factories of Epirus and Euboea. It is worth trying goat meat – boiled (guide to grow) and baked (katsiki hundred furno), goat meat is generally tasty and healthy.
Fish and seafood in Greece
Fish is fed in fish taverns by the sea – psarotavernes, although in the absence of experience, ordering in such an institution is fraught with many dangers. In summer, they offer a poor choice of fish, because from the end of May to the beginning of October, trawlers are forbidden to go to sea with drag nets and you can catch fish only by luring them with illumination, bread bait, a trident harpoon and a fishing rod with several hooks (paragadi). Tavern owners are required to report that seafood is frozen: pay attention to the abbreviation “kat”, “k” or an asterisk in the Greek part of the menu.
With that said, you are probably looking towards the more modest fish that are caught all year round – these are smaller fish that are eaten whole, with the head, best if sprinkled with salt and sprinkled with lemon juice (ladolemono). In the Southern Sporades , there is still yermanos – it is fried starting in the spring. Much more often and for less money in May and June, you can eat fresh fried or grilled hake (bakaliaros), and at the end of summer, especially in the northeast of the Aegean Sea, such fish (although in Greece this is not necessarily fried fish and potatoes ), like anchovies (gavros) and sardines (sardelles).
In the Aegean north and in the vicinity of Pelion, pandelis, aka sikyos, is caught at the beginning of summer – this fish is very much appreciated, because it lives among the stones, and does not pick up what has fallen to the bottom – well, they ask for it, respectively, more. Kolos (mackerel, she is mackerel) – excellent, grilled or baked with sauce. And in the fall, you can be fed with fish soup psarosupa or kakavia fish soup, similar to the southern French bouillabaisse.
Less valuable fish usually costs around 18-35 € per kilogram. Prices for especially popular fish, such as barbuni (red mullet), tsipura (golden spar), sea bass, fangri (golden pagr) reach, if the fish is not from a fish farm, up to 40-60 € per kilogram and more. If the price looks too good to be real, then most likely they are selling fish that are bred on fish farms. Prices are usually quoted per kilogram (rarely per serving) and should not be more than double the street market price.
Usually you go to a refrigerated box with a transparent wall, choose a fish, weigh it in front of you, and pay at the exit. Not very expensive seafood (thalasina), such as small squid (usually frozen) and oktapodi octopus are almost certainly present in the summer menu of most seaside taverns. Sometimes you can also find mussels (mussels), kidonia (bivalve clams), garides (shrimp) at reasonable prices (20-26 € per kilogram).
Wines in Greece
Both estatorias and taverns usually offer you a choice of several brands of wine in bottles, and many establishments still keep a supply of “their” home-made wine: they keep it in barrels and sell it in quarters of a liter, half and whole liters, and serve it in glass vessels or in lightly colored tin mugs, the so-called cantarya. Do not hesitate to ask if there is vareliso (cask) or hima (in carafes) wine in the establishment. A liter costs from 4 € ( Thessaly , Skyros ) to 10-11 € ( Corfu , Rhodes ), smaller volumes are estimated (more or less) proportionally.
Wine with pine resin – retsina – gives off a little of this very resin, and it is also kept in barrels, although bottled brands such as Yeoryadi from Thessaloniki , Lyokri from Achaea, Malamatina from Central Greece (often diluted with soda water) and “Kambas” from the vicinity of Athens of good quality. Of the bottled wines sold throughout the country, inexpensive white wines such as Kambas Atticos, Zitsa, and brands of the Rhodian firm Cairo (Cair) – especially Moulin – are good, while red wines are decent and not so expensive, Butari Naoussa” and “Kurtakis Apelia”.
If you want an even better, but still not prohibitively expensive red, look for “Merlot” from “Butari” or “Zantali” or “Averof Katoi” from Epirus . Wandering around the wine-growing islands, you can also try local bottled wines. The best guides to Greek vineyards and distilleries in the newly emerging wine regions are the writings of Nico Manessis “Greek Book of Wines with Pictures” or Konstandinos Lazarakis “Greek Wines”. Almost all Lemnos wine products are decent : Alexandrine Muscat is used for white wines, and the local Limno grapes are used for red and pink wines.
Another volcanic island of Santorini – can boast of first-class white wines “Ktima Argiru” and “Butari Nihteru”, famous, and rightfully, white “Gentilini Robola” from Kefalonia . Paros (Moraitis), Naxos and Ikaria (Ktima Karimali Ikariotikos) are also not poor in decent (local) wine brands, and Crete is gradually learning to do something better than the usual Lagado: say, Economou (city of Sitia) or Lirarakis ( city of Heraklion ). In Rhodes, good fame goes to the products of “Alexandris” from Embonas, about the label “Emery” – under it they sell wine “Villare”, and about the products of the distillery “Triandafillou”, which is near the ancient city of Ialys (Ialyssos).
It’s strange and ridiculous that all island red wines (except the Rhodes “Moulin” from Cairo and “Emery Cava”) are depressingly and monotonously mediocre, so it is better to take mainland reds. Karras in Halkidiki makes a wonderful Porto Karras, and Ktima Celepu makes a very pleasant Cabernet Merlot wine. Andonopoulou ( Patras , there is also an “organic” line), Ktima Papaioannou Nemea ( Peloponnese ) and Tsandali Rapsani (Thessaly) are all excellent, but these velvety red wines, if you find them anywhere, are only in the best taverns kulturjarika type and kaves liquor stores.
Andonopoulos, Celepos (Mandinha region), Spiropoulos (the same Mandinia) and Papaioanna also produce excellent continental (mainland) white wines, Spiropoulos Orino Mandinha is especially recommended. The label sometimes indicates “organic origin” (they say that the grapes are grown without chemistry and genetic engineering). Of the other first-class microdistilleries on the mainland, whose wines, both red and white, have long been recognized, we mention the much overrated brand “Hadzimihali” (Atalandi, central Greece).
A very outstanding brand is Diamandaku (near Naoussa, red and white), Atanasiadi (central Greece), Skouras (Argolis) and two rival wine merchants Lazaridi (Drama, eastern Macedonia), their Merlot is especially excellent . For any of these wines, you will be charged 8-11 € per bottle in the store and double that in the tavern. Last but not least, Rhodian Cairo produces its own champagne (the label says: “natural sparkling wine, fermented en boutelle”) in the versions of “brut” and “semi-sweet”. Of course, this is not “Moet e Chandon”, and not even something close, but it costs less than 6 € per bottle.
Cafes, patisseries and bars in Greece
To have a bite or a drink, a Greek does not have to go to a restaurant: there are enough other establishments for this. The most important of these institutions, present in every town or village, is the kafenio. You will also come across uzeri, confectionery zacharoplastia, frappadika and barokya.
- Kafeniya, frappadika and coffee in Greece
Kafenio in Greece is also called a traditional coffee house (in the plural – kafeniya), or a (more modern) cafe. Such establishments serve “Greek” (Middle Eastern) coffee, which is sketo or pikro (no sugar), metrio (sweetened) and glyco (sweet), but they also serve alcoholic drinks, including ouzo, brandy (more often such Greek cognacs, as “Metaxa” and “Botris” of different exposures), beer, tea with sage, called on the islands of alisfakya, and on the mainland – tsai wunu, soft drinks and juices.
The only quality effervescent drink – one that can be drunk without any additives or food – is Epsa from Volos : bottles like Orange drink. Ironically, the refreshing ginger beer tzitzibira—found only on Corcyra and Paxos—is a relic of the short-lived British occupation of the Ionian Islands: frothy, whitish, even gray, slightly lemony, and that sourness that indicates the very beginning of the fermentation process.
In Greece, they also offer such a refreshing drink as cafes frappe – chilled (“ice”) instant coffee, black or with sugar and / or milk – the substance is purely Greek, even if the name sounds like French. Fredocchino is a newer variety like cappuccino, an alternative to the traditional frappe. These drinks are served in special places – frappadika. As for edibles, in a coffee shop you are unlikely to find anything other than a “spoon of sweet” – glyka kutalu, that is, canned fruits: quince, grapes, figs, citruses or cherries in syrup, or an increasingly rare and almost forgotten delicacy “submarine ”, in Greek Ipovrihyo.
Like the taverns, some cafes gleam with plastic, chrome and sophisticated design, while others are furnished with old-fashioned utensils. Throughout Greece, cafes are establishments of extraordinary social significance, but in the village, the whole life of the rural community revolves around the coffee house. It seems that the majority of men spend almost their entire lives in kafenio, except that they sleep at home. Women in coffee houses are a rarity, especially in areas where they cling to antiquity with particular tenacity.
Even in the resorts, you will come across at least one coffee shop, which Greek men jealously protect from strangers, leaving it only for their own. Some cafes are closed in the afternoon (“for a siesta”), but others are open almost from dawn until late at night. In summer, people communicate most intensively from 18:00 to 20:00, immediately after the siesta. It’s time for ouzo before a late lunch: the sun is setting and the air is noticeably cooler.
- Ouzo, tsipouro, mezedes, uzeri and mesedopolia in Greece
Ouzo and similar tsipouro (northern Greece) and tsikoudia (Crete) are simple drinks containing up to 48% alcohol. They are driven from the pomace left after processing the grapes for wine, and aromatic herbs are added to the resulting liquid – anise (star anise) or fennel (sweet dill). Marks of ouzo and tsipouro – from three dozen, the best are those from the islands of Lesvos and Samos , and the mainland, from Zitsa and Tarnavos. When your order is accepted, two glasses will be brought to you: one with ouzo, the second with water, which must be added to the ouzo until the drink becomes milky white. Of course, you can drink ouzo undiluted, but the strong, burning taste is not very refreshing.
This is probably why the custom of adding pagaki (ice cubes) to ouzo is becoming more and more popular, so that if you ask, they will also put a saucer of ice in front of you. The next largest measure after a glass or a glass of volume for ouzo is carafaki, deceptively small – by 200 milliliters – a decanter. They like to serve tsipouro in such decanters, but the contents of the carafaka are enough for your legs to stop obeying you very soon – unless, of course, you order a snack in time, preferably hearty and fatty. A much more benign version of ouzo is called “suma”, the highest probability of coming across it in Rhodes and Samos, but theoretically, suma can be found anywhere grapes are cultivated.
Softness, however, is deceptive: two or three glasses – and you can safely forget about further plans for the coming evening. Once upon a time, for each ordered glass or decanter of ouzo, they certainly brought a saucer with mezedes: slices of cheese, cucumber, tomato, a couple of olives or black olives, sometimes an octopus, or even a couple of fish. Alas, in our times, uzomezes is a separate price list item, one of those that are more expensive. Often, however, snacks are not indicated in any menu, but as soon as you order carafaki, you will immediately be offered a choice of several simple dishes.
There are also drinking establishments specializing in ouzo and mezedes, although they are found only in the best resorts and in certain areas on the larger islands and in large cities. They are called uzeri, and in Volos, Thessaloniki and large cities in the north of the mainland they speak tsipouradika. In other cities, in particular, in Athens , you can stumble upon mesedopolio – in essence, too, see, only more and more “modern”. Ouzeri and mesedopolia are worth a visit just for the magical richness of the mezedes served there (although some mediocre taverns on the outskirts misappropriate one of these names).
In a fake uzeri (which is actually a tavern), they strive to slip a dinner or lunch more impressive instead of drinking with a snack (which ends up costing you a lot more, if, of course, you have a healthy appetite). Staring at the menu, which often drives you crazy with its variegation, you will probably poke your finger at the pikilia (mixture) position: plates with this assortment come in different sizes, the largest and most expensive are filled with seafood. In other uzeri or mesedopoly, the language barrier is successfully overcome, it is worth the courteous – and quick-witted – waiter to put a diskos in front of you – a tray filled with a variety of cold snacks. All you have to do is point your finger at the ones you like.
- Sweets and desserts in Greece
Zacharoplastio is not too different from kafenio – a cafe-pastry shop where you will be served coffee, spirits, yoghurt with honey and dry biscuits. In the best establishments, the selection of cakes, creamy chocolates, honey-soaked Greek-Turkish sweets like baklavas, kataifi, loukoumades (doughnuts well fried in butter, sprinkled with cinnamon and doused with syrup), galaktoboureko (custard cake) and so on Further.
And if you like dairy products with a little sugar, look for galactopolio, where risogalos (rice pudding or rice porridge), creams (custard) and locally produced yoghurts (yaurti) are waiting for you – better order provio (from sheep’s milk). Both in zacharoplastia and galactopolia, they are much more willing than in cafenia to meet clients who come not alone, but with whole families.
Ice cream is sold mainly in establishments called gelateria in the Italian manner and which have recently flooded all of Greece (the most luxurious local chain is Dodoni). The ice cream is very good, almost no different from its Italian counterparts. Balls (balaki) cost 1.10-1.50 €. You will be asked if you would like a glass (kipellaki) or a cone (konaki) and whether your ice cream should be sprinkled with nuts or whipped cream (santi). There are also mass products – the brands “Delta” and “Evga”, offering the usual range, with the exception of the brands “Scandalo” and “Nirvana”.
- Bars, beer and mineral water in Greece
Bars will come across to you everywhere. The variety is huge: from copies of Parisian cafes and Spanish bodegas to seaside cocktail bars where music plays all day. The most interesting bars are essentially organized venues, located in former industrial workshops or neoclassical buildings, fighting back against competitors that are clones of Spanish or London establishments, primarily due to the latest Western music.
The best way to find those hotspots that have just come into fashion is to study the posters and other advertisements for bars on the spot. Drinks in bars are much more expensive than in cafes – small portions of alcohol and cocktails 5-8 €, beer from 3.50-5 €, up to 11 € for imported and popular brands. But the bars almost always have beer of various brands, for the most part they are foreign varieties, which are brewed under license by only one or two breweries in the middle part of the mainland. Of the local brands, the frothy lager Alpha, which is brewed near Athens, is often on sale.
Mitos soft lager is bottled in green bottles at the Butari distillery; in the northeast of the mainland and on the islands in the course of “Verjina” from the Komotini breweries . “Pils Hellas” is a sharp pilsner (Pelsen). And, last but not least, the brand is the resurrected Fix, for many years the only brand of beer in Greece. In Greece, finally, there is the Kraft microbrewery in Athens, which produces delicious pilsner and amber lager, but there are few of them on sale. Kronenberg-1664 and Kaiser are two of the most common quality Western brands produced under license in Greece, with Kaiser being light and dark.
The faded unobtrusive Amstel and the increasingly rare malty Henniger are the cheapest. The Dutch themselves say that the local Amstel is better than in Amsterdam , and the same Amstel also produces a very pleasant and strong (7%) side. “Heineken” (still referred to in bars and taverns as “green” – “prasini” because the bottles are green, despite the appearance of “Methos” in green bottles) seems too harsh to many. The most popular resorts have real German beer imported from Germany : Bitburger, Fischer, Warsteiner (plus a few British brands).
Mineral water, mostly without gas, is usually sold in half-liter and one and a half liter plastic bottles. The well-known brand “Loutraki” is not popular with the Greeks, who prefer various Cretan and Epirus brands. In the best taverns, a campaign against plastic bottles is flaring up, and now they sell mineral water in glass liter bottles. The only carbonated (aeriuho in Greek) mineral water produced in the country is Suroti, but Tuborg soda is also sold everywhere.