72 HOURS in ATHENS - The ULTIMATE FOOD TOUR | Exploring Athens best local eats!

Welcome back to the channel guys and today I am in Greece, Athens and we're going to explore all the food that Athens has to offer. I'm going to go to some of the most local restaurants that I can find. Some that I can't even pronounce because it's in Greek language and they've got some interesting food here. A lot of heartiness, a lot of delicious desserts and I can't wait to get my teeth into the city. So let's go and explore. So we're just sitting here in this local Greek restaurant. I have no idea what it's called because it's all in Greek letters and I cannot pronounce it to save my life but it is on Google Maps which I'll list in the links below and it serves traditional Greek food so I can't wait for it. It looks like it's like a nice little family-owned restaurant. It is very unsuspecting from the outside because it looks like it's closed down for good but if you look in the window there's lights on and it's ready to give you a pizza. I'm really looking forward to what the owner is going to give us. She's going to give us a selection of foods that she thinks we'll like so let's just wait and see. Sarka, chicken soup and one more coming. Wow look at that. Oh that looks great. Look at this. Look at that nice cheese on top and then this is like super soft. It smells so fragrant. It's got eggplants in there. I can see some tomatoes. Look at all that oil. Oh my god. This is like comfort food and look at these big thick. Oh that's fluffy. Check that out. That's super fluffy. Nice crispy on top. I can't wait to dip that in the chicken soup. I'm gonna have a little sample. Oh good lord. You can taste all those ingredients in there. That eggplant, capsicum. It's so creamy. Oh that is home cooked. I've got the chicken soup here. Look at that. It's got a bit of rice. Chicken soup. It's got some lemon as well. That's so herby. You can taste a lot of celery in there, a bit of rice, a bit of chicken. Yeah this is a very hearty meal. I'm gonna be absolutely stuffed after this. Amazing. We've got an assortment. So they've given us some nice little roasted potatoes, chicken leg as well and I think this is a chicken burger. So lots of food. Lots of food. Lots of meats but also lots of carbs. So excited. It's steaming. The oil. It's nice and salty and it's not like a crispy skin potato but it's got like a little bit of skin still on there. It's just cooked, roasted perfectly. Looks very herby. That's just honest potato. This is nice and basic but it delivers very good flavours. Like just salty, lemony, herby. It's so soft. Let's check out this chicken burger. Oh look at that. I'm not a real fan of chicken burgers but this looks delicious. Oh that's the best chicken burger I've ever had. The texture is, everything is so fine whereas if you get a chicken burger from the supermarket, it has like this clump you're chewing into. This is, yeah look at it. Every bit of chicken is nicely minced. I'm just gonna try this chicken leg. Oh look at that fatty bit. It's a normal chicken leg. It's a little bit dry, probably not the freshest but really yum. So like a charcoal chicken. All right we've just finished our meal and that was a very hearty meal. I am now definitely full so I won't be on the lookout for a couple more hours but I'm very tempted to just try some little street foods along the way for today. But yeah highly recommend this place. It's just an honest home-cooked meal and I think you'll be very satisfied if you come here. We're at Atomos, a restaurant that I went to seven years ago. Last time I came here it was absolutely delicious. Thank you. This is our first Greek salad for the trip and I can't wait to get into it. Okay let's dig in. Oh I can't wait for this. I'm gonna get a bit of everything. It's got capers, it's got olives, tomatoes, everything looks really fresh. It's so fresh. The tomatoes, that feta cheese, it's so strong. You can tell it's just the fresh produce that's what makes the dish. Oh those tomatoes are so good. It really makes the dish. They're so sweet and then to add to the flavor that feta. Wow. Saganaki. We have another traditional Greek dish Saganaki which is fried cheese and this is in a interesting shape, interesting orientation. Oh it's nice and soft. Oh look at that. That's cheesy. Instantly you're hit with a deep saltiness with that lemon. Oh perfect marriage. The texture of this, a bit of crunch there as well. Perfect amount of saltiness. It's just one of my favorites. The sardines. Sardines yep. How are you? Awesome thank you. Thank you. And I think I'm the only one that's going to be feasting on that. Absolutely. We've got the patties with grandma's potatoes. It's grandma's potatoes. Oh look at that crisp. That's crispy. Oh my god it looks perfectly fried. I think we've got to dig in straight away. Nobody does potatoes like grandma here. Even without any sauce they've got a sprinkle of oil, feta cheese, some other herbs on there. I'm not quite too sure but that is perfectly crispy because they've left the skin on there. Nice and soft in the middle. Oh that crunch. If you do a really good potato it's a winning piece of equipment when it comes to a dish. Just going for the sardines. Freshly grilled sardines. Look at that. This is going to be a one biter. That is special. It was piping hot. It crunched at the end of the tail. Taste of freshness. Some people are not going to like this very fishy dish but as a fish lover I personally love it. I've got to say these cherry tomatoes caught me by surprise. They just exploded with sweetness. Wow. All right we're gonna go in for grandma's patties. These beef patties. Got some herbs in there. I'm gonna go in for a natural. Very extreme herby flavor. I think there's like mint oregano in there. Oh incredible. What about with the sauce? Let's try it with the sauce. Definitely needs that sauce. What the yogurt yeah? Yeah it's like a yogurt-y sauce and it really adds this freshness to it. That beefy flavor with the freshness. Perfect combo. After a full day of eating we have to get something sweet so we're at Stanny which specializes in dairy products especially cream and it's been here since 1931 and here is the first dish. It's coming up. Look at that. Thank you. Look at that. That is yogurt with honey and walnuts. So this is one of the traditional desserts and it looks really good. I can't wait to get into it. Oh the honey. Look at that. Oh look at that honey drip. Beautiful textures. The walnut adds a bit of integrity with all that sloppy sweetness. Yogurt and honey go really well together. I've actually never had that. Really? It's actually perfect because it doesn't seem too dense like all other desserts. Oh perfect. Really good. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Oh my god that is just fresh out of the oven. You have to have a taste. You can't make me wait. I don't think I even need the knife but for novelty's sake I'm gonna get that. That's so crunchy. So this is the same like pretty much the same roll as what you'd use for baklava but look at that filling. My favorite vanilla slice mixed with a custard tart mixed with baklava. That's the only way I can describe this this goodness right here. I understand why they call it a cream pie. Oh that's mesmerizing. You know it's come straight out of the oven. Oh it's got this really nice eggy flavor. Buttery, creamy and the plate pastry is so flaky and crunchy. Incredible. Probably one of the best desserts I've had so far. So it's just breakfast time and I thought we'll get some breakfast here at Melina's. It's a very famous restaurant just at the footsteps of the Acropolis. It's a beautiful scenic place and just even coming here for a view is enough to fill my appetite but I've ordered some octopus and some vine leaves dolmades which is quite traditional in Greek culture and I've got some coffees as well to go but I really can't wait to try it. Yeah just soak in this magnificent view. It's my first time trying Greek coffee. Oh it's different. It's different to normal coffee. There's like something about the froth. It's almost got like a like a kind of chocolate aftertaste of the froth. Like the coffee's normal but I can't quite put my finger on it but it's very smooth. There's no bitterness to this at all. Thank you. That looks beautiful. Look at that oil. I'm gonna go in for this octopus. Gotta get the suction cups. Probably my favourite part of the octopus. Alright first time trying Greek octopus. Look at that. Just the marinade itself is pretty to look at. Octopus is a very subtle flavour. You can just taste that at the very end but it's all about that marinade. It's got that oregano. It's brilliant and the texture it's not that chewy. It looks chewy. That's just the right kind of crunch and softness. For me it's all about that oil and that nice kind of sourness to it. I mean it's only at the end like what Lang said. It's only at the end that you get that kind of fishy octopus taste but the texture of this is perfect. Let's go in for the dolmatas. Oh look at that. Is that Greek yogurt or tzatziki sauce? Oh it's nice and shiny with all the olive oil. That's pretty. You can smell just a little bit of rice in there. It's nice and sour and that tzatziki sauce. Oh beautiful. Oh I've got to get a big thing of sauce. That is so creamy. Oh I think the highlight is the sauce. Oh my lord. It's just like there's something about it so refreshing. So we're having dinner tonight at a traditional Greek tavern. The name of this restaurant is Traditional Tavern I think. It's all in Greek language so I chose this because I think it's going to be really authentic Greek food. And we've just ordered a couple of dishes, mains and then just a couple of appetizers. So it's a traditional salad and saganaki and then I've got the grilled veal liver and also some lamb chops. So we'll see how everything comes out but I heard there's generous servings. I can't wait to get my teeth into this. Okay we just got our appetizers and I can't go without a Greek salad. They just do it so well here. I've got a big block of feta cheese. Just going to break it up. Oh olive just fell out. Okay I'm just going to take a big scoop. So this is a little bit different from last time salad. It's a bit more basic. They don't have the capers. They just got all the basic. Here we go. This is just an honest Greek salad. So good. Oh that's crispy. Hear that? Yum. Okay we're going to go in for that saganaki. It's already been limed up. I'll just cut into that crunch. Oh it's like spider-man. This is really good saganaki. That saganaki crunch. Absolutely amazing but it's got this like fried kind of taste. Oh it's so good. This is probably the best one I've had. Look at that. It's so crunchy. Oh I can't get over it. Oh that's amazing. That crunch really sets it apart. It's so good. I love the crunch. I think I've got to say this one's better than the other one that we had the other day. That crunch. We just have received our mains and I've never had lamb chop this stack. Look at it. It's absolutely humongous. I'm just going to have to go for one of these lamb chops. Wow. Oh it's nicely charred, grilled, seasoned. Look at that. Could do it caveman style and just bite it but I think it's a chewy one. The fat's kind of just rendered and a bit crunchy. Nice and salty. It's just an honest lamb chop. It's fresh. Produce is fresh. Wow. Very flavoursome. This is the veal liver and it's something that I don't often have but I had to order it on the menu because it's something unique. Look at that. All right veal liver. Here we go. Oh that's so soft. The flavour is just gorgeous. Usually liver has this really distinct taste that almost tastes sweet. Oh that took me by surprise. That's really delicious and I can't believe the amount of food you get for what you pay. This is very very generous of them. Wow. This is really good and the chips, they don't look too crunchy but sometimes chips can be good and deceiving looking. Okay chips might not be the best. They're just really soggy and soft but I'll eat them. Great meal so far. All right just finished everything. I'm just going to leave the chips because they're not that great. Obviously I'll eat them in normal circumstances but I need to make room for something sweet so I'm going to head off. Definitely recommend coming here if you want some generous amounts of food and I think those lamb chops really stood out as well but the san saganaki, oh that's my favourite so far. Wow. Great meal. We are at the top of the hill that starts with an L. I don't even want to try it. But back there is the Acropolis. Beautiful. So it's called Lycabettus hill. Lycabettus hill. Oh beautiful. So we're up in Lycabettus hill today. We came here nice and early to beat the crowd and overlooking this beautiful view. I got this coffee and there's a nice little cafe there which they'll serve you either alcoholic drinks or just some usual beverages but expect to pay a little bit more but it's worth it. Look at that view. We're just at the Greco project and I'm going to have my first gyros. Gyros. Gyros. So I've got the pork gyros tightly wrapped. It's got some onions and sauce. Oh yeah. That looks great. My first bite here in Athens. All right. Gonna have to undress this. Just peel the clothes off. That is sexy. Look at that. The pork is very thinly cut which is nice because it's not too hard to chew and it's got heaps of salty flavor. It's yum. Very yum. I'm gonna try the little chicken gyros. I'm gonna do the same as Lang. Just peel her clothes back. Check that out. That looks packed. I'm gonna try to go in for like a big bite that gives everything. Nice. It's got like a almost like an aioli. Aioli mayonnaise. Or maybe that's the garlic sauce but it tastes like very different to Australia. It's like extra creamy and then you've got the notice of the tomatoes here in Greece. It's so much fresher and crunchier when you bite into them. All right we've got the masaka here. The traditional masaka. Comes in a nice pot. Dig into that. Hopefully it doesn't burn my mouth. Look at that. That's an eggplant. Oh that's so creamy. Gooey creamy texture and that eggplant. Oh no cucumber I think. Oh so good. It's got some mince in there. Perfect flavor. It's not too salty. It's just the right mixture. Oh I've got some eggplant. That's so yum. And that mince in there. Oh they definitely they don't skimp on the ingredients. Look at that. That's probably my favorite Greek dish. Absolutely. So this is the last night in Athens and we're coming to a Balkan restaurant and the restaurant is actually just called Restaurant Balkana and it's just located outside the main area of Athens but this I think is going to be an absolutely delicious meal. We've ordered a bunch of stuff. It's an extensive menu. You've got seafood, you've got your local Greek food and then you've got the traditional Bulgarian food and I've ordered some interesting dishes already. I can't wait for it to come out. Salads, meats, little bits of things that we don't usually eat. So this is all here. Super excited. Alright let's go. Just got the peppers with dill and I think this is just a small salad but look at that. It looks so fresh. Oh yeah. I don't think this is a spicy dish but we'll see. Please. Thank you. It's good? Yeah I'm trying it now. Alright let's give it a shot. Oh that's amazing. It's sweet and fresh and you can really taste that dill but that pepper, just the hint of pepperness. It's not spicy at all. It's actually a really refreshing salad. Thank you. Thank you. Oh that's amazing. Zero spice. Oh I think what I like the most is that it's obviously a cold dish but they put fresh dill on there. Dill is probably one of my favorite herbs to eat. That's yum. Oh yeah. Thank you. Oh yes. Thank you. That's humongous. Yeah. Maybe we should get more dishes. Oh. That looks great. Thank you. We just got all our food. Look at it. It's absolutely stunning and the dishes are massive. I was just about to contemplate and order another dish of food but I think I'm glad I didn't. These cabbage rolls usually have them in a maybe this size but they're absolutely humongous. So I'm going to try that right now. It's got rice, got a bit of meat. Oh yeah for sure. It's going to be on YouTube. It's going to be definitely five stars. All right so here's my first bite. Oh incredible. Those textures, the meat and the rice go so well together and that cabbage. Oh what's the sauce like? The sauce is creamy. It's not a very thick creamy sauce but it's thick in terms of like everything going together like the rice, the meat all combining together to create the sauce with a bit of herbs in there. Okay I'm going to go for the meatball stew. Look at that. Oh yeah. Got a bit of potato. I'm going to cut through that giant meatball. Look at that meatball. Some sauce over that. Put that on my plate mate. And you can see all the herbs in there. All right I'm going straight for that meatball. Like capskin-y. Very beautiful taste and that sauce. It's like a tomato based sauce. In terms of herbs, I'm not sure what herbs. I think it's like cilantro or parsley. Parsley yeah. Oh this is a hearty meal. Potatoes are boiled perfectly but that is a big meatball. Amazing. I love this type of food that comes with just swimming in sauce so that you can add or take off as much as you like and that solidity of that sauce is 10 out of 10. But the meat, super soft, super super soft, super juicy. The potato can't go wrong with a nice roasted slash boiled potato. We've just got a mountain of sprat which is I think whiting fish. Look at that. That's a lot. I'm just going to go in and spear all these whiting. Look at that. Slightly battered and crunchy. Looks great. I think it needs a hint of salt but beautiful whiting taste. It's like chips but of the ocean. Definitely recommend coming here. The ladies are super nice and they're hospitable just like all the eastern Europeans but absolutely amazing meal right here. Welcome to Local Eats and today we're in Greece, Italy. I am in Greece, Athens. Got that right. I said Italy for the first time.