Kalopsimeno

Ippokratous 37, Athina 106 80, Greece

Greece is a beautiful country, the people are nice, the vibe is good, and the food is amazing. My husband and I went to Greece (Athens, Crete, and Santorini) for our honeymoon in 2019, and it was everything I thought it would be and more. We were thinking of possibly going back for our 10th anniversary, but my husband won an award at work, so we got to go back to Athens this past May…for free! His company went all out for the hotel, tours, and dinners.

Despite all the “fancy” dinners we had, the restaurant I wanted to post about is Kalopsimeno. Their menu was in Greek, and it was mostly locals there, so we knew it would be authentic, which is what we were looking for. Also, the vertical rotisserie of the chicken gyros at Kalopsimeno was the biggest spit I had ever seen!

We ordered the chicken gyros meal, a pork souvlaki stick, and a kebab stick to share. It was the first time we tried chicken gyros; it was similar to chicken shawarma in texture, so it was slightly less tender than chicken souvlaki, but we found it to be more flavourful. The pork souvlaki was succulent and had a nice charcoal taste; it was possibly the best pork souvlaki we have ever had. The kebab was also good, but I have to give a shoutout to Sulva for having the best kebab we had in Athens.

Other than Sulva, I found the restaurants in the Plaka district to be tourist traps, so I am really glad my husband and I found Kalopsimeno on our walk back to our hotel after visiting Mount Lycabettus. It is around a 20-minute walk from either Mount Lycabettus or Plaka, so if you are nearby and don’t mind the walk, you should give them a try. They have delicious, authentic Greek food. If the food is in Greece, though, would it just be considered “food”? 🤔

Athens

For those of you who are planning on going to Athens, here are some tips:

• Near the Plaka district, a famous historic neighbourhood in Athens, is a lesser-known neighbourhood called Anafiotika. It is beneath the eastern side of the Acropolis and above Plaka. One of our tour guides had recommended going to Anafiotika and we are glad she did. Although tiny, it was picturesque, charming, and scenic. 

• Mount Lycabettus, the highest point in the centre of Athens, provides a beautiful view of the city. Unless it is hot when you visit Athens, the walk to the top isn’t difficult, but you also have the option to ride the funicular (a type of cable railway system) or drive within a 5-minute walk of Mount Lycabettus’ highest point. I would recommend going early before it gets really busy.

• Balthazar is a trendy bar and restaurant in Athens. Since I will not be doing a blog post about them, I wanted to give Balthazar at least an honourable mention because the restaurant is beautifully designed (and their food was good too). It is difficult to do its ambiance justice with words, so I will let the photos below do it for me. 

Please visit my Lucky’s Souvlakis blog post for tips if you are planning on going to Santorini.