Dinner at the Royal Olympic Hotel Athens

One of the Beautiful Views from the Rooftop Restaurant and Bar

 Upon our return from Santorini we hopped in a cab and headed into Athens to our final hotel in Greece. We were looking forward to seeing some of the sights we had heard so much about. We knew that we wanted to have a meal at the rooftop restaurant on top of the hotel because it has views of both the temple of Zeus and the Acropolis which are both completely lit up at night. We ventured up to the bar after getting settled, and were greeted with a spectacular view of the ancient marble and limestone structures. They are breathtaking and much closer than they appear to be in the photos.

You feel special when settling up to the bar with such an amazing backdrop. We wasted no time in ordering the first round of drinks. It was around 8 p.m. and we had not made reservations, so I headed over to see what we could get for the evening. At this time the place was almost totally empty seeing the most people showed up between 8:30-9:00. I told the hostess that we would be over in the bar and to come and get us when there was a table available with a full view. The drinks continued to flow as we chatted with Dave, a patron we met who was working in Athens for the next 6 months. The bar snacks were typical in the sense that they were nuts, either almonds or pistachios, but they had a staggering amount of salt on them. The pistachios were covered with grains of sea salt to the point where you would wince while eating them. This was not an issue seeing that both Terry and myself are big fans of salty foods.

At around 10:00 p.m. we were seated at our table that had a spectacular view as shown in the photos below taken the next day from the table we sat at.

The setting was very special, and really brought the days meals full circle. That morning we were eating breakfast on the edge of the caldera on Santorini, and now we are sitting in the shadows of some of  ancient Greece's most famous structures.

On to the food. We ordered two dishes that night. The first was sauteed scallops with mushrooms and smoked scallop tartar, but before the first dish came out we were given a stuffed tomato to start. This was a great surprise since the tomatoes there were some of the best that I have ever had. The tomatoes were stuffed with a rice or coos coos, and had cheese foam on the top, and all of this was of course covered in olive oil. The tomato was juicy and the rice added great texture and flavor. The olive oil was, as always, a great addition. It was a great way to start the meal, and the presentation was very nice as well.

The scallops were just as one would want them. Slightly browned on the top and bottom, while still moist and tender in the middle. This was complimented with mushrooms, and an amazing smoked scallop tartar. I had never had or heard of a scallop tartar before, but the flavor that it gave the dish was spectacular. The smokey flavor was really bold though you still had the mild and tender taste and texture from the raw scallop. The warm scallop and mushrooms served with a cold tartar gave the dish a balanced contrast of textures and temperature. Each bite had a lot going on an varied depending on what you decided to put on your fork. There was no losing combination, and after the last bite I was ready for the main course.

Next was the main course that we ordered. We decided to go with a special that they were offering that was big enough for two people to split. This sounded delicious at the time, but turned out to be under par for what we were expecting from this restaurant. The dish was a sea bass of some type, and it came with a plate of grilled veggies. There was a long wait, and after a while our server came out and told us that the fish had come out under cooked so they had sent it back to get cooked properly. When the dish finally made it to our table it looked amazing. The presentation of the fish, and the veggies was perfect. It was first presented as a whole fish, then taken to be cut for eating. The veggies were appetizing, and had nice grill marks.

 

 

The issue was that upon tasting the dish it lacked anything special. The fish was cooked well, and so were the veggies. The texture of the fish was slightly dry, but it was the flavor that was lacking. The addition of the olive oil helped, but it still did not have the sort of flavors we encountered in the dishes it followed. Then there were the veggies. The only reason that I call them veggies is because I honestly do not know what most of them were. They were hard to cut, and had very unique flavors that are not what I am looking for in a side. That plate was a let down, but the cocktails and spectacular view helped to ease the disappointment.

All in all, it was still a fun time and a good experience. We encountered some better food the next day while exploring which I will go over in detail in the next post.

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Santorini

The View from Our Hotel in Santorini

We headed to Santorini from our hotel in Piraeus via ferry. The ferries that they have in Europe are huge, and that was a new experience for me. We were still pretty tired, and had to get up at five to catch the four hour ferry ride. There was a deli counter where you could get snacks and drinks, and there were TV's through out for some entertainment(if you know Greek.) We settled in and had half of the sandwiches that the hotel had packed for us, or as it was referred to in Greece, toast. They were made like you mother made your sandwiches for school. White bread, a thin layer of turkey, a single piece of cheese, a lone lettuce leaf, mayo, and of course no crust. We reminisced over those for a while and then did our best at passing time.

When we arrived we had a rental car waiting for us, and I'll just say that driving on that island is not the easiest thing I have ever done. We finally made it to our hotel (pictured above) and the view was amazing due to the caldera left behind from one of the largest volcanic eruptions recorded, which occured there some 3,600 years previous.

Our room was not ready quite yet so we set off to see what we could find. We ended up at a winery down the other side of the island toward the beach. This is where we got our first taste of wine and food on the island. There we were able to get into some shade, but there was no escaping the raw humid heat that fell over the island. We ordered two dishes to go with the wine we were tasting. There was a plate of assorted hams and cheeses, and a dish with bread and olives.

The olive dish that you can see above was interesting. The olives were pretty good, though I much preferred the green olives. There was a olive oil soaked barley bread as well as sun dried tomatoes that were also soaked in olive oil. The bread was not to my taste as I found it to be bland and cumbersome. The sun dried tomatoes were softer and sweeter than you get here in the U.S. though they were not bad considering that I do not have much of a taste for sweet things.

You can see what is left of the meat and cheese spread above. The meats were interesting as well. There were several types of ham there, all cured and seasoned in a unique way. Some did not even look like ham, but sure enough it always was. The same goes for the cheeses. There were a lot of them, and it did not say why types they were or what type of milk they were made from. We had some that were rich with flavor, sharp to the tongue and firm in consistency. Those were the best. There were others that were in between, while some were just plain bland in comparison. The capers were a different story too. They lacked the strong salty punch that I was expecting to get. I had to add more as  I could not taste the first ones I had tried with the meat and cheese. In my opinion this was the better dish, but both were different from anything that I had tried while at wineries here so it was a fun experience. I wish I knew the different hams and cheeses....

After that winery we got moved into our hotel, and then explored the other beaches and wineries of the island. That is when we learned that we did not like the wine on the island at all. The only one that we really enjoyed was a bottle that we purchased from the first winery, and we ended up buying and drinking a second one later that night.

For dinner we both had gyros from different places, and they were on par with the ones that I have had here. I did have mine with pork and the taste of ham was different. They also included french fries which was delicious, but I am not sure if this is unique to there or if I have just never had an authentic gyro before.

Breakfast was something special the next morning. It is included with the room and you have a list of breakfasts to choose from. We went with the one that included smoked salmon and capers on toast with champagne and strawberries. It was a good choice, though nothing unique to where we were other than the breathtaking view that we had while eating it on our terrace where it was delivered.

In all Santorini was fun and beautiful. We did not get exposed to too much new cuisine, but had a good time with the meats and cheeses at the winery. Our breakfast was tasty and I will never forget that view, and the cool moist breeze coming over the caldera lip. At this point I am excited to see what Athens and Rome has in store for us.

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First Night in Greece, Piraeus Theoxenia Hotel

Piraeus Theoxenia Hotel

Our first night in Greece could have ended in disaster as it definitely started as nothing but a nightmare. We arrived, and took the hour long bus ride from the airport (which is in the middle of nowhere,) and get dropped off at the wrong stop. We arrive at our hotel after a questionable taxi ride, and instantly get sent to their "other building" to pay. In short they had overbooked, and did not tell us. The other building was a "sister hotel equal in quality," where we were now supposed to stay. They had us walking through the back streets in a not so good part of town as it was getting dark. It was sweltering out, and we were tired. The other hotel was horrible, and after a long argument with both hotels we ended up at the hotel above. This was our saving grace, they were nice, clean, and problem free.

After getting settled and figuring out how to get to our ferry then next morning (for which they made us sandwiches) we decided that it was time to eat. It was late and we were wiped out/still kinda rattled about earlier that night, so we headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant, Incognito Restaurant. When we arrived we were the only people there. We opened the menu and wondered if we were going to get food that had been sitting in the kitchen for a while since they were about to close, and didn't seem to have many customers that night. We ordered wine to start, which came generously poured, and continued to look over the menu.

We settled on two dishes. The first was prosciutto with Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, and fresh olive oil mixed with a vinegar.

The prosciutto was very fresh and light. There was no hint of the gamy tinge that you get with some prosciutto here. The olive oil and vinegar combination that they drizzled over the top of the dish was amazing. Greece is known for having good olive oil, and this was a testament to that. It was light and clean and complimented the other flavors in the dish very well. The Parmesan cheese was tasty too. It had the bold nutty and savory flavor that you want from Parmesan cheese, along with the crumbly and firm texture. The tomatoes were ripe and juicy almost mild compared to many others, and when put together in a bite with the cheese, prosciutto, and olive oil mix, you are introduced to so many complimentary flavors and textures that it delightful bite after bite.

It was after a couple of bites of that dish along with a couple sips of wine that the night seemed to calm down. The frustration from earlier, and the weariness from travel started to melt into the background as the meal and our new surrounding took a precedence.

I apologize for not having a picture of the main meal, but I had not gotten used to the idea of having a blog at that point, so I must admit there are some gaps in the photo coverage through some of Europe. We decided on a pasta, the type is escaping me at the moment, but it had a mushroom cream sauce and chicken. When it came out our worries of stale food were squashed. The pasta was cooked perfectly, the cream sauce was flavorful while not too heavy, and the chicken was seasoned and moist. The portion was huge, and the eating was good.

A good night by the time we made it to bed. A horrible start with a comforting ending. The stress of the day was eventually washed away by a kind staff, good food, and a couple glasses of wine.

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It Begins, Post 1: Mussles on the Streets of Istanbul

Two Types of Mussels from a Street Vendor in Taksim Square

This first post is going to start with my recent trip to Europe. The trip took my girlfriend Terry and I from Istanbul --where I met up with Terry who had already been there for two weeks-- through Athens, Santorini, and Rome. I will be putting up posts of various meals and snacks from the whole trip.

Back to Istanbul. As you can see in the picture above the mussels are different from what you would expect when ordering them here in the U.S. The first plate has fried mussels on a stick accompanied by a type of yogurt sauce. This was the first meal that I had in Turkey, and is one of only two meals seeing that I was there for just under 24 hours. At this point, 11:00 p.m. I am starving and those mussels are looking really good. I dipped the fried mussel into the sauce and took a bite not knowing what to expect, and was pleasantly greeted with a crisp fried shell with a nicely cooked moist mussel waiting inside. The sauce is a good addition due to its consistency, and not having too strong of a flavor thus leaving the taste of the mussel intact. This was really good, and a departure from any mussel dish I had ever tried before that point.

Now the first dish is totally different from the second. The second mussel dish was more what I was used to seeing, being that it was still in its shell, but the stuffing was what made it interesting. The mussel shell had been stuffed with a spiced/herbed rice. Some say that this is also accompanied with pine nuts and currants, but this was not the case with these. Perched on top of the rice is the mussel, with a squeeze of lemon ready to be taken in a single bite. Upon taking that bite you are met with a tender mussel, and the wonderful slightly spicy slightly sweet seasoning on the rice. The rice is thick, and stuck together giving it some body, and a really good texture. This is all brought together with the spritz of lemon.

First impression: pretty good for food from a street vendor. I am not sure I would normally trust seafood from a street vendor as my first meal in Turkey, but Terry insisted that we head straight to the mussels, and she was right. It was Ramadan when we were there so the streets were teaming with people, and there was a lot of energy. This was the perfect snack to have before getting some beers and watching the scene of a Friday night in Taksim Square (a popular area for nightlife, and the nicer hotels of Istanbul.)

That was all the food we had that night as we left the street vendor to find a place with beer, and ended up sitting at a nice little bar catching up, and people watching (photo below.) If you are interested in what those stuffed mussels tasted like, but don't think you will be in Istanbul anytime soon then take a look at this link where I found a recipe claiming to be mussels Istanbul street style: Stuffed Mussels Recipe. I have not tried this yet, so please let me know what you think if you decide to make it.

The view from the bar we found after eating the mussels

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