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.