What are the must-try dishes while you are in Greece – How to Eat like a Greek!

Greece offers amazing food, with local vegetables, cheeses and meat. Although the menu could be huge and cover every passion you may have, here is a list of the must-try dishes in Greece.

A. Try these amazing Greek Food Starters:

1.Tzatziki (yogurt with cucumber and garlic)

Tzatziki is a greek sauce that you can try with grilled meats or as a dip with bread. Tzatziki is made of strained yogurt which comes from sheep or goat milk and it is mixed with gralic, salt, cucumbers and olive oil. You may add mint, dill or parsley. Try it with bread, fried potatoes and grilled meat or grilled fish. And get a mint for your breadth afterwards 🙂

Melitzanosalata (eggplant salad).

This is made with eggplants, olive oil, garlic and sometimes with greek cheese (feta cheese) on top, split into pieces. Try it with grilled meat or fried fish.

Ntolmadakia (grape leaves stuffed with rice)

A great starter, that you can also find in Turkey. It is made of grape leaves, stuffed with rice and sometimes with mince. Try it with tzatziki (Yes, Tzatziki is like the Coke – you can combine it with almost everything!)

Fried potatoes (Greek french fries)

Make sure you get the fresh greek french fries. Some restaurants serve pre-fried ones, which are nowhere close to the original ones. Ask before you order.

Greek Salad

This is the most well known dish of Greece. Amazing salad. Especially in the summer. Cucumber, tomato, greek feta cheese, onions, pepper and olive oil. Secret tip: Take a piece of bread and make a “dive” as it is called in Greece, in the olive oil, which carries all the flavors of the vegetables.

Main Courses:
Souvlaki (sticks with pork meat, grilled)

Try them with greek french fries, tzatziki and pita. And a greek salad.

Paidakia (lamb chops)

These are grilled lamb chops, just with lemon. You know that lamb has a special odour and taste that is quiet different from the pork or vein. Some love them, some hate them.

Mousaka

A plate of turkish origin, with eggplant, besamel, mince, and sometimes other vegetables. Try one piece. No more.

Pastitsio

Pasta, with mince and besamel. Fantastic in the summer, together with greek feta and a greek salad. Make sure it is freshly cooked and served.

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Fish (e.g. ask for Barbounia, Koutsomoures, which are red fish fried)

Stuffed calamari

Grilled Octopus

Spaghetti with Lobster (Astakomakaronada in Greek)

This is one of the most famous dishes during the summer in Greece and especially in the greek islands. There are many ways to cook the lobster when you combine it with Spaghetti. Usually, the cook it with a red sauce from fresh tomatoes and some herbs. It is an expensive dish to try but it worths it!

C. Deserts You Can Try in Greece

Galaktompoureko (milk pie)

Revani

The most famous place for Revani in Greece is a town in northern Greece, called “Veroia”. However, you can enjoy this in many places all over Greece. It is like a cake, with extra syrup and a light flavor of orange. Amazing and light!

Greek Halvas

Icecream (Try kaimaki flavor and add “Vyssino”

Kaimaki flavor is a little bit like vanilla with a twist.

Mpaklavas Sweet

This sweet comes from Turkey. It is really tasty and it is quiet sweet.

You should also try Greek coffees: Try freddo espresso, freddo capuccino and greek frappe.

Freddo espresso: A top Invention in Greece, since 2000!

Top invention of the 2000 decade in Greece! Even Italians want to copy this to their own country. You get a hot espresso (double one usually) and you put some sugar in it. Then you place an ice-cube and you mix it until it cools down. Then you add the ice-cubes and you enjoy.

Freddo Cappuccino:

One of the top inventions in Greece! You will not find this easily in other countries, not even in Italy! In Greece people don’t like the hot coffees in the summer. Moreover, Greeks don’t like that much the very sweet cold coffees that Starbucks or other similar chains create for the summer.

So, one of the top innovations of the last 15 years in Greece, was the Freddo Cappucino! This is based on the hot espresso coffee and you add some sugar and one icecube and you mix it. After that you add the icecubes. Moreover, you get a milk with full fat and you hit it until it becomes more “foamy” and you add it on top of the coffee you created. The result is the following – usually people adore it! If you don’t like the milk, you can get it just with coffee and without any milk – in that case it is called “Freddo Espresso”.

The best coffee chains in Greece to try that is “Everest”, where you can get it in Brazilian or Arabica coffee selection and “Grigoris”. Of course, this is a mainstream coffee in Greece and you will find it almost everywhere nowdays.

Greek Frappe:

Italians are great in hot coffees like espresso and cappuccino. Greeks are great in two kinds of coffees: The hot one, which is called “the turkish coffee – or greek coffee” and the cold ones. The first cold coffee invented in Greece by Nestle, back in the 1980s is the “frappe coffee”. This is a really strong coffee that has a special way to prepare. You get some Nestle frappe coffee sliced beans and you mix them with sugar. Then you put some water and you start to shake it, or you mix it with a hand-mixer. Then you add the ice cubes. The result is a cool, tasty coffee, which is called “frappe”. It also gets a strong foam on top of it!

It’s a strong coffee and you have to drink it slowly, otherwise you may get an issue with your stomach. Don’t drink more than one per day if you are not used to it – otherwise you will not sleep during the night.

This coffee is not that mainstream anymore in Greece. The young-generation snobs it and prefers to drink the Fredo Espresso or Fredo Cappuccino, which are based on the italian espresso coffee. Actually, we also prefer Freddo Espresso to the Greek Frappe.

What could you ask more? Simply an amazing kitchen, probably one of the best 5 on earth, together with Italian, Mexican, French and Spanish cuisine. Enjoy!