Varoulko 'Athens' Finest Seafood Restaurant'

  • by XpatAthens
  • Monday, 16 February 2015
Varoulko 'Athens' Finest Seafood Restaurant'
If the priceless view of the Acropolis doesn’t distract you from appreciating the cuisine, you might walk away thinking, “I just had one of the best meals of my life here. Try the smoked eel; artichokes with fish roe; crayfish with sun-dried tomatoes; monkfish livers with soy sauce, honey, and balsamic vinegar, sea bass and monkfish. The more adventurous eaters should not miss the sweetbreads, goat stew, and tripe soup.

 

Seafood legend Lefteris Lazarou won the Michelin race, gaining the country’s first star for Greek food—and rightly so, say the hordes clamoring for tables at this wood-floored, white-walled dining room (belonging to Hotel Eridanus) or a prized one on the terrace overlooking the Acropolis. Lazarou rises before dawn to source his psari (baked seafood dishes) and treats them in ways that veer into classical French territory without ever leaving Greece. Typical are cuttlefish risotto with caramelized garlic and bay leaf, and grouper with wild greens braised in egg-lemon sauce. Meat dishes are fewer, but just as amazing, such as his take on patsa, the workingman’s tripe soup, served in a martini glass.

 

Dinner for 2 from about 120€, fish priced by the kilo

80 Piraeus, Athens
210/522-8400
www.varoulko.gr 

 

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LIFE & CULTURE