This is a collection of all our travels around Greece from the very north to the very south visiting places like Thessaloniki, Athens and Crete trying all these incredible local foods such as bougatsa, souvlaki, galaktoboureko and many more local traditional foods. And we’re going to start from the beautiful island of Crete. We are starting our day at Bougatsa Chanias a famous local bougatsa place where they serve only one type of bougatsa with cheese the weight is measured on a very antique scales cut in the same metal dish and then served Kalimera from Chania, Crete and you cannot start your day in Chania without a proper traditional bougatsa and this one is different than the rest of the Greece because it has Mizithra the local Cretan cheese and then it’s topped with sugar or cinnamon so let’s go WOW, it’s full of cheese the pastry is really, really thin, crunchy this is hands down the best bougatsa I’ve tried so far, amazing. But let’s give it a go with some sugar on top as well. Incredible taste the cheese is quite savory the sugar is sweet I feel that cinnamon as well from before for just incredible combination of flavors Gia mas!
Best bougatsa ever! The leaf, the pastry, the outside here we stretch it with olive oil, not butter and taste better it’s more elegant it’s more soft and the cheese is unique it’s only here in Chania, mixed milk – goat and sheep. Local half goat, half sheep’s cheese Mizithra and the olive oil used for pastry instead of butter are two key differences comparing this bougatsa to the rest of the Greece Great start of our Chania food tour, but let’s go and check out some more places. We are here in the mountain village of Theriso outside of Chania and this is very famous village for its taverns we stopped here for a lunch at the Taverna Limeri behind me and we’re going to enjoy some proper Cretan food, so let’s go! Very traditional village taverna full of history.
The food started to arrive: Local salad… Staka..
. Hand cut fried potatoes. Our food started to arrive and we got some an incredible looking local salad and then we got a trademark of Chania, Staka produce of goat’s milk something in between butter and cheese best eaten if you put some fried potatoes inside mix it and then eat this really smells amazing, salad looks absolutely gorgeous so let’s start. There’s some figs inside the salad as well dried figs, Mizithra the trademark of Chania and Crete. A mixture of freshness on my plate Great Cretan cheese, sweetness from that fig, fresh cucumber of course fresh tomatoes as well.
A recipe for success definitely! Next thing to try is Staka with fried eggs and we dipped couple of potatoes as well. Very simple looking but locally very famous dish. Many people told me about “Staka” the local delicacy but let’s try it now. This taste is just purely amazing I don’t know how else to describe it?
I’ve never tried anything like it, it’s buttery it’s a bit cheesy, egg, potato, incredible combination this dish is worth coming to this mountain on its own let alone all this other beautiful food, gia-mas! Lamb chops fried with olive oil and some potatoes as well. Some juicy looking lamb. It’s so tender, really melts in your mouth just an amazing local soft and tender tasty lamb. It’s not fatty, lean, nice and tender lamb.
Actually this is our last dish and it’s called: Apaki and these are pork cuts smoked on a barbecue. Ohhh, this pork is out of this world, very strong smoky taste it’s tender it’s again very soft meat and then honey and lemon on top just explosion of flavors. That smoky taste is really something special. We were about to leave the restaurant but then the owner stopped us and said: “No, no you cannot leave just like that.” So we got complimentary Loukoumades the traditional Greek dessert and also so we got Raki the local spirit that we already tried as this is the custom they bring some complimentary Raki to your table.
Ohhh, cinnamon taste really takes over once you take a bite it bursts with that sweet syrup inside nice, warm, beautiful dessert. Gia-mas, gia-mas (yamas)! I think the ending couldn’t be better to this lunch at Theriso Village and this restaurant as well. Total price 48.80€.
We stopped here this is in the middle of the mountain in the middle of the nature, amazing looking local tavern and of course there is always welcoming jug of water the Greek custom our stomachs are full with Staka and all that other food that we ate but now we’re going to refresh ourselves with some local squeezed orange juice, lemonade and frappe. Our refreshments are here so gia-mas! We needed this, after a short refreshment we’re going to continue our journey so see you at the next place. Continuing to the famous Thesaloniki for some more delicious Greek food. Behind me is “10 To Kalo” and this will be our first stop in Thessaloniki Where we’re going to enjoy some amazing local gyros the place is quite busy the smell is amazing just when you come near the shop a lot of people coming in taking for takeaway or to sit and eat and this guy is not stopping just taking all the ingredients from one side to the other finishing off this gyro and putting of course the trademark of Thessaloniki gyros, the mustard and ketchup at the end.
we ordered a plate of mixed chicken and pork gyro and we ordered two pork gyro pitas, so let’s start. This is a monster gyro pita and it has everything inside from tomato, onion, ketchup, mustard and of course tzatziki. this is a very messy “monster gyros pita” and it’s very hard to find the perfect spot where to bite it how huge it is but the pita bread is very nice so soft and then the meat nice, smoky, tender, crunchy on the outside…
Inside juicy and nice, perfect! the fries are also fresh and nice I don’t think they’re hand cut but everything else is just perfect a proper gyros from Thessaloniki. but let’s also try the chicken gyros from that plate nice and spicy the same like the pork gyros but then you feel the difference it’s a little bit lighter meat not as fatty as the pork one and also a little bit less juicy but again amazing gyros as well. You just can’t beat a good gyro pita. Behind me is “Galaktoboureko Galafianakis” and this is a local very famous shop for galaktoboureko pastry and baklavas and this is a place where you can try the local traditional, freshly made, galaktoboureko, so let’s go and check them out.
But galaktoboureko is their main thing and this is where they make them and bake fresh all the time and when you come inside there is this incredible buttery and sweet smell throughout the shop and there are different sizes of galaktoboureko you can buy different size but you can also buy by slice from this big tray We got our galaktoboureko and unfortunately that shop is too small it’s only takeaway but across this shop there is a cafe we ordered some drinks and we’re going to sit here and try our galaktoboureko, so let’s go! Galaktoboureko has a similar pastry like bougatsa but more layers and it’s much more crunchy and then it has this very sweet vanilla stuffing inside and this pastry is fresh out of the oven, hot and it’s also drenched in this sweet syrup this is one of the foods that is very hard to eat and not get messy. The taste is just amazing I never tried it before but this is just one of those comforting desserts that are not really healthy, they are full of calories they’re just beautiful this is so tasty. There is a strong buttery taste but also vanilla cream inside and very crunchy..
. crunchy and a bit of soft in the same time because it’s drenched in this syrup, amazing! As a bonus for our purchase we also got these small pastries these are baklava style pastries, a little bit different and they have almond in the middle so let’s go Very sweet, extremely crunchy baklava-like pastry and that almond in the middle the roast almond really enhances the taste, great dessert. But let’s go with one more bite of this beautiful galaktoboureko Such a heavy, hearty, but beautiful and tasty dessert it’s still hot 100% fresh the stuffing is a mix of vanilla cream and semolina then this beautiful pastry, the sweet syrup such a perfect and balanced combination. I just went back to Galafianakis shop to tell that lady how happy we were with galaktoboureko and baklavas.
And I told her it was delicious but then full of calories and she told me not to worry about the calories because galaktoboureko is made of all the best ingredients: the best eggs, milk and as well the high quality butter, so no wonder that it’s so good so delicious these people don’t play around they use high quality ingredients combined with a long tradition. Anyway this was great and we can barely move we have to see what to do next until we get hungry and then continue to our lunch destination Weather changed completely today and it’s even snowing and behind me is “Taverna Asylo” and this is a proper, local place where we’re going to enjoy some great Greek food so let’s go We got seated at Taverna Asylo and this is a proper local place there are mostly Greek people here I don’t see any tourists only locals and the smell is incredible once you enter the tavern because just on the right side is their kitchen and there’s a kontosouvli grill there and there’s a normal grill and a lot of Greek food getting prepared and we ordered some very interesting things and they started you arrive quite quick! We got “horiatiki” the local Greek salad then we got these roast spicy peppers some hand cut french fries and I also got “Raki”, so gia-mas! These people here they work quite fast, my kontosouvli chicken is here as well and then some amazing looking tzatziki so let’s dig in. Kontosouvli chicken grilled for a long time on that horizontal rotating spit, and it is grilled slowly over the very low heat and then these bits end up in that juicy bath at the bottom this should be a real delicacy, so let’s go.
This type of grilling creates some amazing chicken because all these bits here they’re very crunchy, they’re very caramelized and then inside it’s nice soft and a bit juicy as well. Let’s try with this spicy sauce. Very thick, quite savory, very spicy sauce, reminds a bit on ketchup but it’s not. This pepper has been roasted then peeled and then drenched in this olive oil. Okay, quite spicy, this is now a proper spicy even comparing to this sauce.
Time to try the Greek salad. Like everywhere else that extremely crisp cucumber, very fresh and very nice fetta as well. One more order is here and this is Greek meats plate for two. Looks amazing, smells even better and this is the next thing after that chicken kontosouvli. The next thing to try are “Bifteki” the Greek meatballs or polpettes Just an incredible smoky taste from that charcoal powered grill and then the meat, very nice, juicy, soft, easy to chew and another delicious Greek treat.
And of course again a little bit of cheating with some tzatziki on top. Greek food as well as this atmosphere in this taverna, definitely improves your mood. A thick slice of bacon, nicely grilled. Nice and juicy and again that beautiful smoky taste Next thing on this meat plate is this boneless chicken thigh, nicely grilled with some oregano on top. Beautiful texture of this meat, again that perfect, smoky taste just an incredible bite.
Another perfectly grilled meat and this time it’s a pork neck, nice, juicy, fatty, so let’s go! This pork neck is nice and tasty but it’s really not as juicy as I expected so let’s see if tzatziki can improve it? But let’s go back just to improve the impression with that chicken thigh with some of that red sauce. But definitely I’m going to finish this meat tour with chicken kontosouvli, everything else was great but chicken kontosouvli is something that’s really hard to beat! An incredible food experience at Taverna Asylo the service was fast and professional all the meats were great I suppose the fries as well but I didn’t get a chance to try them because my kids finished them before me but everything was absolutely perfect and that chicken kontosouvli it’s a league on its own.
Anyway, gia-mas! Of course, the next place is Athens. I am at the iconic souvlaki-kalamaki place in the center of Athens – Kosta and there is a huge queue this reminds me of Rome where you need to stay in a long queue to wait for your food but obviously this is worth it so, let’s wait a bit and get our kalamaki my pork kalamaki pita is finally here and it comes with a standard serving of French fries, tomato sauce, tomatoes, onions and some other spices, nicely grilled pita bread and the inside is really, really inviting chunks of some pork kalamaki French fries tomato sauce, tomatoes, onions everything is here so let’s go! Definitely worth awaiting it has very nice smoky taste from that grill and of course this tomato and everything that follows just improves the taste and everything else could be a little bit juicier if you ask me to be honest but other than that it’s really, really good. very delicious very good meal on the go again not as juicy as I expected of course we’re going to go around Athens and try some of the same food but in some other places, yiamas!
Behind me is a place called “Lukumades” making Greek authentic loukoumades the traditional dessert but these guys took it to the next level they use pistachio topping, chocolate, honey, ice cream, whatever you wish they can put on top of your loukoumades and this is a place we’re definitely I’m going to make a stop but now we need to go and eat some more of the savory stuff, let’s go! Just down the Ermou Road and behind me is another kalamaki place called “o Elvis” so let’s go and check it out. the whole place smells just incredible and my kalamaki is here I ordered a pork one so we keep it equal with the previous place but here they don’t serve in pita they serve in a box with some chips and some bread this is I think even more traditional way so let’s go with the first bite! Okay now this one has that WOW effect that I was looking for! Costa’s souvlaki Costa’s kalamaki was quite good and that sauce improves the taste and everything but this this is the real stuff, juicy, nice, tasty pork!
Let’s go with a French fries. Very nice fries you can tell that they are hand cut again that’s recognizable Greek style of hand cut potatoes Definitely one of the best kalamakis or souvlakis that I’ve eaten, top! I think now it’s the time to try these “lukumades” let’s go! well as promised I’m going to try some loukoumades stuffed with bougatsa cream some crispy looking loukoumades and these ones are stuffed with bougatsa vanilla cream, such a nice and sweet smell, I never tried these before, so let’s go! The outer layer is absolutely crispy and bougatsa cream is popping out everywhere.
nice and crunchy sweet it’s not too sweet though, very nice taste inside there is of course bougatsa cream, really enjoyable dessert. Nothing can ever beat the places which are specialized in making only one food like this loukoumades here great and perfect loukoumades desserts. I finally did it! Last night I missed my gyros but this time I was here on time! I’m in front of well-known Achileas Gyros and even though they work until midnight and I’m here around 21:00 in the evening the gyro is finished so that’s it.
.. The queue is getting bigger it’s more intense as the time goes by, but anyway here is the famous gyros from Achileas and as you could see it is prepared more traditionally also that “rotisserie” has those flaps probably to keep it nice and moist and these people inside they work like machines and people just coming in going out taking their orders and uh I mean there are a lot of reviews about this place there are some mixed as well some people really love it some people say it’s not worth the hype but this is why I was persistent to come here and finally get my hands on this gyros and try so, let’s go! Very nice taste of Tzatziki meat is quite succulent, quite juicy very good first bite I mean it was really worth coming again here. When you bite into the meat at first you think it’s kind of tough but actually it’s not it’s a, it’s a proper meaty taste nice, juicy and it’s quite different than most of the gyros that you would eat around most of the places because it’s not handmade a lot of them they get industrial version of gyros but this place here makes it in a traditional way and that’s why it’s different.
The meat is also seasoned differently than at the other gyros places and that also makes a huge difference. As advised I also got a chicken kalamaki pita with the special sauce, so let’s go. The special sauce is a bit spicy and it really creates a difference, chicken is nice it’s not that juicy but nice overall taste and of course all the ingredients and this sauce really create something special, yiamas! But if we talk about kalamaki on its own this would come as number three after Costas and number one is of course the king – Elvis, yiamas! If you want to always eat the same gyros then you should go to the other places but if you want to try something completely different then Achileas is your place!
But let’s jump back to the north of Greece to Thessaloniki. We just arrived at Kanoula restaurant this is very local very traditional Greek style restaurant also very highly rated so we can’t wait to try all the dishes. Kanoula Greek salad, Tzatziki, kavurma with eggs, aha grilled eggplant! Some of the dishes already arrived and the colors are just incredible it looks insane it smells even better. Tzatziki is here as well as Kanoula Greek salad.
Salad looks fantastic all these fresh vegetable, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, capers, olives, crumbled cheese on top and then grilled Greek eggplant stuffed with cheese, tomato, oregano and parsley. First thing to try is going to be this delicious looking eggplant. Nice and salty feta cheese, ripen juicy tomatoes and herbs on top. Amazing appetizer, cheers! Grilled mushrooms arrived but not only them.
Kavurma with fried eggs and some proper Greek moussaka are here as well and this completes our order .Amazing colors even on this kavurma with fried eggs some peppers cherry tomatoes this is I think the best served kavurma that I’ve ever seen and this mousaka is picture perfect! While it’s hot I need to try moussaka next. Just melting in my mouth, simply put perfect! That’s what Greek moussaka should be.
That great bechamel on top, nice minced meat, eggplant, potato all these tastes coming together, incredible! let’s try these juicy looking grilled mushrooms, let’s go! A bit acidic definitely some balsamic oil on top, nice, juicy, fresh taste. Time to try kavurma with fried eggs. Just to scoop up everything on my fork, let’s go!
Nice, tasty a bit of a saltiness with kavurma which is that proper taste, fragrancy of the peppers and cherry tomato just improves everything thumbs up for this dish! Definitely a new approach to a Greek salad there is some zucchini as well. Very crisp vegetable, very fresh salad. Vibrant colors and great taste. Out of all these dishes here I don’t know if I could choose one to say that this is the best everything is so amazing so tasty so fresh but for me the biggest surprise was the grilled eggplant with cheese, tomatoes and spices on top, cheers!
Total price € 45.40 Behind me is Trigona Elenidi and this is the staple dessert of Thessaloniki, the small triangular cones of crispy dough filled with fresh vanilla cream, so let’s go! I’ve heard a lot of stories about this dessert but now finally I can try it. Cheers! WOW!
!! Cool vanilla cream very, very tasty and the pastry is so crunchy, just look at all these layers the pastry is so flaky, crunchy, soft, everything at the same time, cool vanilla cream inside…
It’s on a sweet side to be honest a little bit sweeter, definitely one of the best desserts you can eat in Thessaloniki. Yiamas! And we are back in Crete to finish this journey with some more amazing food. Salt, salt, salt because you don’t put nothing else! We are at the “To Antikristo” restaurant and this restaurant is a bit away from the Chania City center and it’s very famous for its traditional Cretan food especially the meats which they roast in the traditional style barbecue this is where the name comes from “Antikristo” the opposite way they are roasting it not on the fire but beside the fire and the food the ambient everything seems to be amazing we can’t wait to try the food.
As all those meats started to cook just now, but now we’re going to check some other typical Cretan dishes. Starting off with freshly made generous Cretan salad. Bread and tomatoes on the bottom and then just the other ingredients slowly piling up This is soft cheese on the top, olives which are in dried yeah yes in the salt as well Wow! So some peppers, this is fruit, okay one of those, this onion, I don’t know in English the name so don’t ask me! Kaperi and this is Kritamu, so these are all in like salt, salty so brine yeah.
So we put olive oil, oregano! Generous amount of olive oil. Truly breathtaking salad! Just looking at this salad it makes you happy and homemade bread topped with olive oil and oregano. Cheese on top is called Mizithra and this is half goat’s half sheep’s local cheese.
Our Cretan salad is here and the bread of course and obviously Crete is not only island of meats but of salads as well and it looks absolutely appetizing, so let’s dig in! And to scoop up some of this cheese definitely. I definitely cannot put all of the ingredients in one bite but let’s go with some of the basic ones. The potato goes so well with a cucumber and tomatoes..
. let’s go! But this Cretan salad is practically like a Greek salad on steroids, cheers! But then pork belly, bureki and some “Gigantes” beans arrived. Juicy looking pork belly in garlic sauce.
Made of zucchini, cheese and pastry, Cretan boureki. and gigantes the traditional gigantic beans baked in some very tasty sauce. Our food is here looks absolutely incredible smells incredible as well we got “Gigantes” the gigantic beans we got a Boureki and we got pork belly in garlic sauce so let’s start. This Boureki pie is actually with zucchini with a pumpkin, cheese, eggs, pastry on top, nice salty taste really something exquisite I haven’t eaten or tried anything like this before such a tasty surprise Baked beans with some onions and peppers it has very nice red sauce as well. Very nice taste you can feel a lot of paprika, pepper as well it’s not spicy it’s almost kind of spicy but it’s really not there are also some nice sweet carrots inside the beans are so soft they practically melt in your mouth.
Amazing dish! No meat but still extremely tasty. It looks really tasty and juicy, so let’s go! Nice and soft pork belly you can feel the garlic taste follows every other dish that we tried here today again amazing quality amazing taste, really great experience being here and trying all this food. Another thumbs up!
But let’s see what else is cooking in the kitchen and let’s check on that meat. Zoran got some more orders for the “antikristo” grill so he’s preparing couple of more meats. The lamb is slowly getting done but is still far from finished. This is one of those incredible places where you just enjoy everything, the ambient and uh the amazing food the interesting story about this restaurant is that the owner the man who keeps this Cretan food tradition alive, is actually from Serbia originally, his wife is local so this is a family business and two of them they keep the traditional life they produce all these amazing foods and important thing to mind this place needs to be booked in advance. Today we didn’t try lamb or pork from that barbecue my desire was to try lamb but nonetheless the food that we ordered today that we ate is just top level.
We got some desserts for farewell and inhouse made Raki with honey, so definitely great experience at “To Antikristo”! I hope you enjoyed this video and if you did please like and subscribe and I will see you next time, all the best.
