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Vegan Must Eats -- Athens

Updated: Jan 17, 2019

Welcome back! Tradishes aside, there are a number of really great places I found while living in Athens, bearing in mind the vast majority of my time was spent on the islands, I did spend a fair amount of time traipsing about the cradle of democracy looking for some good veggie chow 😄😄


So here's my list of must eats for the big olive!


Avocado

Nikis 30, Syntagma, 105 57 Athens, Greece Lets 'avo little chat about the best place to rock out with your guac out 🥑🥑🥑😜😜😜

Gone are the days when I would simply associate avocado with toast!


This place is an entirely vegetarian cafe with a HUGE menu which kindly includes a generous handful of scrumdiddlyumptious vegan options!


They also have a specials menu which was different every time I went. The first special that I tried there was a mock tuna salad sandwich and let me tell you -- as someone who has craved tuna every day since going vegan and someone who faces a daily struggle not to lick the lid of strangers' tuna cans, purely for the sake of ethics and integrity AND AS SOMEONE WHO STILL HAS NOT TASTED the glory that is the canned goodness that vegans have recently replicated -- I WAS SO DOWN! Here are my findings, firstly, the texture was spot on! Like, eerily perfect, 10/10 to Avocado for that, however, secondly, it didn't taste like tuna 😔😔😔 BUT THIRDLY! It did taste really good! 😊😊😊


This is what I ate the last time I was there:

From memory this was a vegan chick'n sandwich with rocket and a mayo-ey dressing AND that bread definitely had some cheesey goodness on it as well 🤤🤤 It was a seriously satisfying and yummy meal! AND it was served with a side of tortilla chips and guac! DO YOU NEED ANY OTHER REASON TO COME HERE?! I also want to mention the cozy, homey vibes this place has its a lovely place to chill out between sight seeing and the staff are super friendly too 😊 Oh and they also have a vegan milkshake! Seriously, DO YOU NEED ANOTHER REASON TO COME HERE!?


And right next to Avocado was...

ACTUAL AVOCADOES! 🥑🥑🥑🥑🥑🥑🥑🥑🥑 😂😂😂😂😂😂


You have no idea how much this literally made my day 😂😂


If you are fortunate enough to be staying somewhere with a kitchen at your disposal, like at an Airbnb or an awesome hostel like *cough cough* AthenStyle *cough*


Then this is actually an awesome place to visit! Because, this place, 4 Season's Bio, is is an organic food market! You've got your organic fruit and veg, a bakery and a deli which means you're spoilt for ethical choice already! BUT you also have a selection of toiletries which are cruelty free!!!! I REPEAT CRUELTY FREE AND ORGANIC BEAUTY PRODUCTS....IN GREECE! GREEECE! That means suncream that WON'T give you cancer!!!!! 😱😱😱


I know, I know, I was excited too!! I didn't have a lot of time to explore here because I was on a very time sensitive, shampoo shopping mission so, I beelined for the toiletry section but I did spy some vegan cheese on my power walk through the place and it's also on Happy Cow so I completely stand behind it as a place worth checking out!


#followthem Insta handle: 4seasonsbio

Veganaki

Athanasiou Diakou 38, Kallirois, 117 43

Athens, Greece

This is the Plastos option of the Traditional Pie Plate, which was my choice when I visited Veganaki in October. Basically its a spinach and leak pie with tzatziki, tofu and tomato. Now, after almost 6 months of not being able to try tzatziki, you do not know how much this meant to me! I really didn't think I would like tzatziki, I must have had it when I was a younger or something but whatever the reason, I had this feeling that I wasn't going to enjoy it BUT I still just wanted to experience it because it is so quintessentially Greek! And man, I cleaned this dish up!


As a passionately devoted fan of tofu I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it's the bomb even when it's cold 😜 But it is!


Another thing I really loved about Veganaki was it's tea! ☕️ ☕️ They have 12 loose leaf, organic and fair trade teas which is quite the ethical selection!


They also serve fair trade and world land trust coffee AS WELL AS fresh cakes which are baked daily! 😋😋🤤🤤🤤


I was really, happily surprised, when I ordered my green tea because I watched the man serving me take this tin off the shelf and then spoon loose leaf tea from it into a little fabric sachet and then fold it over the rim of the cup securing it with the lid which was 100% compostable! GO ATHENS! An environmentally conscious approach to anything is seriously rare there guys, for me, this was a, "there may be hope for humanity after all", kind of moment and it warmed my soul 🥰🥰


Here's a cheeky peak at the menu for you :P



Vegan Nation

Ermou 86, Monastiraki, 105 54

Athens, Greece


Ahh Vegan Nation, the feelings of home and comfort that flood my soul when these two words are placed side by side.


For me, this place is the physical, personification of the words, "Shut up and take my money".


Vegan Nation is located literally less than a minutes walk from AthenStyle hostel and because of this convenient location I ate there on practically a daily basis when I was in Athens. They are also literally spitting distance from Monastiraki square so their easy to find!


They don't even serve breakfast food but I still had breakie here...every day 😂😂😂


Just check out that insta feed 😍😍😍


Seeing the Vegan Nation sign after a 6 hour commute back to Athens from Ios was like seeing Gandalf arrive with the Rohirrim in the last legs of the battle for Helms Deep, every time I stepped off that bus 🙏🙏


Need I even describe to you the laughably impossible task of locating vegan food on a Greek ferry? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no. This place was the mecca I reached after a long, starving pilgrimage back home. Praise be upon Demeter, Goddess of nourishment and growth of plants, you are merciful and reward the worthy.


🌿🐥🐮🐷🐑🐠🐟🦞🦀🐇🐝🦆🌱


And did I mention that they also have awesome T-shirts?

Btw I have a handful of finely tuned skills in this life of mine and creating catchy af hashtags that most people will probably not understand is one of them. I am offering my services to anyone who may need them, hit me up 😉😉


They also have really cute trucker hats! Sadly, I don't have any pictures of them 😔😔 BUT, if you go in you will definitely see them because the staff are always reppin' the merch 😜😜


I'd also really like to give this place a shout out for their environmental awareness. When I first started coming here back in May of this year they had mostly cardboard packaging which had a little plastic window on it so that you could see the food inside but their carrier bags were paper, their cutlery was wooden and they didn't use lids for their takeaway paper cups; which I realise for some people might be annoying but I LOVED it! Anyway, somewhere along the line they started using completely cardboard boxes and ditched the plastic film altogether! Which I was really happy about 😊😊


In these pics you can see what their old packaging looked like, back in the beginning of the year, as well as some delicious food porn 😂😂😂


Much love always to this place, cannot recommend it enough 🥰🙏😽


Savvas

Ermou 91, Monastiraki, 105 55

Athens, Greece

(literally across the road from Vegan Nation)


PRO TIP: In the Greek Alphabet, B is pronounced like V so don't be confused when you see the sign and the menus saying "Sabbas"

The majority of the food here is meat and dairy heavy because Savvas offers an authentic Greek culinary experience but they do have one of my favourite dishes ever...


FUN FACT ALERT: the Ottoman empire ruled Greece for 400 years of blood shed and tyranny BUT they did leave behind some AWESOME things like...Baklava! WHICH IS TRADITIONALLY VEGAN but the Greeks are obsessed with honey 🙄🙄 AND another food they left behind (thanks be, once again, to Demeter), was...FALAFEL

*cue angelic music*

Accurate representation of how the Falafel Platter is served at Savvas 😂😂😂 But, this is not an accurate representation of my photoshop skills...shut up 😫😫


The Falafel platter comes in 2 sizes, platter for one and platter for two, this my friends, is the platter for one! And I am ashamed to say that, even though I am possessed with the appetite of a teenage boy, I have never finished it 😭😭😭


As you can see the serving sizes here are enormous! So, there are always left overs, which means more for later!


Here's a nice close up photo of the falafel platter for you all, courtesy of trip advisor 😜😜

🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤


Oh the drool inducing, happy memories this photo brings back to me! 100% recommend, they also have a lovely view from the rooftop garden, so I recommend heading up and having a falafel feast (for around €8) with a lovely view of the Acropolis 😍😍🏛🏛☺️☺️


Friends

This one really doesn't have a strong online presence so it's kind of difficult to find details about it, including its address 😂😂


BUT, make you're way to Beer Time at:


Pl. Iroon 1, Psyrri, 105 54

Athens, Greece

(I know that doesn't look like a street name but trust me it is)


When you arrive there just look to your left and you can't miss this friendly sign 😜😜

I would have included more......well just more of the photo but I got it from street view and the roller door had been pulled down and there was some less than wholesome graffiti on it *sigh* Athens man, smh.


FUN FACT ALERT: Did you know the word Graffiti comes from the Greek word Graphei meaning "to write" ?

BOOM, bet you didn't! Greeks man, they invented everything, I'm telling ya! And yes, I am an old greek man at heart 😂😂😂


ANYWAY,

I found this place when I was training to be a tour guide, a friend and I were hunting out cool places to take our groups to and we saw the sign and thought it was really funny but didn't stop to check out the menu. Anyway, as we were wandering past I could smell something amazing 🤤🤤🤤 There was this guy making crepes on a counter, practically on the street! and the drool was real. Naïve and fresh as I was (before a season in Greece left me jaded about ever finding vegan options) I was like there's no harm in taking a little gander at their menu...and there, in big, caps lock letters were the words: "VEGAN BURGERS", "VEGAN HOTDOGS" and "VEGAN CRÊPES" and I was like 😱😱😱 THANK YOU JESUS! 🙏🙏🙏


Just a heads up for those of you who lack all self control, like myself, I had a crêpe there that cost about €7 because they charge per topping 🙊🙊🙊 SOOOOO worth it though! 🤤🤤🤤


I also highly recommend checking out their burger as well because that was some mega satisfying, greasy goodness!


City Zen

Mitropoleos 80, Monastiraki, 105 55

Athens, Greece


They MEAN City Zen! Not only do they have a DELICIOUS vegan menu but they also have an incredibly lovely rooftop garden!

Sadly, I can't find any pictures of the BITE SIZED PIECES OF ABSOLUTE HEAVEN IN THE FORM OF GREASEY, CHEESEY, VEGAN SLIDERS THAT ARE FIT. FOR. THE. GODS! 🤤🤤🤤 Which are served with chips and garlic mayo 🤤🤤🤤 Trust me, I'd pay for shipping if that were possible, they are that insanely good.


Also, check out that view 😍😍😍📸📸

✨✨😮😮😮✨✨


Honestly, one of my favourite places in the city to go for food, drinks and, of course, the view.


Street Wok

Aiolou 21, Monastiraki, 105 63

Athens, Greece

Street wok is a build your own noodle bar. You start out by picking 1 of 6 bases, 5 of which have egg in them and they wont let you remove it --even though they make it right in front of you! 😡😡

So, I always went for the 6th one which is just a whole heap of veggies. Then you get to add your extras, which they will charge you for per topping, and then finally they have you choose the sauce and I always went with Teriyaki 😜🤤😜


Here's a copy of their menu for you:

This is a really satisfying feed when you're craving a cuisine that isn't Greek, coz trust me after the first few months there, you REALLY want something different.


And that, my lovelies, is where I am going to leave you ☺️ I think you are now well prepared to brave the yoghurt heavy and meat centric cuisine of Greece and especially prepared to eat out in Athens!

So, grab your sunnies, pack your passport and come on down to my second home! Don't let My Big Fat Greek Wedding scare you, you wont go hungry 😜😜


P.S.

I'll be doing one of these for each of the islands I've visited later on in the year, so you can expect one for Paros, Santorini, Ios and maaaaybe Mykonos as well BUT it might be slightly difficult due to the itinerary being utterly chockas there 😂😂 but stay tuned none the less!


Lots of love, Han Han xx

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