Trippin’ in Greece Part 3: Starving Ourselves in Efxaris

We were quite lucky this day.  It was October 28 and we had planned to see the Acropolis of Athens.  Fortunately for us, it was a public holiday called “Ohi Day” or “No Day,” which was to commemorate the start of World War 2¹.  October 28 was the day that the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas said “No” to Mussolini when the Axis Powers demanded Greece let them pass through.

OK, so what does this boring history have to do with the trip?  Well, everything was basically free that day!  That includes the entrance to the archeological sites in Athens, the museums, the food… OK, not the food.

We joined the Athens Walking Tours for our trip to The Acropolis.  So why pay extra when we could’ve gotten in for free?  Basically because of the commentary.  Being history geeks, my cousin and I knew that you can’t really appreciate ruins without a story behind it.  And you can’t really know these things without a guide.

Here’s a bit of geeky, might-be-boring history for you guys.  ”Acropolis” means “top city.”  Every city built their own structure on the top-most part of the city so literally, every city had an acropolis.  It just so happens the one in Athens is the one associated to this name.  The more accurate term should be The Acropolis of Athens.

Fast forward to the end of the morning and instead of heading for lunch, we headed to the Acropolis Museum for a couple of hours before heading to lunch / dinner². The place recommended by our guide, Despina of Athens Walking Tours, was quite perfect in the sense that portions were huge enough to fill us up for the day.

The restaurant was called Efxaris, located in Monastiraki Square.  Monastiraki Square is just below the Acropolis / Plaka Street and there are tons of shops for souvenirs and where the best-rated restaurants³ are located.  It’s, at the very least, a very good view and ambiance.

Service took a while to seat us, but things looked really well to begin with.  The bread looked great and grilled properly and the olive dip looked great.  I hate the bitter tastes of olives, but the dip was nicely made.

I ordered a Pork Souvlaki, which came with the standard rice, fries, pita bread, and tzatziki.  My cousin Jeff ordered a Veal Chop, which had the rice and the fries.

OK, just one comment really: Greeks don’t know how to cook meat.  They do it well-done and I don’t mean this in a good way.  Meat is cooked all the way through, which leaves the meat to be a bit tough and very dry.  It was poorly seasoned because there wasn’t really much taste to it besides the char.  The great thing though is that it’s a HUGE portion.  Like Fred Flinstone-type huge, especially the Veal Chop.

Rice was good (as was the norm in Greece).  Fries were OK, probably frozen / processed ones.  Tzatziki was fantastic, but again it was fantastic in every place in Greece, as was the pita.

Oh, and the Semolina Halva from Athinaikon?  They gave us one here for free!  I still didn’t like this dessert dish, but I’m glad I didn’t have to pay for it.

To put it into context, the only reason why this meal was fairly satisfying is due to the combination of our hunger⁴ and the size of the portions.  So why am I rating this meal slightly higher than Athinaikon?  Precisely because I walked away happier.  I didn’t feel like I got screwed⁵ and I didn’t feel like I overpaid for my meal.

Trippin’ in Greece Part 3: Starving Ourselves in Efxaris 2011-12-25

e were quite lucky this day.  It was October 28 and we had planned to see the Acropolis of Athens.  Fortunately for us, it was a public holiday called “Ohi Day” or “No Day,” which was to commemorate the start of World War 2.  October 28 was the day that the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis …