Just checking to see if anyone has restaurant recommendations for Athens in the moderate to expensive range. We will be staying at the Athens Gate Hotel so a short taxi ride is OK. We want to steer clear of a"tourist-type" places, but do not need to find undiscovered, out of the way places. Any help is really appreciated.

The food at the Acropolis Museum is truly excellent, with terrific prices, and on Friday evenings they serve until midnight. I am unsure if you can eat at the restaurant without paying the museum entrance fee -- but I very much hope you are visiting the museum. Even if I had gone to the museum and eaten lunch there, if possible I would return another time for dinner. The food and menu are just wonderful, and of course the view cannot be beat.

Also, unless things have changed, the Athens Gate Hotel serves small jars of Greek thyme honey with its breakfasts -- which Greeks perhaps take for granted but which I find a uniquely delicious honey. Don't miss it!

We had dinner at the Acropolis Museum; it was indeed amazing. The backdrop of The Acropolis is pretty hard to top! Prices were very reasonable. We made reservations, but it didn't seem all that crowded. We did eat early by European standards. (October)

Benaki Museum also has a nice restaurant - you should at least go for sunset cocktails.

I also give a qualified recommendation for Diogenes, mainly because it is within walking distance and has a nice tranquil setting. It is not super-touristy and the food is quite decent but it is not going to knock your socks off. I would recommend against ordering fish (but I would almost recommend that almost everywhere in Athens, where fish is generally frozen) -- the other dishes at Diogenes, especially salads, dips and Greek specialties like dolmades are better.

You can read about it here:

http://www.culinarybackstreets.com/a...ining-secrets/

Anyway, I wouldn't put it at the tippy top of the list but you most definitely can do worse in that area, so it's useful to know about.

Thanks everyone. Yes we are going to the Acropolis Museum (but we won't say anything about being born in the UK when our guide discusses the Marbles ), so good to know about the restaurant.

Hi Deb!

Have recommended quite a few times restaurants in Athens, can't remember anyone ever having visited them....
Athenians rarely eat in the Plaka, because it is a tourist trap, and you get the homogenized Greek food, you get in touristic places all over Greece.

Here are some excellent restaurants in Athens :

ManiMani in the Acropolis area.

http://manimani.com.gr/english.html

Offers excellent Greek cuisine from the region of Mani ( Southern Peloponnese)

Trapezaria in the Pathanaic Stadium area

http://www.trapezaria.gr/

Greek cuisine at it's best.... they recently moved to a new area, which is just across of the park in front of the Athens Gate

Athiri in Kerameikos, a short taxi ride from Athens Gate

http://www.athirirestaurant.gr/en/at...estaurant.html

Athinaikon - Syntagma

They recently opened a new restaurant in the centre of Athens, Athinaikon is an "institution" for Athenains, offering classic Greek cuisine.

http://athinaikon.gr/en/

Xrysa Xrysa - Petralona

https://www.facebook.com/XrysaXrysaRestaurant/timeline

Aegli - Zappion, just in the Park in front of the Athens Gate

http://www.aeglizappiou.gr/index_uk.html

My partner and I have been to Thanasis, Mitropoleos 69, Monastiraki square, twice and have really enjoyed the kebobs there. It's very casual and reasonable.

Consider having meals at To Koutouki. This is a quirky little hole in the wall café that is worth visiting because you can see some spectacular sunsets from small dining terrace.

We ate at ManiMani twice last fall, loved both the food and the setting.
A nice urban taverna in the upscale Kolonaki neighborhood is Kafeneio on Loukianou,26.

Thank you for the recommendations. And a special thanks to clausar for the links and descriptions.

Hey SAB!!

Have saved your recommendations, clausar. Look forward to trying them all.

Have many more Sandra

As an Athenian, I totally recommend you this restaurant: To Mavro Provato (Το Μαύρο Πρόβατο). It's like one of the hottest restaurants in the Athenian gastronomic scene. It serves Greek cuisine with a light twist, excellent ingredients, reasonable prices, and a beautiful ambience. It's a 15' - 20' walk from your hotel. I strongly recommend you to reserve a table, as it's always packed with locals. Here is the link: http://www.tomauroprovato.gr/mezedopoleio/el/home.html and another link from Culinary Bacstreets on this restaurant: http://www.culinarybackstreets.com/a...mavro-provato/

Great Clausar! I will be sure to ask once I have firm dates. I liked the Athens Gate very much but next visit I would like to stay in Kolonaki, just out of curiosity, even though I will surely revisit the Acropolis museum and its neighborhood.

Although it's a little touristy, we really love ATTIKOS GREEK HOUSE, which is about a 10-minute walk from ATHENS GATE.

The restaurant is on the top floor of a building in back off The Acropolis Museum, and has an outstanding view of The Acropolis lit up at night.

The menu is traditional Greek dishes, and prices are reasonable. We've been there many times, most recently in June.

I'll be in Athens in a few weeks and have made note of all of the great recommendations. My family will be staying at the Radisson Blu Park -- in case there is a night that we want to stay close to the hotel, does anyone have suggestions for restaurants within easy walking distance? Thanks!

whimsy

This is a tough one... The Radisson Blue Park is in an area that is like a black hole in Athens's gastronomy....
There are small tavernas nearby, but nothing I would recommend.

Nearest area that can be reached by foot is Exarchia.

One of my favourite restaurants there is Ama Lahi ( which is greek slang for "if it happens")
Ask the reception for directions on how to find it.. it is within an easy walk.

https://www.facebook.com/amalaxeiresto/photos_stream



Yiantes is another good restaurant in the same area, with a great garden, using organic ingredients.

https://www.facebook.com/yiantes/timeline

Thanks much to both of you! I had guessed that there wasn't much around the hotel, but want a back-up plan in case my kids are jetlagged when we first arrive and want to stay close by. Both of those places sound great.

Calusar, thanks again for your recommendations. Could you recommend a traditional, but not tourist, restaurant near my hotel? Hopefully that is not an oxymoron. I'm definitely interested by Manh Manh and possibly Athiri but I need a more traditional menu just in case new Greek cuisine is not a hit with some of our group. Thank you