Two Athenian Venues among 31 Unmissable Eateries

Greece Is | May 9th, 2016

Cheap, cheerful and tasty, even if the service is not perfect: two Athenian restaurants appeared in a global list of unmissable places to dine

© Clairy Moustafellou

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Buzzfeed names two Athenian restaurants in a list of places to eat at before you die

An Exarchia eatery where waiters invariably forget some part of an order and a restaurant in Metaxourgeio where no dish ever exceeds 7 euros are among “31 places around the world you should eat at before you die,” according to BuzzFeed. The popular news and entertainment website recently asked a group of professional globetrotters to share their favorite culinary destinations around the world.

Jess Brammar, senior broadcast journalist on the BBC’s “Newsnight” program, singled out Ama Laxei in Exarchia, central Athens, where, she writes, “the food is amazing – traditional Greek with a modern twist, lots of salads and plates to share.” Although Brammar points out that the service leaves a lot to desire, she adds, “When you are sitting in an Athenian courtyard at midnight drinking wine and laughing with friends, who cares?”

Ama Laxei in Exarchia, flagged by the BBC's Jess Brammar

Seychelles restaurant in Metaxourgeio also made the list

Seychelles was praised by the Guardian's Jon Henley as no-frills, cheap and tasty

© Clairy Moustafellou

When in Athens, Guardian feature writer Jon Henley visits Seychelles, a no-frills, price-is-right restaurant in Metaxourgeio. “The food is Greek with a slight but inventive and hugely satisfying twist, and its quality is astounding,” says Henley, who mentions juicy lamb cutlets with thyme and grilled vegetables with a “just-right” fig sauce among his favorite platters.

Covering the globe, the BuzzFeed list also showcases Umm Hagar in central Cairo, where the lucky diners to get the one single table at the restaurant get to savor whatever the cook feels like preparing on the day, Armand’s, a small bistro on a Phnom Penh side street, where dishes include a tenderloin Rossini with foie gras, south Indian cuisine at Vijay’s, northwest London, where platters include green mango prawn curry, as well as the two-Michelin-starred Don Alfonso 1890, an Italian restaurant overlooking the stunning Amalfi and Sorrento coasts where beef fillet in puff pastry with buffalo mozzarella is among the favorites.