Soups offer warmth and comfort, are fulfilling and nutritious, and represent ideal starters for restaurant and home meals. Even just holding a steaming hot bowl of soup offers positive, soothing energy.
After trying soups at various eateries in Athens, we have selected a list of places featuring exquisite soups on their menus, ranging from traditional, exotic, ethnic, vegetarian, seafood and meat-based.
Fish soup at Bluefish
Bluefish, based at one of the most stylish locations in Athens, seaside Vouliagmeni in the south, serves high-standard bouillabaisse, prepared by seafood master Giorgos Economidis. This assorted fish soup hails from Marseille, where fishermen prepared soup with small leftover fish in their buckets. It has since become a favourite soup among seafood enthusiasts.
Besides the classic vegetable ingredients of potato, carrot, celery and onion, the fish soup broth at Bluefish is prepared using white grouper fish heads and bones, as well as heads of prawn and crayfish. The large quantity of fish and seafood used offers this spot’s fish soup rich flavour. The soup is thickened quicker, maintaining the intense aroma of the seafood ingredients. The white grouper fillet blends beautifully with the delicacy of shells for a thick bouillabaisse soup. It is accompanied by toasted garlic bread. This fish soup offers perfect seaside dining pleasure.
4 Poseidonos, Vouliagmeni, +30 210 9671 778
Chicken soup at Chicken Picnic
Chicken soup, capable of stirring up childhood memories, is given a new twist in the hands of Mihalis Merzenis, who prepares a traditional-type chicken soup that captivates. He uses top-quality chicken, which is left to simmer for hours to release rich flavour, while the chef’s use of root vegetables – carrot, onion, celery and fennel – offer lovely harmony to the dish.
The soup is complemented with perfectly boiled rice, soft chicken pieces and velvety egg-and-lemon mix. The chive oil, made at the eatery and used as a soup topping, offers a masterful stroke that boosts the dish’s flavour. This chicken soup, simple yet profoundly delicious, can be enjoyed at one of the two eateries run by Chicken Panic, or home delivered.
4 Grigoriou Theologou, Kaisariani, +30 210 7255 002
59 Agiou Sosti, Peristeri, +30 210 5713 60
Makhlouta at Feyrouz
Feyrouz, in the centre of Athens, close to Monastiraki, is a family-run shop offering special-tasting food through culinary fusion of the Mediterranean and Middle East. The soups are an important part of the menu at Feyrouz. They include the shop’s version of Makhlouta, a mixed grains soup, made with red lentils, fennel roots, pumpkin, as well as homemade broth prepared with chicken and freshly charred wild cumin. This vegetarian soup, filled with flavour and exceptional aromas, offers homely warmth. It can be enjoyed at the shop, as a hot beverage in a cup, or at home via online home delivery service.
23 Karori and 1 Agathonos, Athens, +30 213 0318 060
Pho meat soup at Hanoi
Hanoi, an interesting eatery serving Vietnamese, was launched just months ago on downtown Petraki street and is situated amongst a variety of ethnic cuisine shops along this street. The list of traditional food choices at Hanoi includes Pho Beef Soup, a prime example of the gustatory balance inherent in Vietnamese cuisine. Its broth is made with bones, offering particular depth to the soup’s flavour, while onions, bean sprouts, shallots and coriander inject earthly elements.
This steaming bowl of soup also includes rice noodles, finely cut, soft beef pieces, as well as diced spring onion. Accompanying lime and chili paste are served separately. The sour and spicy aspects blend with the freshness and aromas of herbs. The Pho Beef Soup can be enjoyed at one of the shop tables on the footpath or at home via online delivery.
12 Petraki, Athens, +30 213 0451 379
Patsas (tripe soup) at Oinomageirio I Epirus
Situated within the Varvakeios Market, the municipal market of Athens, Oinomageirio I Epirus is a classic food spot, especially for the city’s night owls. This eatery offers homely warmth, while its dishes are soothing, even exhilarating. Rania Karatzeni, the heart and soul of the venture, always sporting a smile, takes care of customers like they are members of the family. Oinomageirio I Epirus, using large stock pots, is renowned for its casserole dishes, plus soups, eight varieties in total, including the eatery’s specialty, patsas (tripe soup). It is a popular hangover remedy. Beef stomach and leg pieces are simmered for hours until they are soft. The stomach is then cut up into small pieces and served in lots of broth. Diners can also add garlic pulp with vinegar, plus crushed chili pepper, for greater intensity. This soup can be enjoyed at the shop or home delivered via online service.
4 Filopimenos, Athens, +30 210 3240 773
Ramen at Simul
Ramen enthusiasts should consider the more premium version of this soup served at Simul, a bistronomy restaurant run by Nikos Thomas in the up-market Kolonaki district. Ramen is a Japanese soup made with various broths (beef, pork, chicken and seafood), a garnish of herbs, and noodles. These basic ingredients are prepared in numerous variations, both in Japan and beyond. At Simul, the soup’s broth is made using pork head, offering intense flavour, as well as finely cut, handmade noodles, resembling thin vermicelli, as noted on the menu. The ramen soup, served in a deep bowl, includes a perfectly boiled quail egg and smoked eel fillet, blending superbly with the pork broth.
63 Ypsilantou, Athens, +30 210 7224 737
Velouté corn soup at CTC
CTC, a recently awarded Michelin star restaurant headed by Alexandros Tsiotinis, offering French-inspired Greek culinary journeys, serves a superb Velouté corn soup that is lobster flavoured. Crispy grilled corn, plus an aroma-filled foam made with truffle and bergamot, complement this signature dish. The addition of lobster, charcoal grilled, further enhances the quality of this soup, rich in taste and intensity, and the perfect starter for your meal at CTC.
A15, Plateon street, Kerameikos, +30 210 7228812
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