My son will be boarding a plane to Athens next week. Though he eats meat, I told him to eat a balanced diet being in a foreign land. I recommended several gluten-free salads for dinner, if he can’t find a restaurant in Athens that serves gluten-free cooked food. He agreed to obey and I prepared him a list of restaurants in Athens that serve gluten-free foods, salads, and desserts.
Before starting my research about gluten-free menus in Athens, I did not hope to find much but I was truly taken aback by the number of outlets for eating food that is free of gluten. About three decades ago, Athens did not serve these many restaurants that cater to the needs of a special kind of people who have gluten intolerance.
It is not an easy task to find food that is free from Gluten since many of our staples contain gluten. However, after a lot of innovations by the chefs from all parts of the world, even pasta and pizza are made gluten-free by the use of ‘spelt’ flour without compromising the taste. Spelt that is also known as ‘dinkel’ is a grain that is cultivated in Northern Europe and can be used in place of wheat, Spelt is said to be gluten-free.
I am glad the world is changing for the better.
What is gluten?
It’s a kind protein that is found in several of the food products that we all eat daily such as wheat, oats, and grains.
It is harmful to people with celiac disease which is something to with digestion of foods. It’s a serious immune disorder. If they avoid eating foods that contain gluten, they can lessen the damage to their intestine.
Novagea Juice Shop, Athens.
Address: 6 Vironos, Athens 105 58, Greece
Phone: +30 21 1401 7427
Nothing can be more harmless than fresh fruit juice-right? Wherever you travel, you can safely drink fruit juices without any worry. If your regular dinner is replaced with fruit juice, you are assured of waking up with dynamic energy.
Novagea is pleasantly lit with simple décor. I would not say the seats are very comfortable but then, how much time you are going to spend for drinking a glass of fruit juice? Hence, the seats do not matter much.
The sight of stacked clean fruits itself gives you a feeling of freshness. In addition, the aroma of various fruits should poke your appetite.
Apart from fresh fruit juices, they also serve smoothies and vegetable juice such as carrot or cucumber juice.
All their preparations are free from any kind of preservatives; there are no added sugars, color, or flavors. All the drinks in Novagea are gluten-free.
Avocado Restaurant, Athens
Address: Nikis 30, Athina 105 57, Greece
Phone: +30 21 0323 7878
The avocado restaurant seems to be quite popular in Athens as I find it in several restaurant reviews. Not only gluten free but it is also a vegetarian and vegan café. While a vegetarian eats vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, and dairy product, a vegan eats all of them too except, dairy products. A vegan doesn’t eat any kind of animal products including milk.
I told my son not to miss their vegetarian dish called ‘Om Shanti”, definitely an Indian name that indicates an Indian type of food. Its ingredients are basmati rice (aromatic rice), vegetables, and coconut milk.
Avocado’s menu mentions delicious healthy drinks, tasty vegetarian snacks, and meals. They quickly grab the seasonal local fruits and vegetables and use them wisely in salads, smoothies, soups, and quick snacks such as eggplant rolls stuffed with herbs and cheese.
Their ‘must-try’ food item is the Saffron Spanish Paella which is basically a meal of rice accompanied by vegetables, mushroom, and sauce. The Avocado vegan restaurant in Athens is known for their wheat-free bread and gluten-free pizza and pasta.
Milos Restaurant, Athens
Milos Restaurant is run on certain basic principles and never compromises on them. That’s why it is rated as the best restaurant for authentic Greek cuisine in Athens. The staff of this top class Mediterranean restaurant in Athens travels extensively to various parts of the world to buy the best of spices, herbs, and condiments. This is a seafood specialty restaurant, and certainly, there is no dearth of fresh fish and lobsters, squids and shrimps that are abundantly available in the Aegean Sea.
The restaurant displays the ‘catch of the day’ in the menu and the visitors are patiently explained by the waiters about the best dish of the day and the basic ingredients.
The Greek fish soup called the ‘kakavia’ is the most ordered dish in Milos.
Aleria restaurant
Address: 57 Megalou Alexandrou | Metaxourgeio, Athens 104 35, Greece
Phone +30 21 0522 2633
The image shows the restaurant is decorated in a mixture of Northern Europe and Greek style. It looks stylish and bold to me.
The long list of wines in the wine menu indicates the type of visitors to this upscale restaurant in Athens. I believe celebrities, American tourists, and rich regulars make it a meeting point. Wines from Australia, America, Chile, and New Zealand, France, and Italy are served. The restaurant has been voted as ‘excellent’ by nearly 500 people.
The use of locally available and exotic vegetables such as red pumpkin, wild greens, and mushrooms indicate that most of the foods are gluten-free. In addition, the ingredients are invariably organic including the chicken. Freshly caught tofu is predominant seafood and so as the Mediterranean squids and shrimps.
Los Loros, Athens
Address: Address: Xenofontos 14, Athina 105 57, Greece, Phone: +30 21 0324 3232
It’s a Mexican restaurant in Athens. I thought a Mexican cuisine in Greece is surprising; it means more and more Americans are touring the Greek Islands. However, on close examination, I read Los Loros is a small restaurant that serves Columbian and Venezuelan street-food that is also gluten-free.
Most of the Greek menus are displayed in Greek. It was tough translating them into English with the help of Google. If you decide to take a cruise holiday to the Greek islands, bookmark this blog post for future reads.
1 comment
Very informative post.
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