Breakfast
We went to the buffet for breakfast again, mostly the same old stuff so I didn't bother taking pictures. We had the lemon almond pastry today (they do seem to serve different flavors daily) which was very good.
Lunch
The ship parks in Piraeus so we had to take the train into Athens, where we walked around Plaka, an area known for shopping and flea markets, and looked up at the Acropolis. We were too lazy to walk to the top, which was under construction anyway. We tried to wander a bit away from the main tourist area to find food, which did end up being at least 30% cheaper than restaurants closer to Acropolis, but the food wasn't that great. The host at Ioakh Barbeque recommended the Leftiko, a braised lamb shank, which had little flavor and was unevenly heated, but the tomatoes were great.
I was really looking forward to having Moussaka in Greece but this was a let down. The bechamel was over-cooked, a bit curdled actually, and the whole dish was rather dry.
Post Lunch
Lon and I love getting potato chips or snacks from different countries so we stopped into a small supermarket to get some goodies to bring home. We got Red Paprika, Olive Oil, and Bacon flavors.
We saw so many street vendors selling rings of sesame bread. It seemed like a common local snack as people picked up one by the train station and ate while walking. We finally got one at a bread bakery called Neyka, where the friendly baker insisted on giving it to us for free. I thought they would be hard like bread sticks but it actually tasted like a cross between a sesame roll and a sesame bagel, with lots and lots of sesame. It was obviously made fresh just hours before.
We walked through the National Park (with a little zoo), watched the changing of the guards, and headed back to Pireaus. On our walk back to the ship, we looked for some more snacks to bring back to the ship and Lon spotted some lamb heads on a spit.
We ended up at Stamatis where Lon got a hot dog in an unsweetened donut dough. It wasn't that interesting, too much dough compared to hot dog, but the ham and cheese pastry was excellent. The dough was buttery and flaky. The filling included ham, cheese, a little oregano, and a dash of hot sauce, which resulted in a surprisingly mild flavor. It was a treat you wouldn't find in NY.
I also got a great Frozen Chocolate Iced Coffee. I asked for it not-too-sweet and to my amazement, that's what I got.
Dinner
We headed to the dining room a little before 7pm to avoid a wait. Lon started with a Crawfish Vol-Au-Vents, which was very good, flaky puff pastry with a flavorful crawfish filling. They seem to love serving crawfish on this ship.
I started with the Pineapple with Strawberry Coconut Confit. Again, I hate the misuse of the word "confit", which refers to a slow cooking method (originally duck) of preserving something in its own fat. This dish was really just some beautifully cut pineapple (which was very good) and frozen strawberries defrosted with some coconut flakes sprinkled on top. Strawberry does not have fat so it can't be "confit".
The Thai Chicken Soup was also a present surprise, nicely balanced between a litle tangy and a bit creamy, and very smooth.
The entrees did not fair as well. Lon's Barbeque Salmon had a great flavor but it was a bit over-cooked. My Chateaubriand was over-cooked as well. Neither of us like the potatoes on our dishes either, Lon's was plain boiled potatoes, mine was dry potato croquette.
Our waitress Yvette (the best one we've had so far) did notice that I didn't eat much of the beef. She asked if there was anything wrong and if she could replace it. I declined since I really wasn't hungry and the cut of meat was really not Chateaubriand, which they couldn't correct even if they could give me a piece that was medium-rare. (This picture makes the beef look more pink than it was.)
The coffee ice cream was a standard ice cream and Lon's Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie was one of their least flavorful desserts so far, lacking mainly in peanut butter.
Second Dinner
The buffet tonight was themed Madras Curry Buffet, which tempted us because we thought it had a shot of being better, considering the highly Asian staff in the kitchen. It was indeed a better buffet, with great curry shrimp, a pretty good curried fish, good lentils, and a decent rice. There were still some sad choices, chewy beef with potatoes, dry Tandoori Chicken, and hard breaded flat chicken.
We're still eating too much dessert (it's terrible!), Cookies & Cream Cheesecake (missing the Oreos), Oatmeal Cookies, some other cake that we're not sure about. These weren't that good so luckily we didn't finish all of it.
The day was full of hits and misses, overall not that exciting. So far Greece seems overly touristy. It's hard to get anything authentic. We're hoping for better in the next couple of stops. On to Mykonos next.
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Stumble6 Responses to "Athens, Greece"
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The Urban Eater said:
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Ask a cab driver to take you to his favorite bar and then ask the bartender to where they eat. That's what I do to find the authentic joints. |
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Asianmommy said:
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I never thought about stocking up on local snacks while traveling. That's a great idea! |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confit |
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MJ said:
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I love the chips idea! Also, from the way it's frosted I'd hazard a guess your anonymous cake is at least pretending to be carrot cake, although it doesn't look like it's got nearly enough nuts and raisins in it to be good! |
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Lon said:
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Anony, Thanks! Trust us, we always look up definitions for clarity. Wikipedia is not the best source for culinary terms. While confit has taken on more uses (particularly in regard to fruit, the original use is for meats in their own fat). Here is one definition that is narrower and from a culinary source, but we still find too broad. |
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Jessica@Foodmayhem said:
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urban eater, that's a great ıdea, we haven't taken any cabs yet though, we have asked local cops, shop owners, and the host at ınternet cafes. |