{"id":35901,"date":"2025-01-19T03:15:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T03:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/amsterdam\/where-to-eat-greek-food-in-amsterdam\/"},"modified":"2025-01-19T03:15:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T03:15:41","slug":"where-to-eat-greek-food-in-amsterdam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=35901","title":{"rendered":"Where to eat Greek food in Amsterdam"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The first green shoots for this article were planted way back last winter, when \u2013 on one particularly rainy and windy night \u2013 I found myself unable to walk more than half a block from my own front door for dinner. I didn\u2019t have high expectations for Greek food in Amsterdam (I\u2019d been to a couple of Greek restaurants here years ago, and they\u2019d been abysmal) so perhaps that made it a little easier for The Greek Embassy to blow me away. This? Fifty metres from my front door? I was converted!<\/p>\n But before singing about my new love of Greek food from the rooftops, I decided to explore options for eating it in the rest of the city. Surely things had moved on from my decades-old memories of lacklustre feta salads and greasy meat?<\/pullout> And perhaps they have. But good grief, Greek food is still hard to come by. Of the dozen or so places I had on my list to try, three had closed down, one is temporarily shut for renovations, two turned out not to be Greek at all (just general Mediterranean), and one is so far away I\u2019m not sure it counts as Amsterdam. So after a lot of research and not nearly enough actual eating, here we have it: a not-very-long list of Greek restaurants in Amsterdam!<\/p>\n

7 of the Best Greek Restaurants in Amsterdam<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Greek Embassy<\/strong><\/h3>\n


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Opening in summer 2023 on Weesperzijde, The Greek Embassy<\/a> started as a coffee and pastries bar known as Kafenion, and then rebranded into a full-blown Greek restaurant that now serves dinner and Greek wines and beers as well. The first time I visited, we started with the taram\u00e1salata<\/em>, which was white (not that lurid pink of my 90s memories), smoky-meets-creamy, savoury and delicious with the lightly toasted pita bread (ordered separately). We also got a portion of zucchini fritters, which were light, fluffy and delightful with the accompanying fresh tzatziki. As a main course, we split the mixed grill, which was a combo of beef patties (rather like kofte<\/em>), succulent pork chops, sausage and a carb-heavy mix of fries and more pita bread. With hindsight, we should\u2019ve ordered everything at the same time and used the pitas from the mixed grill to accompany the taram\u00e1salata<\/em> because, as it was, we wasted quite a bit of bread (which was a shame because it was great). True to type, I also tasted two Greek wines: a white Chardonnay-Assyrtiko blend and a red Agiorgitiko from the Nemea region. Both were new grapes on me, and both were delicious.<\/p>\n

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Greek gezelligheid at The Greek Embassy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

KAIA<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you like your Greek food with a side order of contemporary fine dining, head straight to the Europaplein where you\u2019ll find the relaxed yet elegant restaurant KAIA<\/a>. If you\u2019re going for diner a deux<\/em> (and you\u2019re not looking for privacy), book a spot at the bar overlooking the kitchen so you can watch the chefs at work. Chef Manos Athanasiou and his team are refining Greek tradition into something very modern and innovative that deserves a front-row seat. We started with a fancy bread basket (it\u2019s always appreciated when attention to detail is reflected all the way down to the bread) before cracking on with a surprise chef\u2019s menu.<\/p>\n

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Lachanodolmas: stuffed savoy cabbage at KAIA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My two favourite dishes were the Athinaiki<\/em>: sea bream tartare with a citrusy pea cream and taram\u00e1<\/em> mayonnaise that echoes its classical Greek roots. And the Lachanodolmas<\/em>: a roomy savoy cabbage leaf stuffed with rice cream, Greek herbs and lightly pickled vegetables with a \u201cAvgolemono soup\u201d \u2013 which paired excellently with the Paterianakis Vidiano white wine. Slightly less innovative but no less delicious was the Greek take on beef carpaccio, which looked a picture and involved egg yolk cured in Tsipouro (a Greek distilled spirit). Meat-led mains included lamb prasoselino<\/em> \u2013 three textures of lamb with leek-celery puree and lamb jus \u2013 which paired perfectly with the Dougos Rapsani old vine red blend. While chicken krasato<\/em> comprised surprisingly moist chicken breast with cherry glaze, carrot-olive puree, parsnip and a miniature chicken pie. I was honestly too full for dessert, but managed a few bites of the Greek yoghurt-based cheesecake with dulce de leche-style sauce and little white chocolate-covered liquid flavour bombs. A sugar crash was narrowly averted, and date night was complete.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: I was invited to eat at KAIA as a journalist, and I didn\u2019t pay for my meal. Obviously I try to be as objective as possible, but I always disclose when I\u2019ve had a freebie.<\/em><\/p>\n

Massalia<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A mashup of Marseille and Greece is what Restobar Massalia<\/a> purports to be \u2013 the sister restaurant of Gitane, which I\u2019ve not been to but had heard good things about. It\u2019s on the Beukenplein, opening in August 2024 to replace a former pizza restaurant, and has a spacious terrace and air-conditioned interior. The menu is largely small plates to share, but they felt like relatively good value by Amsterdam standards. BBQ-ed artichoke was smoky and savoury, matched with a creamy green puree \u201ca la polita<\/em>\u201c. The taram\u00e1<\/em> was delicious \u2013 served with wild garlic oil and mopped up with a ring of sesame studded Greek bread (koulouri<\/em>). I also enjoyed the savoy cabbage-based dolmas, which were fragrant with preserved lemon and dill (although I must admit I preferred those at KAIA).<\/p>\n

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Massalia\u2019s artichoke \u201ca la polita\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The wine list featured plenty of wines by the glass, many of which were natural but only one of which was Greek. That said, the evening we dined there, they had a couple of extra bottles open, so we actually ended up with a fabulously aniseedy, violet-floral Xinomavro (red) from Naoussa. The service was still a little rough around the edges, but Massalia had only been open a couple of weeks so I assume they\u2019re still smoothing things out.<\/p>\n

Ikaria Park<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Of all the Greek restaurants I visited during the research for this article, Ikaria Park<\/a> was the only one to serve kleftiko<\/em> \u2013 my all-time favourite Greek dish of marinated, slow-cooked lamb in parchment paper. But before we get onto that, let\u2019s talk about Ikaria\u2019s charming location: it\u2019s nestled into the Bilderdijkpark, in the spot once occupied by legendary Mexican restaurant Flora. Its tight-knit tables and twinkling fairy lights have now been repurposed into a Greek culinary enclave, complete with an extensive Greek wine list (including several natural wines, for whose of you who like that kind of thing).<\/p>\n

We kicked off the meal by sharing a few pitas and dips that were not dissimilar to those on the menu at The Greek Embassy: taram\u00e1salata <\/em>(also white, not pink), smoked aubergine dip, and tirokeftiri<\/em> (spicy feta dip). The rest of the menu was designed to be shared, too: we ordered more obviously Greek dishes like saganaki<\/em> (fried Kefalotyri cheese), keftedakia<\/em> (meatballs) and dolmas<\/em> (stuffed vines leaves), as well as less typical dishes like gambas<\/em> in tomato and feta sauce and grilled chicken. But let\u2019s face it, I was here for the kleftiko<\/em>: in Ikaria Park\u2019s case, it comprised shank of lamb, slow roasted with potatoes, tomatoes and half an oregano bush, drizzled with an unexpectedly creamy sauce. I\u2019ll be honest and say it did not immediately transport me to the kleftiko<\/em> of my Greek holiday memories. But it still tasted good, especially with a glass of Assyrtiko from Santorini. And the whole experience generally brought a ray of Greek sunshine to an otherwise grey day in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n

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Kleftiko at Ikaria Park: Greek-style slow-cooked lamb in parchment paper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Note: a couple of blocks from Ikaria Park is an outdoor kiosk called Ikaria Food (run by the same people). Since it was January when I visited, we only ordered coffee and pastries to go \u2013 and then stood and shivered on the Kwakersplein for a few minutes before deciding to walk and sip. That said, what we did<\/em> consume was very good \u2013 so I\u2019ll be back for more once the weather improves.<\/p>\n

Romios Taverna<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part takeaway deli, part caf\u00e9, Romios Taverna<\/a> is a casual Greek eatery on the Ceintuurbaan that punches above its weight. In other words: it doesn\u2019t look fancy but the food is actually very good. I enjoyed their melitzanosalata<\/em>: aubergine dip with feta, peppers and garlic, which was fresh and smoky in equal measure. Their pitas are pillowy soft, and wrap conveniently around lamb gyros with yoghurt sauce and lashings of dried Greek oregano. Romios also has a surprisingly sizeable Greek wine collection, which still isn\u2019t all that common in Amsterdam. A good value option if you\u2019re out and about in de Pijp.<\/p>\n

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Lamb gyros at Romios Taverna<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dionysos Taverna<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the old school of Greek restaurants, Dionysos Taverna<\/a> has been serving customers on the Overtoom since 1992 (before even my time in Amsterdam!). As such, the d\u00e9cor is a little kitsch, but the atmosphere is cosy and the service warm and welcoming. We ordered a few small dishes to share: the spanak\u00f3pita<\/em> was crispy, warm and brimming with spinach and feta. The taram\u00e1<\/em> was fine, but glowed pinkly and wasn\u2019t a patch on The Greek Embassy, while the bread we spread it on was dry, sliced cardboard. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the savoury-sweet lamb shank (a Dionysos special) and the chirin\u00f3 sagan\u00e1ki<\/em>: a pork dish made with sagan\u00e1ki<\/em> cheese (a drier form of feta) and a tomato-based sauce. I\u2019d never heard of the Greek house wine, but it was eminently drinkable and the whole experience was very affordable at only around \u20ac35 per person.<\/p>\n

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Old-school Greek food at Dionysos Taverna<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meat & Greek<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Handily located for shopping on the Utrechtsetraat, Meat & Greek<\/a> is a good value spot for classic Greek gyros. There are various options to choose from: meat or veggie based, plate or pita (with the pita format being cheaper than a full plate), and eat in or take away. I ordered the \u201cChef\u2019s Favourite\u201d: a plate laden with pork kebab meat, tzatziki, feta, pita, salad, red onion and a couple of sauces. It was a generous portion of food, but my main complaint was that the meat was too salty and a little dry, while the lettuce was wilted and lacked freshness. That said, it may hit a spot if you\u2019re craving something speedy and satisfying for lunch in the centre of town.<\/p>\n

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\u201cChef\u2019s Favourite\u201d at Meat & Greek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article is now available as a mobile app. To download it for offline reading or travel directions to the attractions highlighted in this article, go to\u00a0Walking Tours and Articles in Amsterdam<\/a>\u00a0on GPSmyCity.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n