Slab of kefalograviera or graviera cheese pan-fried in olive oil until crusted golden on the outside, gooey within. Squeezed with lemon and eaten with crusty bread; the canonical Greek taverna opener.
Where to eat it: 6 restaurants across 1 city.
Saganaki takes its name from the two-handled frying pan it cooks in, which itself derives from the Turkish sahan brought to Greek kitchens of Asia Minor before 1922. The cheese version using kefalotyri, kefalograviera, or graviera became the canonical taverna meze across mainland Greece in the 20th century. In Athens, it is a permanent fixture on every taverna menu from Plaka to Exarchia, served with a wedge of lemon. The flaming version is a 1968 Chicago invention with no Greek precedent.
Common allergens: Dairy, Gluten
Tip from the editors. Soak the cheese in cold water before flouring; otherwise the surface burns before the inside warms. Halloumi is an acceptable substitute outside Greece.
Mavro Provato in Pangrati Athens is the daily mezedopoleio favourite for small-plate Greek cooking, Greek wine by the glass and a sidewalk of regulars.
Signature: Saganaki, Smoked aubergine, Pork tenderloin with prunes
Order: The smoked aubergine, the saganaki and a half-litre carafe of house white.
Tip: Book three days ahead for dinner; lunch tables on the pavement are walk-up after 14:00.
Klimataria on Theatre Square in Athens runs until past midnight every night, the Psyrri institution since 1927 where rebetiko plays live and the wine comes.
Try: Slow-cooked lamb with house red from barrels
Order: Gigandes plaki, slow-cooked lamb and a half-kilo of the house red from the barrel.
Tip: Live music runs most evenings from around 22:00; book a fortnight ahead for the weekend seatings.
Athinaikon on Themistokleous is the Exarchia ouzeri of record in Athens, an institution opened in 1932 that moved to its current corner in 1989 with vintage.
Signature: Shrimp saganaki, Marides, Aubergine in oil
Order: The shrimp saganaki, a plate of marides and a carafe of tsipouro from Tyrnavos.
Tip: The Mitropoleos sister room is the modern outpost; the Themistokleous original is the destination.
Karavitis Tavern on Pausaniou in Pangrati is the 1926 neighbourhood taverna with a rustic courtyard, barrels of house wine and a point-at-trays system.
Why locals love it: Pangrati neighbourhood taverna since 1926 with a rustic courtyard, barrels of house wine, and an order-by-pointing system that keeps the tourist trade away.
Tip: No reservations are taken; arrive before 21:00 on weeknights and before 20:30 on Saturdays.
Tzitzikas kai Mermigas on Mitropoleos in Athens has cooked Greek small plates with seasonal ingredients off Syntagma Square for three decades.
Signature: Keftedakia, Kayianas allios, Greek salad
Order: The keftedakia and the kayianas allios with a glass of the house assyrtiko.
Tip: Lunch from 13:00 is the easier seating; book three days ahead for Friday and Saturday dinner.
Manimani in Koukaki cooks the food of the Mani peninsula in a neoclassical building near the Acropolis Museum in Athens: cured pork siglino and handmade.
Signature: Siglino, Sausage from Mani, Handmade Mani pasta
Order: The siglino with handmade pasta and a half-litre of the rosé from the Peloponnese.
Tip: Closed Mondays. Sunday lunch from 14:00 is the easiest service to find a window seat.
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