Greek courgette fritters bound with grated kefalotyri cheese, fresh mint, dill, spring onion and a little flour, shallow-fried until golden, served hot with tzatziki.
Kolokithokeftedes are the Greek mezze fritter that channels summer-season courgettes through grated cheese and fresh herbs. The dish appears in Greek home-cooking from at least the 19th century, with strong roots in the Cyclades (especially Santorini) where courgettes were grown for the summer market. Athens tavernas like Tzitzikas kai Mermigas and Manimani plate them as the canonical opening mezze, served hot with a bowl of tzatziki and lemon wedges.
4 editor picks for Kolokithokeftedes in Athens, ranked by editorial score. All Athens signature dishes · Kolokithokeftedes across every city.
Mavro Provato ★ 4.5
pangrati · Arrianou 31-33, Pangrati
Mavro Provato in Pangrati is the daily Athens mezedopoleio favourite for small-plate Greek cooking with regulars on the pavement from 14:00.
Manimani ★ 4.4
koukaki · Falirou 10, Koukaki, 117 42
Manimani in Koukaki cooks the food of the Mani peninsula in a neoclassical building near the Acropolis Museum: cured pork siglino and handmade pasta.
Karavitis Tavern ★ 4.4
pangrati · Pausaniou 4 Pangrati, Athina 11635, Greece
Karavitis in Pangrati has cooked the Athens taverna canon since 1926, a rustic room with a courtyard, barrels of house wine and the bekri-meze stew.
Tzitzikas kai Mermigas ★ 4.3
syntagma-historic-centre · Mitropoleos 12, Athina
Tzitzikas kai Mermigas on Mitropoleos has cooked Greek small plates with seasonal ingredients off Syntagma Square in Athens for three decades.