HYTRA Athens Greece – Tiny Urban Kitchen

This is the second post in our series about Greece. Other posts include The Zillers Rooftop Restaurant

If possible, we like walking to restaurants when we can. However, Athens has been a bit of a surprise for us, as we’ve ended up in neighborhoods where we didn’t expect to find a Michelin-starred restaurant.

It wasn’t straightforward finding HYTRA. The restaurant sits at a roof top on top of an office building. If it weren’t for the tiny sign with the words HYTRA at the first floor, we’d probably still be circling the non-descript gray concrete building (situated on a busy road that is almost like a highway).

HYTRA’s dining space is magical. The open air restaurant only “exists” when the weather’s good. If there’s rain, the entire dining room moves indoors.

The space is beautiful and gives you 360 views of Athens, including the Acropolis, distant mountain, and the sunset.

I highly recommend trying to get a reservation that includes the sunset. It really adds such a vibrant and warm light to the entire room.

A Drink to Start . . .

green apple fermentation

We were extremely impressed with our server. He was especially observant and could “read” the table. I hesitated when trying to decide whether to do the wine pairing, and he quickly offered helping me pair a glass of white and maybe a red to go with the meal. Sold. When Bryan asked for suggestions on the cocktails, our server quickly sensed Bryan’s preferences for dry cocktails (because Bryan asked about the Negroni), and suggested something that Bryan would like.

By the way, HYTRA is known for their cocktails, and there are many very unusual and interesting ones on the menu. Bryan opted for a citrus-y one that was refreshing and “not sweet at all” (good in Bryan’s book).

The Food: 11 Course Tasting Menu at HYTRA Athens

HYTRA includes a la carte options as well as two tasting menus: an 11-course degustation (80 EUROS) and a 15-course degustation (95 EUROS). Add an extra wine or cocktail pairing for 115 EUROS.

We decided to go with the 11-course tasting menu. Bryan got the wine pairing (generous pours!).

We started with a green apple fermentation, a fizzy drink that sort of reminded me of cider.

A whipped bottarga cream tart topped with “herb moss” was flavorful yet balanced by fermented green apple juice. We were told “first taste the apple juice, then eat the tart, finally have another sip of the apple juice.”

Next was “TOMATO – TROUT” which consisted of sea bream (salted), Pellas pepper jelly, pickled strawberries, and seaweed flavors. It was incredibly complex, and so refreshingly good.

Cheese Course

HOUSEMADE CHEESE turned out to be a soft goat cheese with thin slices of pear on top and a crust on the bottom (like a cheese cake!). Embedded inside are some peas (yes, green peas!) that are just slightly spicy.

Sorry for the blurry photo, but this “COD” dish included cod served with seasonal greens salad, collagen, and a type of fermented vegetable.

Bread . . .

We tried two types of bread: a Japanese milk bread served with butter topped with seeds and a sourdough bread with peppermint butter. I must say I didn’t love the peppermint butter, which I found to be just a bit weird.

The Meat Course

For our second to last main course, the “meat” course, we had pork cheek, pork belly, and baby gem lettuce.

Interestingly, the final course was actually beetroot with beurre blanc. I was quite surprised to see a vegetable be the final course! The knifework was certain impressively. I have no idea how they managed to slice the beetroot so perfectly into so many thin, thin layers. It was actually quite fun to eat.

Dessert + Other Sweets

Our palate cleanser was a blackthorne Greek yogurt “ice” served with a lemon verbena kombucha, which was refreshing. The dessert wine was MUSCAT DE LEMNOS.

Finally, cute cocoa pod shaped carob & cacao ganache.

General Thoughts – HYTRA Athens Greece

Like other Michelin starred restaurants in Athens, HYTRA was an insanely good value at 80 EUROS for the 11-course tasting menu. The restaurant certainly plays around with technically challenging dishes, and I enjoyed the food, especially the creativity of the dishes. The rooftop panoramic views are also fabulous. I highly recommend trying to book dinner right before sunset so that you can watch the sunset with 360 degree views of the city (and the Parthenon).

HYTRA Restaurant & Bar
6th/7th Floor OCC/STEGI
107/109 Syngrou Avenue
11745 Athens, Greece

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