7 of the best sushi restaurants in Athens

7of the best sushi restaurants in Athens

For a country with such a large abundance of fresh fish, finding satisfying sushi in the Greek capital has historically not been as simple as you might expect. But in Athens today, all that has changed. In part due to Japanese itamaes displaying their skills, but also thanks to our homegrown sushi chefs, many of whom have travelled to Japan to study the art of sushi. And it is an art - not one that everyone can master. Katie Silcox recommends where to find the best sushi in Athens.

SUSHIMOU

If you close your eyes while bringing chopsticks to taste buds at Sushimou, you could believe you were in Japan. This is an authentic, intimate, and playful experience. The restaurant has space for only 12 diners and the service is omakase, meaning sushi chef Antonis Drakoularakos decides what to serve you, and when. Of course, chef always knows best - especially when, like Drakoularakos - they’ve learnt the art of sushi in Tokyo. The result is a discovery of the day’s best catch; and be it sea bass or salmon, cuttlefish or crayfish, you’re guaranteed the freshest of flavours. Sushimou is as close as you can come to a Japanese sushi and sashimi experience without leaving Greece. Be sure to book well in advance.

sushimou.gr

MATSUHISA ATHENS

Nobu Matsuhisa needs no introduction. Indeed, neither does the iconic Four Seasons hotel brand. Fuse the two - Matsuhisa Athens and the Four Seasons Astir Palace Athens - as we have accomplished on our dazzling riviera, and something special is born. The refined, chic atmosphere here is matched only by the dishes served. Expect Nobu favourites including the Black Cod and King Crab, but also feast your eyes - and your belly - on the regional specialities: a good place to start is the Seasonal Omakase menu, where the chef will select the freshest local dishes for you. With arguably one of the best sunset views in all of Athens and its surroundings, time your visit well and you’re in for a memorable evening.

matsuhisaathens.com

HACHIKO

With four restaurant openings in five years (and a fifth to open soon), it’s clear that Hachiko is doing something right. The best news for Athenians is that no matter where you are in the city you’ll find an easy-to-reach outlet: three of the four restaurnts are right here in our capital. Scattered across the centre as well as the northern and southern suburbs, you’ll find them in Psychiko, Kifisia, and Glyfada. The fourth is in Mykonos. If you believe the age-old adage that we eat with our eyes, then Hachiko is on to a winner. Expect colour pops and floral decoration to satisfy the eyes, as well as your Instagram feed. Oh, and about that fifth restaurant - we have it on good authority that it will open in Santorini during summer 2022.

hachikosushitales.com

If ever elegance, style, poise, and sophistication meet, it will be here - at NYX Rooftop. With sweeping views of the Athenian city - yes, the Acropolis included - this of-the-moment restaurant located on the rooftop of the Academias Hotel specialises in Japanese fusion cuisine and creative cocktails. Here beef gyozas stuffed with kimchi and parmesan cream, meet spicy edamame seasoned with oyster sauce. Sea bass ceviche served with passion fruit and tapioca, meet tempura sushi rolls flavoured with jalapeno. That’s Italy, China, Mexico and Brazil covered, with plenty left to choose from. While the menu will make you want to indulge, the up-tempo music will make you want to dance - come with an empty stomach, and your party shoes on.

nyxrooftop.com

SAKURA SUSHI AND STEAKS

Sakura Sushi in Panormou serves up a unique dining experience in more ways than one. First let’s delve into the dishes: the Sakura menu is special due to the way in which their sushi is prepared. Chef Yannis Kontotasios trained in Japan, learning the art of edomae and kaiseki style dishes, before bringing his skills back to Greece and serving the artform here. Elsewhere on the Sakura menu you’ll find delicious grilled fish and steaks, including options with white or black truffle. The Sakura Sushi restaurant itself is one-of-a-kind in Athens too; with 40 seats scattered across a small dining room, the experience feels part traditional Japanese kitchen, and part like dining in the comfort and familiarity of your own living room. An evening at Sakura Athens is unlike any other the city has to offer.

sakurasushi.gr

TOKYO JOE

Tokyo Joe is fast becoming a Greek sushi sensation. In addition to outlets across Athens and its suburbs - Kolonaki, Psychiko, Vouliagmeni, and Glyfada - the sushi chain also boasts restaurants on the islands of Mykonos, Spetses and Crete. The reason for its success is clear: not only does it serve consistently delicious sushi alongside ceviche, bao buns, noodles and more - but it does so at very reasonable prices. You’ll be hard pushed to find better sushi at such accessible prices anywhere else in the city. While we love all of Tokyo Joe’s Athens’ restaurants, we must give a special mention to the Glyfada branch which - in addition to very tasty and photogenic food - also features a floor to ceiling mural that is very Instagram friendly.

tokyojoe.com HASAPIKA AT ATHENS CENTRAL MARKET

Whether you’ve lived in Athens your entire life, or visited for just a few days, we have no doubt that you’ve come across the Varvakeios, also known as the Athens Central Market. In the very heart of the city, this public market has been the place for Athenians to visit for fresh meats, fish, herbs, spices, nuts, and more since 1886. But it was only in 2021 that brothers Bakoyannis and Giannis Drivakis opened up a restaurant space selling sushi. Frankly, we’re surprised it took this long. The fish, sourced daily from Greek fisherman trawling the waters around Naxos, Paros, Symi, and more is - as expected - as fresh as fresh can be. The setting, huddled in amongst the meaty market where stallholders butcher their precious stock [side note: don’t visit if this makes you uneasy] is something straight out of Barcelona’s La Boqueria playbook, yet it is all very Greek: likely thanks to the fresh seafood flavours and taverna style seating.

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The legendary Vassilenas celebrates story-telling through food

Longevity is usually a good judge of a restaurant’s calibre. At 100 + years, Vassilenas doesn’t need to prove itself. But to its credit, it hasn’t just ended up a classic restaurant with the patina of its bygone years – in Benjamin Button fashion, it has consistently elevated its offering, getting fresher and more playful in its approach to food. As a standard-bearer for creative cookery, it has consistently been recognized by food industry peers, amassing three prestigious awards just this year! The restaurant opens its island version on Antiparos this summer. As Vassilenas celebrates its centenary, a grateful city salutes a local legend.

Beyond ratings and reviews, staying power really is what restaurants aspire to. So, when a restaurant like Vassilenas thrives for over a century, masterfully converting values from the past and childhood memories into thoughtprovoking dishes, you know it is no longer about running a business but about powerful storytelling through food. For Vassilenas that started out as a grocery deli in Piraeus, food has always been a powerful sensory tool through which to communicate its values. Its kitchen is anchored in classical cookery; yet it has revolutionized the way we think of Greek seafood. Its 100-year anniversary has meant looking back at its chequered history through old guest books and newspaper clippings. The New York Times likened the original owner to ‘Michaelangelo in his gustatorial studio.’ This was Greece’s first restaurant to offer a degustation menu or a table d’hôte, in 1928! That curiosity to venture into unconventional territory has been steadily nurtured by its current owners, Thanasis Vassilenas and Veniamin Daskalakis. As anyone who has dined at Vassilenas can vouch, the food here is subtle and refined without falling into the trap of being unduly fussy. Arguably, the city’s best-value-formoney lunch destination, tucked just behind the Hilton and the National Gallery, Vassilenas extends to the verdant Madrid Square. Lunch in the garden to bird song and the heady fragrance of orange blossoms in bloom, or in the restaurant’s uberchic interiors. Like its understated elegant design, the soft-spoken but talented Chef Manolis Garnelis creates poetry on the plate with artful variations of Greek classics. Delicately prepared with a tempered hand, each dish puts taste ahead of technique, crafted with maximum flavour, minimal waste. A private room at the back, ideal for wine tastings and small corporate events, seats up to 20 guests. But if Vassilenas has kept hungry patrons coming back for more, for a century, it has been for the exquisite offerings of its kitchen. From the good old days in the ‘20s when Vassilenas’ degustation menu boasted as many as 30 dishes the accent here has always been on offering an eclectic choice to pamper all palates. For Vassilenas that started out as a grocery deli in Piraeus, food has always been a powerful sensory tool through which to communicate its values. Its kitchen is anchored in classical cookery; yet it has revolutionized the way we think of Greek seafood.

Vassilenas’s cuisine reflects the gastronomic influences of its native sea-faring neighbourhood of Piraeus, ingesting traditional Greek standards with a bold, cosmopolitan edge. Transforming fish taverna standards such as red mullets served here with an unusual but brilliant crust caked with raisins, rosemary and tomato, and converting the humble fava with grilled squid into a culinary marvel requires not just imagination and skill but audacity to pull it off. Vassilenas does so without being frilly and pretentious. Its taramosalata, often the barometer of a good kitchen, is a recipe that has been honed for decades, tweaked into creamy perfection, its briny freshness hitting just the right notes. The beef tartare served on a bed of horseradish, smoked egg yolk, pasturma and cured beef aioli plays on textures and flavours in a delicate dance. Long the beacon for politicians, scholars and artists, Vassilenas remains the preferred haunt of devotees of fine cuisine today. The guest book lists Winston Churchil, Elia Kazan, Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis, Irene Pappas, Melina Mercouri, Nikos Chatzikyriakos – Gikas and George Seferis as regulars. The wine cellar here is as impressive as the offerings of its kitchen, as is evident from the two walk-in cellars of the restaurant, a sensory tour of the finest wines from Greek vineyards. If you’re headed to the Cyclades this summer, a detour to Antiparos might be in order. Vassilenas opens its island counterpart in Chora on June 11, in a stunningly beautiful courtyard, away from the bustle.

If you’re in the city, Vassilenas continues to stay open with cooler operating hours from 7pm to midnight. Book ahead for a table at Vassilenas Parkside, the restaurant’s al fresco extension at Madrid Park. Closed on Sundays.

Vrasida 13, Athina 115 28. Tel:210.7210501 vassilenas. gr