After our fantastic experience of dining out at Spondi and The Atrium at the Herodian hotel, we thought we’d continue with the impressive view fine dining theme. We tried two well-known restaurants, which both feature roof garden restaurants providing the perfect backdrop of a view of the Acropolis, whilst you dine. Both restaurants were recommended to us by our hotel concierge and rank pretty highly on our all-time dining experiences.
THE PREMIÈRE RESTAURANT & LOUNGE BAR AT THE ATHENAEUM
INTERCONTINENTAL ATHENS
The Premièr Restaurant has snapped a great location (and awards for its cuisine) with its restaurant and bar area having a landscape view of the Parthenon. It specialises in creative and innovative French influenced dishes with a Mediterranean twist but using Greek produce.
As our visit was in the winter months we were seated inside so made use of the Premièr bar where we enjoyed some pre-meal cocktails. Whilst we sipped our cocktails it was evident that this establishment was decorated to a modern, slick style with a spacious and airy feel. The restaurant walls adorned art pieces which were in keeping with the theme of modernistic flair.
We dined on a weekday evening in the winter season and I have to admit the atmosphere wasn’t the best as there were only two tables including us dining. However, this just meant that the service was more focussed and every little detail had been taken care of even down to the fact that our waiter had the time to discuss our travel itenary and points of interest pre-meal  with regards to local foods and sights. This is always a nice touch as you feel you are getting a personalised service.
Our table was the perfect position to get a lovely unobstructed view out of the window of the Parthenon. We started with a selection or pre-meal bites including some steamed breads and croquettes, followed swiftly by some Greek red wine produced in Santorini.  Our waiter insisted, that to accompany our mains we try some local wines, which were offered to us as complimentary.
We skipped on the starters and went straight for the mains. I chose the sea bass, which was cooked in butter with smooth cauliflower puree, coconut thins, pickled lemon and a mild madras curry consumé. It sounds like it shouldn’t work right? But as expected the fish was beautifully cooked and the other ingredients didn’t over power the subtle taste of the fish.
Dr C’s mains was lamb saddle with kale, artichokes, tomato confit and olives. The lamb was cooked medium rare just as it was requested and the confit provided just the right amount of liquid to stop any signs of the meat drying.
Following our mains, it was inevitable that we had to go for the dessert as we missed the mains. Both Dr C and I thought, dessert was a no-brainer and went for the restaurants signature sweet, The Tube. The tube is a modern plated concoction of Guanaja chocolate, cashew nuts strategically placed to complement the flavours with caramel-miso ice-cream.
The Premièr Restaurant at the Intercontinental hotel Athens is definitely one for a special night. The food is quite the French fare and the service is second to none; that view of the Acropolis, well I’ll leave that for you to experience and move onto the second restaurant…
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