Hot Hot Burger Bar @ Piraeus

I have past in front of Hot Hot on Kolokotroni Street in Athens, but have never stopped to eat, because there usually was a lot of people and because I am not really a burger fan.

But one day, we decided to drop into the outlet in Piraeus which opened, I think, several months ago.

Hot Hot Burger Bar offers and has made a big success with gourmet style burgers for very affordable prices, starting from 2 Euro.

I ordered Classic Hot Hot Burger, which came with a slice of cheese. I do not know the difference between this one and their cheese burgers

It tasted all right for a burger of 2 Euro. Nice change from a souvlaki wrap which costs more or less the same.

If you want potatoes, you should order separately. In the photo is potato wedges with cheese and bacon. Very filling.

I did not like the service here, but it is not really a restaurant and you won't expect so much. You can order from home, too. If you like burgers, you'd like to give it a try.

Hot Hot Burger Bar
Grigoriou Lambraki 91, Piraeus
Γρηγορίου Λαμπράκη 91, Πειραιάς
Tel. 210 4102444

The Burger Joint @ Glyfada

After a Sunday stroll in Glyfada, we decided to eat a burger. As Burger Times was a huge disappointment, we headed this time for The Burger Joint.

The place is hidden away in a stoa (gallery) and we almost entered a souvlaki restaurant next door. This photo was taken from one of the outdoor tables of The Burger Joint and the part that had a lot of people is this souvlaki place of which name I do not remember at this moment.



The Burger Joint is at the end of this corridor, on the right side. We stayed outside, but there are also tables inside.



They have burgers and pizzas. I heard that also the pizzas were good, but we ordered burgers only this time.

On the table, there are ketchup, mustard, pepper and salt. Tub water was provided without any request.



I wanted to order a sort of steak sandwich, but they did not have it at that moment, so here is a cheese burger for me.



I was very impressed by the perfection in its genre. Maybe because I am not a huge fan of burger, I won't expect any better from a cheese burger. So it was perfect.

The waitress did not ask us how we liked the meat done and it came somewhere between well-done and medium, which was nice.

GH, who eats much more burgers than I do, ordered Umami burger, which is with goat cheese cream, mushroom and caramerized onion.



It was a very nice combination. If you have already gone through all the burgers and want to try something different, it is a good choice.

Only unfortunate thing was that neither of us liked the slim chips. They soaked up too much oil and we got bored of them easily.

With a bottle of coke, the total bill was 18 Euro (cheese burger was 7.50 Euro and Umami was 9 Euro). Expensive? Well it depends on how much you love burgers, I guess.

The Burger Joint
Fivis 17, Glyfada 16674
Φοίβης 17, Γλυφάδα, 16674
Tel. 210 8940260
http://www.burgerjoint.gr/


We found that Paul (famous French, now international, bakery) is about to open nearby. Paul currently has at least another shop near Syntagma.



Walking toward our car, I saw this cat with Hitler mustache.

Burger Times @ Glyfada

I am not a burger-lover, but GH sometimes wants to eat burgers and I need to accompany him. It was one such Sunday afternoon.

I searched around the web and found this burger shop enjoys quite a good reputation.

Burger Times. It is on Konstaninopoleos Street, i.e. in Biftekoupoli. As the burger patty is basically a bifteki, we can say that it is situated in the right place.

When we arrived in the Sunday afternoon, at around 3:30, there was no customer inside. There were three people in the shop, a young man at the bar counter, an older man who was the cook and probably the father of the young man, and a woman who I thought was the wife of the cook (she is in the photo above). So, basically, it is a family run burger shop (ikogeniako burgeradiko).

The menu is rather long for such a burger shop. Apart from the burgers, there are various starters (nachos, buffalo wings, etc), salads, wraps, hot dogs, and desserts. There was also a not-bad selection of beers.

For burgers, you can choose the patty size from 100, 200 or 285 g, and you can even order it without side. It was written that the beef was Angus, whatever it means (I know that Angus is the name of the cattle, but to be honest, I do not know what is the difference from the other beef in taste-wise).

GH ordered a 500ml Vergina Weiss beer, which was reasonably priced at 4 Euro. I ordered a bottle of coke (250ml, 2 Euro).

And burgers. They arrived suspiciously quickly. Here is 200g Old Western Burger for 8.50 Euro, with the side of salad and country potatoes.

Here is my Chili Burger for 8.50 Euro, with the side of salads.

I ordered the patty to be medium-rare, but it was cooked below rare. The centre was still cold. Being afraid of food poisoning, I sent it back to the kitchen.

The Old Western Burger that GH ordered "well-done" also was undercooked to "medium", to say the least.. The centre was still red, not even pink.

No wonder that the burgers appeared so quickly.

A guy seated behind me also sent his burger back to the kitchen, as it was not "well-done" as he liked.

I am not sure what to think. Was the cook not in the right mood, or the kitchen grill was not functioning properly? In Greece, the default way of grilling meat is "well-done", so under-cooking burgers is really strange, especially when the restaurant is not busy.

After the meal, we were offered "mosaiko" or "kormos", which were pretty good.

I am not sure if they always offer the dessert, or only to the unhappy customers.

The total bill came to 23 Euro, which is not bad, as far as the food is cooked correctly.

A sympathetic burger shop, but I would not rush to return.

Burger Times
Konstantinopoleos 14
Glyfada
Tel. 210-8920959
http://www.burgertimes.gr/

Kωνσταντινουπόλεως 14
Γλυφάδα

The place is mentioned in the following websites.
Ask4Food
Athens Menu
Glyfada Life

Cheese Burger @ Colibri in Mets

GH told me that he wanted to eat a hamburger. I started a search around the web and I picked one in Athens and one in Glyfada leaving him to choose between them. And he picked up the one in Athens, called Colibri.

It is probably the most talked-about & blogged hamburger shop in Athens. I listed some of the posts I found below.

The place is just behind the Temple of Olympian Zeus, but not in the area where tourists go, if not on purpose.

This is how it looks from outside. It is basically a take-out/ delivery shop which have 5 or 6 tables on the pedestrian street in front. So, if you go there during peak hours, there is a good chance that you have to wait for a table or take-out burgers and shit down somewhere else.

We found a table because it was before 8 o'clock and it was a bit rainy (only 2 or the tables in the photo are covered by some sort of roof.

The menu consists in beef (veal?) and chicken burgers, pizze, salads, and "biftekia" (burgers or meat patties without bread).

The drinks came immediately. Beers are about 3 Euro and soft drinks are 1.50 Euro. A small bottle of water is 0.50 Euro. Very reasonably priced. They can give you free water in pitcher if you request (we did not, but I saw other people do). The beer in the below photo is Erdinger White Beer.

On the other hand, the burgers took ages - no, not really, it was about 20 min, I think - to come. It was intriguing because there were not many patrons (6 or 7) and there seemed at least 4 men in the kitchen. The delivery movement also was very slow (it happened only twice during 1 hour we were there). I am not sure they are always slow or there was something wrong on that particular evening.

The first impression of my cheese burger was not great (6.60 Euro). Maybe because it looked quite different from the burgers I saw on the fellow bloggers' websites.

In taste wise, of course, it was quite good.

The burger was rather thin, but was also quite large in diameter. The thing I liked very much in this burger was that the good equilibrium and combination of soft buns, crunchy iceberg lettuce, tender and lean patty, and the chili sauce I asked to add (no additional cost).

The potatoes were skin-on type and not freshly fried.

GH got a Bacon & Cheese Burger and he also was happy.

The total cost was 18.80 Euro.

If you get fancier burger, the cost shall rise above 10 per person.

Overall, we were happy with the meal, but this is not the area we usually move around and the unpredictability of table availability shall work as a deterrent.

This, of course, does not mean that I do not recommend this place to you. If you like burgers, you should try.

Colibri
Αναπαύσεως 9, Μετς-Παγκράτι
Τηλ. 210 9214277
18:00-00:30.

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After I came back to home, I noticed that on the web, there are Colibri with another address. I wondered if the shop moved at some point, but in the end, this website cleared my doubt.

http://www.culinarybackstreets.com/athens/colibri/

Evidently there are three Colibri in Athens, one in Pangrati, one in Ano Petralona, and the one in Mets where we went.

And here are the list of admirers of Colibri on the web:

http://www.athensmagazine.gr/portal/restaurants/businesses/3164
http://www.spottedbylocals.com/athens/colibri/
http://onathens.blogspot.gr/2011/03/colibri-round-two.html
http://www.mysecretathens.gr/2011/12/colibri/
http://myathensfoodndrink.blogspot.gr/2011/06/best-pizza-in-athens-check.html

Vamos Amigos @ Glyfada

Greece is in 3 day vacation (Epiphany, Saturday & Sunday) & people are enjoying the last segment of the Christmas-New Year holiday season.

Unfortunately, the weather is not good (except for those who went for skiing) and we gave up an idea of travelling.

Just not to be closed in the apartment, we went to Glyfada for a walk. It was cold and suddenly I started to crave for fast food, like a burger. I love Greek food, but as I eat Greek food all the time, it happenes sometimes to be wanting something else.

In Glyfada there is a good selection of fast food place and I picked up a Mexican one. If I call it a fast food place, it will be very annoyed, but it was evident that they had things like burger & hand food.

It is spacious inside and it was written that there was also a courtyard which I did not see.

The decor was of course 'Mexican' themed.

The staff was polite and friendly at the same time.

On the menu there were all the usual 'Mexican' or 'Tex Mex' dishes and there was a good selection of starters, burgers, grilled meat, pasta (?), and things like burrito & tacos.

The starters are around 8 Euro and above and the mains from 10 and above. Not cheap, but to counterbalance the beer is 4 Euro & soft drink 2.20 Euro and there is no cover charge (no obligatory order of water or bread).

Hubby ordered a hamburger with mushroom, cheese and maybe something else, 10.60Euro.

Hubby liked it.

But I liked better my burger with chili con carne and cheese and afterwards he agreed as well saying the next time he will order this one instead.

The meat was over-done to my taste as usual (the Greeks like it well done; what can I do?), but had a nice flavour.

For the side, there was a choice among the rice, potatoes, and salad. I picked up rice. I had an impression that the rice was not freshly cooked and thought I should have ordered salad instead.

At the end, they offered a small glass of limoncello.

We wondered if it contained any alcohol at all. It was like a liquid sorbet. It should have contained Very little amount of alcohol, if it did at all. I am a good judge, as I usually do not drink and am very susceptible to it.

We paid 26 Euro + 2 Euro tip.

Not hugely impressed, but we left with a positive impression. It is not a sort of food I want to eat often (in the sense that I usually do not eat burger of hamburger), but when I want to, I might try again.

Vamos Amigos
Kyprou 65A, Glyfada
Tel. 210-898 3167
Fax. 210-894 3236

And I wanted to add, for those who interested, there are some vegetarian choices. It is quite noteworthy in Greece. And there are some kids plates and it might be good for families. For more, see the menu on their website.
http://www.amigos.gr/

On walking toward the car, we spotted a new Politiki restaurant called Muftak.



This is how it look like.

Burger @ Frida's, Piraeus

In 3 hours we are getting out of 2011 and entering 2012. How was your 2011? Mine was OK, but in general it was a bad one for Greece and 2012 cannot be better although I heartily hope so. Let's try to survive as best as we can, shall we?

So, we went for the last minute shopping to the central Piraeus. And after some walking and browsing, GH said he had to use toilets. So I took him to this cafeteria called Frida's just in front of Dimotiki Astynomia where I used to go to beseech for my residence permit.

It is a small but nice self-service cafeteria with food. They sell salads, sandwiches, various pastas, a small selection of grill, sweets and wine.

GH ordered his favourite, Club sandwich with chicken (or maybe turkey - don't remember) & I ordered moschari burger with some soft drinks.

It took a while for the food to come, as the place was very busy (for which the owner apologized us).

The burger was pretty good with flavoursome meat patty and good quality cheese. For 6.20 Euro, it was a very decent offer.

Meanwhile the club sandwich was less impressive. But it was only 4.80 Euro, thus not much of a disappointment.

Both of the plates were served with fresh fries.

The place sells also Italian wines and Italian panettone, and, surprisingly many people were buying these products. We also bought a bottle of wine and might try tonight.

For the price they charge, the food seem to taste quite right and we will be returning without doubt (if we can find a table).

Frida's
Euripidou 87, Piraeus
Tel. 210 4174 564

(The photo above is from my mobile; I might upload some other photos from my camera later).

This is my last post of 2011. Happy to conclude the year with a positive note and hope to discover many more in the coming year.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS FROM MY CANON CAMERA

that I have just downloaded.

Cashier Counter. The place is self-service style; you place the order at the counter and pay. The food sometimes you have to go to fetch and sometimes they bring it to you.



Handsome Facade.

Simply Burgers @ Sygrou Avenue

Visited a Simply Burgers joint on Syngrou Avenue last Saturday, because a couple who was with us said it was very good and ate frequently at its joints.

I don't have photo of the shop, so I took a picture of the menu that I found under the door of our flat.

It is half-self service style and you need to go to counter to place the order, while water and food are brought to tables by service staff.

Hubby ordered The Godfather (€ 8.35), as was recommended by the couple.



It is a hamburger with grilled bacon, double cheese and sautéed mushrooms. Hubby said he liked it, but I didn't. I ate the meat and found it totally tasteless. MacDonald's beef patty has more beefy flavour, in my opinion. But here tastelessness of the beef is covered up by Simply Burger Sauce (don't ask me what it was), greasy bacon and melted cheese. Side of fried potato had flavour-enhancer flavour of crisps; I like it with crisps, but not with chips.

The my order, however, wasn't bad. Chicken quesadilla (€5.95).



Grilled Arabic pita (according to the menu, but should it be tortilla?) sandwich with cheese and chicken.



Pita was crispy and cheese was gooey. It is not a gourmet food, but a nice fastfood.

One of the guys who was with us ordered Caesar's salad and let me taste it. Again, I found it tasteless; how they managed to deprive iceberg lettuce of taste was beyond me.

In next days, I asked 3 of my friends if they like Simply Burgers. They all responded that they prefer Macdonald's or Goody's for different reasons.

I won't go back to Simply Burgers if I can choose, but if I should, I will stick to quesadillas.



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Related Link
Restaurants in Athens