Le Greche
Wednesday, March 22
Since Christoph and I quite spontaneously decided in March to travel to Athens and work from there, we didn’t have much time between booking and departure for travel preparations and research. One of the few internet searches I did beforehand related to great cafés in the city. One name that popped up in all the lists on the internet was “Le Greche”, which isn’t really a café, but a more upmarket ice cream shop.
Anyone who knows Christoph and me knows that we have had our own ice cream machine in Hamburg for several years and that we regularly make fresh ice cream from fresh ingredients. It’s a great and tasty hobby at home in Hamburg, but it has also made me very picky when it comes to ice cream. I hate it when ice cream is either whipped too fluffy or tastes like the powdered mix it was made from. By now, I would rather not eat ice cream at all than eat brightly colored, sticky ice cream made from powder.
So if I ever recommend an ice cream parlor, you can be sure that it is actually very good ice cream made with fresh natural ingredients. That’s exactly what you’ll find at “Le Greche”. They offer high-quality gelato – a slightly softer ice cream that is not scooped into a ball of ice cream, but is spread onto the cone or into the cup. In contrast to many ice cream parlors, where the ice cream varieties are presented in bright colors and piled up, the gelato at “Le Greche” is stored in metal containers that are closed with a lid. This storage is more hygienic and ensures that the ice is not exposed to temperature fluctuations. The finished ice cream can only be seen when it is spatulated into the cup. However, since the varieties at “Le Greche” are all made exclusively with fresh ingredients from Greece and Italy, you can be sure that each variety tastes fresh and delicious. No additives and artificial flavorings or colorings are added to the gelato. My recommendation is definitely the pistachio ice cream, which is made from pistachios from Sicily and is a dream for pistachio lovers!
The high quality of the ingredients of all types of ice cream is of course also reflected in the price and it is a bit more expensive than ordinary ice cream parlors in Germany, but it’s worth it. The location of “Le Greche” is certainly also responsible for the high price. The ice cream parlor is in the middle of downtown Athens, which is almost always full of tourists, cars and scooters. There are a few small benches in front of “Le Greche” – but you can’t sit comfortably there. In any case, our conclusion is: super delicious and high-quality gelato, if you are in the city center. Unfortunately not a good place to relax or meet friends. But for this Christoph and I have found our favorite café “behold theman” in Exarchia!
