Oxo Nou ​Food

Sunday, April 2

“Oxo Nou” is a restaurant in our Exarchia neighborhood specializing in Cretan dishes. Christoph had read about this restaurant in a travel blog about Exarchia, in which the (Athenian) author wrote that it was his daughter’s favorite restaurant and that he absolutely recommends it. So one evening we were walking the streets of our neighborhood and happened to come across the “Oxo Nou” restaurant.

Since it wasn’t planned, of course we didn’t have a reservation. But luckily a lot of Greeks usually don’t eat dinner until very late so when we arrived at 7pm-ish there were still a lot of free tables. At a small table for two in the cozy and rustic restaurant, we were then welcomed with a bottle of water, a huge basket of bread and the most delicious (but also most garlicky) dip ever.

As in many Greek restaurants, the menu consisted of a variety of starters and a few main courses, from which we then ordered a few dishes to share. Due to the huge selection of delicious starters, the choice was not easy for us. Finally we ordered meatballs in tomato sauce, a typical Greek leek and potato filo pie (puff pastry stuffed with leek and potatoes) and an eggplant, tomato and soft cheese salad. All three dishes were delicious, but we were particularly impressed by the whole, smoked eggplant, topped with tomatoes, finely chopped onions and Cretan soft cheese. The eggplant dish was the best vegetarian dish I’ve ever eaten, so it had to be included in my sketchbook.

Since my hunger would not have allowed me to draw at the table first and then eat, this drawing was only made after dinner.