PEPE ROSSO (LOUTRAKI)
When I arrived in Loutraki after picking up my hire car I went out for a walk around and found something to eat. The staff were lovely and helped me with finding vegan options on the menu. She also ended up coming back to me after she had obviously gone and checked with the kitchen to see what else they could do.
It was a nice satisfying meal, made even better by the incredible views of the Gulf of Corinth. I was going to order something else, I think a pasta until after the waitress returned and pointed the grilled veggies out I just went with them on the spot. Was kind of glad I did, I added the chips too because, well why not. I hadn’t really eaten much besides the lemon sorbet in Napfoli.
TAVERNAKI TOU GAMPROU (CORINTH)
Located right near the exit of Acrocorinth, the Tavernaki was the first place I came by and chatted to the super friendly staff outside. As soon as I asked about vegan options she ran through the menu with me pointing out all dishes that were or could be vegan.
I ordered the stuffed capsicums and devoured them. They were so tasty, the meal was made even better when the waitress and I were chatting about things and her jaw literally dropped when I said my age and she didn’t think I was over 30. I really like how all these people in their 20’s keep putting me age at 30. I’m okay with that. I liked being 30. The food in Greece has been really reasonably priced and just great everywhere.
RETRO (NAFPLIO)
I stopped in Nafplio for a bit of a look see between leaving Corinth and heading to Kalamata. There is quite a bit to see here and would probably add returning here if/when I come back to Greece. It was about 11:30 or something when I went for a walk around the town and came across Retro. They have a few vegan flavours of sorbet and I decided to start my eating for the day with a lemon sorbet.
I always pick lemon, as much as I look at other flavours and consider saying them it’s always lemon that falls out of the my face. Maybe it’s my way of comparing places to each other. I would go back here but maybe now I have had their lemon I would try something else. I went and sat by the pier and ate my sorbet before heading back to the car to keep on driving to Kalamata.
KALAMAKI (KALAMATA)
I completely forgot to take a photo of the food here so instead you can get a picture I took of the rain falling as I sat waiting for my meal. I had just arrived in Kalamata and had gone for my first walk around the centre of town. The sky decided to open up and pour down so I ducked into this place and asked if they had anything vegan. They actually had one vegan dish, they did a gyros plate.
So I ordered this, of course the meal came out looking a bit meatlike and I found out the shaved meat was actually beans. It was kind of like they had smooshed up kidney beans and flattened them out on a tray or something and baked it. It was a little bit crumbly and tasted like salty beans. I hadn’t eaten all day and it was about 5:30pm or something at this point. I devoured my dinner and I think through all the sussing out of my meal before committing to eat it I was too distracted to remember to take a photo. I probably wouldn’t go back to get this again but it gave me some ideas of things to do with beans. It was nice to have lettuce and tomato as well.
THE MAFIA (SPARTA)
After visiting the Sparta archaeological site I went for a bit of a walk around the city. It was lunch-timish so jumped on the apps to see what was around and came by to check out The Mafia. They actually had a vegan section on their menu. I opted for their quinoa burger with a side of salad.
That’s right, I chose the salad instead of the fries. Chips seems to be such a standard with lots of the meals but I was actually really craving some salad. I decided then that chips would be a every second day thing and that I needed meals without chips every other day. The staff was also really friendly and helpful. I also had a fresh orange juice which was nice and refreshing.
LADOLEMENO (KALAMATA)
After leaving Sparta I went back to Kalamata where I was staying. It was my last night so I went to check out some more sites before finding somewhere to have my last meal in town. I came across Ladolemeno and as they had vegetarian written on their sign I figured it was safe to check if any of that was vegan.
They highlight items on their menu with the vegetarian green tick and they have a few options, some of which can be veganised. Turns out the tortilla’s they use for their wraps actually have milk in them so I chose the falafel plate instead. I was super happy with that choice in the end too. Really didn’t need the bread and just a bit of a salad plate was nice to have.
RODO CAFE (OLYMPIA)
I built up an appetite walking around the ancient Olympia museum and archeological site. I packed quite a bit into the day but again not much on the food side of things. You might have started to notice the trend that I do all the things during the day and then once I am done walking around and site seeing then I think about sitting down to eat.
After coming back into the main area of Olympia I saw Rodo Cafe and decided to peek at their menu. This place didn’t actually show up on any of the apps but their menu did have a couple of vegan options available. I ended up adding them to Happy Cow too as there was only one place in Olympia that was listed. I was a bit excited by their Buddha Bowl full of beans and bits. It was a non pasta/bread based meal and that was what I was craving. It was pretty satisfying and filling.
PHEDIDAS GRILL HOUSE (OLYMPIA)
So this place was the one place that showed up in Olympia on Happy Cow and Google when looking for places that serve vegan food. They do have a few options available. I ordered their stuffed tomato and capsicum, with chips. I was feeling a bit chipish again. While I was waiting they bought out an on the house small hummus dip and some bread. The hummus was really good, nice mix with the perfect amount of lemon in it. Turns out they actually add in lemon zest to it.
The meal itself was also good, it had flavour and the tomato balanced the green capsicum well. It was a decent feed and I planned for this to me meal for the day as I was going to retreat back to my hotel room to do some work and just chill out for the rest of the day/night. As I was finishing my wine off after my meal one of the other staff members bought me out another plate on the house. This time it was some sliced apple with a sugar syrup and nutmeg. They were so lovely and it kicked off an afternoon of getting gifted things in Olympia. ( I also had a woman at a jewellery store gift me an eye pendant.) I ordered an Espresso, which I had planned on getting once I finished my wine and had that after my apple. Very friendly staff, good english, and very helpful and generous.
RUBIK’S (PATRAS)
This place was super busy on a Friday lunch time. I came past at about 1:30ish and just managed to score myself a table. They had quite a few vegan items, more of which I discovered after I had already ordered. On Friday – Sunday from 11am – 5pm they have a Brunch menu and I ordered off that, not their normal menu. I also went with pancakes.
I was technically breaking my fast so brunch was totally legit. These were chickpea flour pancakes with Jam, hazelnuts, chocolate, OMG, this was yummy. It was such an indulgent meal. I was pretty happy though with just choosing something different and getting to experience something else. I don’t tend to order or get desserts often and pancakes has always been a meal to me anyway. They also made a really nice Espresso.