Both Funky & Gourmet!
The Funky Gourmet restaurant is located at a charming neoclassical house in downtown Athens, off the main tourist track. The neoclassical building looks like a sparkling vision among the dilapidated facades of the neighbourhood. The minimalist black, white and grey first-floor dining room looks out over the city. Wonderfully well-crafted, innovative dishes feature unusual but well-thought-through combinations, and many displays playful, theatrical elements.
I am back to Funky Gourmet restaurant for a third time in the capacity of a Food Critic, and I am to taste and comment on choices on the degustation menu. The inviting ambience offsets nicely by the striking avant-garde décor and bold sensual artwork. The cuisine at the Funky Gourmet is Traditional Greek in an exquisitely avant-garde fashion with many nouveau and molecular cuisine elements. Micro-courses “molecular gastronomy with a Mediterranean twist”. Each course, snack and wine choice is meticulously put together with rare and fine ingredients. Each complement the other. We were very warmly welcomed and seated at a very nice table with a great view. The ritual of our gastronomic trip started with a glass of champagne along with appetizers.
Degustation Menu
I started off with a glass of champagne and the ‘Salsify in the soil’ which was a creative presentation.
Sea urchin & Sea sponge presentation
Every time I am back to the Funky Gourmet restaurant, I have the feeling of travelling along with each bite. It is a peculiar feeling, seldom experienced elsewhere out of the hundreds of restaurants I have been to. Specializing in molecular cuisine, the food here at the Funky Gourmet restaurant is presented as intellectual art with a sense of humour on the side and is served with flourish and theatricality.
Funky Gourmet Restaurant
The unerringly fantastic service was beyond compare. Every table has two persons in charge making this kind of private matter. Vasia explains in detail the ingredients and the theme of each dish, giving the whole service a quality touch.
Picnic
A relative is with me this time and it is more fun than ever. Our dining experience lasts three whole hours. Each dish is prettier or more surreal than the last. Several courses did not exceed the size of a golf-ball.
A fresh Chios beer accompanies the Koulouri bread with fresh butter and sea salt. It melts in the mouth leaving a buttermilk aftertaste and it is very yummy.
Snails and truffle
I love snails and from the previous visit and an exquisite delicacy. Snails served sautéed, garnished with greens and sprinkled with truffle.
Langoustine on the waves is finger licking good!
Salad
Perhaps hard to believe that one can get enough food out of such small portions but we are already full and still in the middle of this journey.
The Greek Salad looks like snow and melts on your tongue in a similar manner. Our Salad is paired with an extra fine dry Sherry.
A Sense of Humor on the Side
The Lamb’s tongue is called Silence of the Lamb. The accompanying it dish was the lamb’s brain. It had a piquant almost sweet flavour. Pairing wine, a Merlot-cabernet.
Lamb’s brain presentation
Cheese
Cheese for the end, with the ‘Chestnuts’ from the village of Roquefort.
Dessert
Three innovative treats to follow, paired with homemade liqueur with Delmain Cognac.
Vegetable dessert with the Carrot Mojito.
A divine taste and inspiration! The ‘Pomegranate of Abundance and Prosperity’
Opening the pomegranate was a nice surprise!
The Bacon, Chocolate, Caramel is finger licking good and is paired with a homemade frozen pomegranate cocktail.
Orange Explosion
The ‘Orange Explosion’ the final highlight is eye-catchy! Shimmering golden spheres on a bed of green leaves that, when sprinkled with liquid nitrogen, create a fragrant mist. You have to see it to get the feeling.
Bottom Line
The dining experience was once again memorable. Service was seriously slick, the waiting staff patient and attentive, topping up flawless. The restaurant is hardly cheap, but then a great deal of work has clearly gone into the lengthy menu that appears. The eye was tricked by the presentation and the unexpected flavours exploded in the mouth. We oohed and aahed after each course. If you plan to visit the Funky Gourmet which we highly recommend, assure that you book well in advance.
Disclaimer: I was a guest at the Funky Gourmet during this visit, but the opinions expressed in this article are, as always my own.
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