The best ice cream shops in downtown Athens
- 04/08/2022
Where to eat really good gelato, ice cream or sorbet in central Athens.
Athens’ modern gelaterias seem to get what it’s all about: we don’t just want the coolness of an ice cream and a hint of the flavor its name suggests. We want a fine texture, a rich flavor, a variety of options and combinations that will pleasantly surprise us, pure raw materials and good quality.
Look no further. We took a walk (as well as repeated taste tests) through the center of Athens and made a list of the shops that serve delicious ice cream.
Le Greche
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One of the first shops of its kind to open in the heart of Syntagma and one of those places where you will always find a long queue outside, even in the winter. Athenians and tourists stop by every day to taste one out of more than 30 different flavors of Le Greche ice cream. It stands out for its quality, its love for Greek products, such as figs from Kalamata and wine from Samos, the velvety texture of its ice cream and the unique combinations of ingredients.
Suggestion: Make sure to try the one-of-a-kind ricotta ice cream, with Aperol and bergamot.
Django
All you have to do is to take the metro to Acropolis and walk to No 15 of Veikou Street in bustling Koukaki. There you will find a “corner shop”, which is in its moment of glory, thanks to its natural ice cream. The motto of Konstantinos Karakatsanis, the creator of the shop, is “ethics over profit” and that translates into premium raw materials from Greece and selected small producers abroad, fresh fruit and the complete absence of any additives that would make the ice cream less than 100% natural.
Suggestion: Try the strawberry sorbet flavor and you’ll think you’re tasting a bowl of fresh frozen fruit.
Epik Gelato
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A shop that has a retro vibe, where the staff wears white uniforms and hats. As you walk in, you feel like you’ve gone back in the past. And yet, you are in a completely modern gelateria that combines the Italian ice cream making techniques with Greek products. The apricots in the sorbet of the same name come from Argolida, the pistachio from Aegina and the menu is continually enriched with additional raw materials from Greek producers, but also various local confectioneries.
Suggestion: Try the new Tutti Frutti flavor, with sugar glazed whiteheart cherry, bergamot, bitter orange and orange, which is very reminiscent of the homemade ice cream that Greek housewives used to make.
Dickie Dee
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Are you a fan of soft-serve ice cream? At Dickie Dee’s in Syntagma, you can try one of its best versions. You’ll recognize the shop by its pink color and the queue you’ll see outside, and when you arrive you’ll find yourself in a small paradise of soft ice cream flavors. It’s worth noting, however, that we’re not talking about any kind of industrially produced soft-serve ice cream, but a completely homemade one, and that alone gives it a different value. As for the flavors, you won’t be limited to the classics, as the shop offers six different soft-serve ice creams: fior di latte, salted caramel, dark vegan chocolate, salted pistachio, rosewater and mango cream.
Suggestion: Try a combination of vegan chocolate with salted pistachio. Ask for a cone.
Oggi
A brand owned by Italian gelatiere Carmelo Chiaraminta which brings authentic gelato to Athens. Of course, the ice creams don’t travel here all the long way from Italy. They are made in the shop’s workshop with fresh ingredients and Oggi guarantees their taste and quality. Their philosophy is based on the production of natural ice cream, with flavors that are faithful to the seasonality of the raw materials.
Suggestion: Try any of the sorbets. They stick to seasonal ingredients, so there is no standard menu, but all of them, from apricot and cherry to melon and fig, are delicious.
Stani
Τhis is not an ice cream shop. It doesn’t make Italian gelato or sorbet and you certainly won’t find the huge variety we mentioned in the previous suggestions. But this doesn’t matter at all! At Stani, one of the most traditional dairy shops in the center of Athens, you’ll go for the unparalleled kaymak ice cream. Made with mastic, kaymak is an authentic flavor of the Constantinople cuisine with decades’ worth of tradition in Greece. It pairs perfectly with sour cherry syrup. Just give it a try!