An absolutely amazing dining experience inspired by locally farmed ingredients: Restaurant Soil (16. November 2024)
The Soil is one of the restaurants I’ll definitely keep a memory of even years later. Their concept is quite lovely as they basically base most of their foods on what they grow in their own garden (located about 1 km outside of Athens), and they celebrate that quite a bit. We decided to go for the ‘Chef’s Table Experience’ (EUR 295.00 incl. wine pairing), which allows you to be seated on the ground floor, next to the kitchen, but not in the kitchen and it has only space for 6 people, so, you will sit with other people.
In any case, once you’re walking in, you’ll see that you’re place is prepared with a little decoration of the three trees at the entrance of their garden and a little booklet, which explains, which herbs are being used throughout the evening.
Before one gets into the tasting menu, they will bring out the plate of ingredients they will use throughout the dinner – which I find quite lovely and is something, I think, I’ve experienced for the first time in Seoul.
The first course of the evening was “oyster with caviar” and usually, I really don’t like oyster, but this version was truly delicious. There wasn’t too much of that salt water taste you get so often with oysters, but it was somewhat refreshing and with the caviar, it balanced out perfectly.
What I truly liked is that they finished most of the dishes at the table – right in front of you. Although, I would truly have loved to have one or two dishes prepared in the kitchen and being it served right there and then.
The next course was “tuna, lovage, pine nuts, mayo with lovage oil, fresh lovage, tomatoes, kiwi juice, horseradish oil, lovage oil, green apple” and it was a powerful flavour combination with incredibly nicely cured fatty tuna and that freshness of the kiwi juice with the lovage oil and the green apple. I was ready for more to come!
The next course was shrimp – and obviously, they were raw and prepared in front of you once again.
Frankly, the “shrimp with mussel reduction mayo, walnuts, and orange slices” was great. The freshness of the prawns and the intensity of the flavour was great – and that little smear you’d get in the spoon was just absolutely mouth-watering!
Then it was time for the squid – “squid cured in salt and citrus fruits (cumquat, lemons, clementine), served with Thai basil and fennel flowers with a vinaigrette from seaweed Dashi”. It did not only look incredibly pretty, but it also tasted delicious! The squid was smooth and not chewy at all, and the combination with the light, but yet intense flowers made for a great dish.
One of my absolute favourites that evening was the “beef tartare served on a pancake with caramel, beef carpaccio, marinated with strawberry ume, strawberry purree”. The meat was cured and had an intense, but pleasant taste of beef! Absolutely lovely! On top of that it paired perfectly with the pancake texture (however, it was a little bit too much pancake for my personal gusto).
The next curse was about the size of a thumb; and frankly, the “eel mini burger with sauteed eel liver in a mini brioche stuffed with liver parfait, teriyaki sauce, sorrel, vaduvan mayo” was delicious. It was one bite, full of flavour and despite my fear that it would be too intense in terms of taste due to the liver taste, it actually turned out to be absolutely outstanding in terms of flavour profile.
Next, it was time for mushrooms! The “puree of a brown chestnut mushroom, black trumpet, golden trumpet, pickled porcini, foam with mushroom juice and brown butter, chanterelles, hazelnut” served with a “mushroom consommé” was lovely. Frankly, I’ve had better mushroom dishes, but this one was great in terms of balance of flavours. Personally, it could have had a more intense taste profile to fully fit my gusto, but it was still nice, since it was so well-balanced that it worked out a charm.
Next in line was the scallop, and frankly, for me, that was a bit disappointing. The “scallop sauteed in a beurre noisette, foam of chicken stock and brown butter, finished with chicken skin flakes” was not really what I like. I mean, it wasn’t bad, but the scallop was a bit too cooked for my personal gusto, which was a pity. Personally, I prefer if the scallop is easy to bite and doesn’t get to that level where you really get the chewy texture. To be fair, this one wasn’t chewy yet, but it was incredibly close to.
Then it was time for bread – and what I found incredibly lovely was the size of the bread. You would get two pieces of bread, but in the way that it would resemble a full “bread with pumpkin seeds, lin seeds, sesame” with the crust and everything, and they would be basically a cube of 2x2x2 cm, which was quite impressive. It was then served with “elderflower, butter, pickles”, which was great in terms of flavour, so, definitely a great version of bread and butter. Also, lovely that it wasn’t served in the very beginning so you would unnecessarily fill up your stomach with bread.
Then it was time for the “langoustine with lobster foam, cream with white garlic, grapefruit from the garden and caviar” and I must say, it was fine. The langoustine was nice and full of flavour, and it went well with the lobster foam. The grapefruit added a bit of sweetness and a bit of acidity, which balanced off the dish quite well, especially with the popping effect of caviar and its saltiness.
The “eel grilled with Mizo glaze, yakitori, eel broth, smoked eel” looked and sounded so promising, but frankly, it didn’t fully live up to the expectations. Sure, it was good, but somehow it just didn’t quite do the trick for me.
Surprisingly, though, the “goat marinated with fermented sauce made out of barley, white beans broth, XO Sauce and wild greens called Stamnagathi” was absolutely delicious. Not only was the goat tender and rich in flavour, but it also didn’t taste much like goat. And the Stamnagathi, which, I believe, I have never tried before was actually quite lovely in combination with the meat. On top of that, the white beans broth in combination with the XO sauce made for a perfectly flavourful experience.
The “wagyu A5, cream mayo and artichoke, mustard seeds, mussel stock and mushrooms, chives” was a blast. I mean, sure, you cannot do too much wrong with great quality wagyu, but I must admit the way it was prepared made it much better than ‘pure wagyu’. The meat was tender, full of flavour, and the other ingredients make my mouth watery now that I’m writing about the dish more than 24 hours later.
After a tremendous journey with savoury dishes, it was time for the sweet part of the evening, and I was happy it was the shorter part. It started with “hazelnut crumble, mandarine gel, Jerusalem artichoke ice cream, caramel with black garlic fudge, chestnut noodles, grilled chestnut” and it reminded me a little of Vermicelle when I first saw the dish. But, it wasn’t that, at all. It was more of a chocolatey taste and had a so much thicker texture than Vermicelle, i.e., much more like a fudge. If you’d then combine all the elements of the dish together, it would actually balance out quite well, which was lovely and made it much less heavy than if you’d only have a bite of the fudge.
Then it was time for the “crème caramel with a twist made with coffee and finished with caramel syrup”. It was like a light caramel flan, which was aromatic, and given I actually enjoy caramel, was right down my alley.
Last but not least it was time for friandises like the “macaroon with white chocolate and basil”, which I found amazing. As well as the chocolates ranging from “pepper”, “lime”, “honey and lemon”, and “white chocolate”, and while they were all rather intense in flavour, they were a nice finish to an absolutely outstanding dinner.
When you’d walk out of the ‘Chef’s Table Room’, you’d pass by the kitchen, and it would be great to stop for a little while and watch them prepare the dishes – frankly, just really lovely and amazing. A pity, though, as mentioned above, that there is no possibility to get one of the dishes in the kitchen.
The concept of the Chef’s Table also showed me once again that it really does matter, which other people are seated at your table – as it could be so much fun, and it was, but it could be so much fun as a group, if the others would not be on their phone all the time, do voice messages, play videos loud – frankly, some people are just so annoying, and don’t appreciate the hard work of the chefs that it is a pity!
In any case, the Soil really does the best in terms of creating a memorable experience ranging from amazing dishes, great storytelling, a lovely atmosphere and decoration, up to close to flawless service. One must point out that not only the chefs were very attentive and friendly, but that the waitresses did a marvellous job and you would feel so welcome.
All in all, the Restaurant Soil definitely belongs to my top restaurants to be visited when in Athens – it’s about creating an absolutely memorable experience in a close to perfect setting. And frankly, it’s worth the EUR 295. Book in advance, and book the Chef’s Table!
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Contact Details:
Restaurant Soil
Ferekidou 5
116 35 Athina (GR)
Tel.: +30 21 07 51 35 05
E-Mail: hello@soilrestaurant.gr
Homepage: http://www.soilrestaurant.gr
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
