Brunch on the Pangrati side

Pangrati and Ilisia are next to each other and behave as one neighbourhood at the weekend. Between them they have most of what the centre has and almost none of the queue, which is the whole reason people cross town for brunch here rather than staying nearer the Acropolis.

This is a practical guide to the eastern side of the weekend: the timing, the ordering, and one thing worth knowing before you arrive at four in the afternoon expecting eggs.

The neighbourhood, briefly

Ilisia runs into Pangrati, and the pair share a character: residential, quiet on the main streets, busy in the squares. It is where Athenians live rather than where they are photographed, and the weekend reflects that. Tables turn slowly. Nobody is working through a list of sights.

Brazil Square sits at the Ilisia end, with a park in it, shade, and a steady traffic of dog walkers from about eight in the morning. Five minutes from the Hilton, five from the Megaron, and far enough from both to feel like neither.

The timing, which is the part that matters

We open at 08:00 every day. The kitchen opens at 09:00, an hour after the door. That gap catches people out, so it is worth stating plainly: arrive at half past eight and you can have coffee, not breakfast.

The more useful number is the other end. **The eggs are served until 16:00.** That is a real cut-off printed on the menu, not a guideline, and it is the single most practical fact in this article. A late brunch at half past three is fine. A late brunch at half past four is lunch, and a different menu.

Between about nine and eleven on a weekday the courtyard has the light and almost nobody in it. At the weekend that same hour is the busiest part of the place. Both are good; they are not the same experience.

What is actually on the brunch side

Six egg dishes. The Iguazu Breakfast Combo at 22 euro is the large one: fried eggs in bread with avocado, chorizo, sweet potatoes and mushroom. Eggs Benedict with ham and hollandaise is 9, and the avocado version with poached eggs, salmon and roe is also 9.

There are three omelettes: chorizo with four kinds of mushroom at 10, smoked chicken with chimichurri and anthotyro at 10, and an egg-white one with anthotyro and spinach at 8.

Beyond the eggs, the yoghurt bowls are 8 euro, either granola with chia and goji or fruit with berries and banana. The club sandwich is 16. Bao buns are 12 for chicken and 14 for crispy shrimp, which is not a conventional brunch item and is the one people order twice.

Coffee, and the thing to drink instead

Greek coffee is 3 euro, espresso 3, cappuccino 4.50. Brazilian filter coffee is 4.50 and is the one worth ordering if you have not had it: it is a different extraction and a different drink, not an affectation.

The smoothies are all 9 euro and the one that belongs to this restaurant rather than to any café is Brasiliana: pineapple, passion fruit, strawberry, cranberry, grapefruit and honey. Tropical Paradise is mango, pineapple and coconut milk.

Fresh orange juice is 4.50, the mixed fruit is 5.50, and the homemade lemonade, sour cherry or grapefruit is 5.50. On a hot Saturday the sour cherry is the correct answer and nobody ever orders it.

Where to sit

The courtyard opens straight onto the square and gets the morning, which makes it the obvious choice and also the first part to fill. The terrace above has the hanging garden. Inside is the jungle, which is better later in the day than at ten in the morning.

If you are two people and unhurried, the courtyard. If you are six and want to hear each other, the courtyard or the terrace, and earlier rather than later. The brunch page has the photographs, which will decide it faster than this paragraph.

Two practical notes

Parking, if you are driving in from another part of Athens: the nearest car park is about 80 metres away at Papadiamantopoulou 26 and Michalakopoulou, open 24 hours. Independent, so we cannot quote its prices.

And if the weekend plan is brunch at home rather than out, the kitchen delivers from 09:00 to 23:30, and the delivery page lists the platforms and the area. Eggs travel less well than most things, which is our opinion rather than a rule.

The full menu runs well past brunch, which is the other reason people stay: a table that started at eleven with coffee does not have to end when the eggs do.