Salonica Restaurant: A Dining Experience Like No Other!

In just once sentence, Salonica, the main all-day restaurant of the legendary 5-star Makedonia Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki, can be described like “a restaurant experience like no other”.

Offering a great view of the Thermaikos gulf and Mount Olympus, Salonica Restaurant & Bar is located on the ground floor of the hotel and just upon entering its elegant premises you’ll suddenly realize that you’re in for a something special.

Savoro red mullets.

One thing you should know from the start is that Salonica takes pride in the delivery of the excellent hospitality that the Greek city of Thessaloniki is known for.

Once you’re seated, the friendly, well-spoken staff will right away make you feel at home as they prepare you for one of the best dining experiences that you’ll ever have.

“A key element of Thessaloniki’s culture – apart from the architecture, the music and the customs – is the city’s gastronomy with its traditional recipes, the flavors, the aromas, the pure raw materials and local products, neatly combined with the Greek hospitality that includes quality service, experience, respect and memories,” Makedonia Palace F&B Manager Nikolaos Charalabidis tells GTP Headlines.

“This combination presents a complete picture to each visitor of our country, of the lifestyle and habits of the Greeks and at the same time contributes to the quality upgrade of our offered tourist product,” he adds.

Open kitchen concept, ‘Seasonal’ menu

Salonica has an original open kitchen concept with a wide range of buffet and a la carte options.

The restaurant’s gastronomic identity is clearly Greek cuisine with traditional and modern inspired recipes by Chef Sotiris Evangelou, the man behind the gastronomic philosophy of top hotels and restaurants in Greece and abroad.

Here, at the Salonica Restaurant & Bar, the award-winning executive chef, went the extra mile and has introduced a new authentic experience in gastronomy.

Salonica’s menu offers a dining experience that includes seasonal and local produce farmed and sourced on the Greek land.

A special feature of Salonica is the menu itself as it changes every season and each time is enriched with a series of thematic dishes based on the gastronomy of various Greek regions (Macedonian cuisine / Cycladic / Cretan etc.). The menu comes as a pleasant surprise to guests, offering them the opportunity to create their personal taste memories.

The menu also includes dishes of the day that change daily as well as signature creations that are “fixed” on the menu, such as the renowned “Salonica Smoked Eggplant”, a salad that includes roasted and smoked whole eggplants accompanied by a variety of different herbs and spices. The “Salonica Smoked Eggplant” salad is actually prepared right at the table of each guest!

This is another detail that must be highlighted. A number of dishes on the menu are prepared right in front of guests.

“We want to have direct contact when presenting the products to our patrons, explaining in detail what each one is and then showing the way the dish is prepared… In this way we showcase our culinary culture and offered gastronomic experience to guests,” Charalabidis says.

The menu is also accompanied by a fully updated wine list, with bottles mainly from Greek vineyards but also selected labels from the international wine scene.

The chef recommends…

Chef Sotiris Evangelou

For the morning, Greek traditional “Spanakopita” (spinach pie) could be just what the doctor ordered! Another selection is the handmade traditional “prasopita” pie and of course Thessaloniki’s famous “bougatsa” (traditional pie filled with cream or cheese).

Greek traditional spinach pie.

For lunch, try the “Liokafto” octopus with fava from Schinoussa island. Another two recommendations for lunch are the “Salonica’s moussaka” and the “Fish of the Day” with leek and celery root “avgolemono” egg-lemon sauce.

For dinner, a popular choice is the “Revithada” chickpeas & baby goat cooked in clay pot. Also recommended: “Beef cheeks and handmade pasta with mushrooms and truffle” and the Lobster “giouvetsi”.

TIP
Feel free to ask questions about the dishes on the menu and if you’re undecided, the staff is always willing to share their knowledge and will be sure to suggest dishes that meet your needs – even if it means to add something that is not on the menu!

Highly recommended cocktails

Don’t forget that Salonica is a restaurant-bar and has signature cocktails that are really worth experiencing!

• Makedonia Palace “X”perience (Aged rum, lavender syrup, passion fruit puree, lime and fire water)

• A Class Above The Rest (Woodford Reserve bourbon, Martell VSOP, Benedictine, Otto’s Athens vermouth, angostura & Peychaud bitters, smoked with cherry wood & served with hamon iberico & dried figs)

“A Class Above The Rest”.

Open year round

Remember. The Salonica Restaurant & Bar is an all day and all year gastronomical hotspot. In the summer season all the action is transferred to the restaurant’s Salonica Garden that reminds of a graceful garden placed right in front of the sea!

For the summer months), the restaurant’s hotspot is the Salonica Garden.

The Salonica Restaurant & Bar has been awarded with two Golden Chef’s Caps and the Greek Cuisine Award (one of the most important gastronomic institutions in Greece) for four years in a row.

Salonica Restaurant & Bar is located at the Makedonia Palace Hotel on Leoforos Megalou Alexandrou 2. The restaurant welcomes you at 7am with its breakfast menu and continues within the day with coffee, snack, lunch and dinner suggestions.

Visit the hotel’s website here: https://makedoniapalace.com/