Gordon Rates

Have you already checked out one of the hottest and most awesome Michelin guide restaurants in Athens? I did, for my New Year’s brunch on January 1st, and it was !

Mental note to come here during a warmer season, because I can see myself get lost in conversations and laughter at the table outside on the pedestrian street, with good wine and excellent food. Spoiler alert, I still sat outside just because I could not wait for that warm season to come!

Let’s just say that the service here is the best I have experienced in Athens, and would also be among the best in London, Paris, and other foodie destinations. The courtesy, the smiles, the attention to detail, it’s just something else here. And the sommelier is a true professional, who is well-versed in Greek as well as other European wines and sparkling wines.

Almost as if we listen to what Gordon says, my companion and I decided to share our dishes, and went for the onion soup and beef tartare - simple and filling for a post-party meal. Oh, and bread, because dooh, gluten is life.

The onion soup is not your typical onion soup, with no usual cheese “hat” on top, but it was super delicious, and I cannot recommend it enough after a mini hangover… Beef tartare was amazing, especially the sauce that is added to it. For bread, I love that we were given 3 slices when it was two of us - nothing better than a little family feud to start the year with, over the second slice!

Turns out, as always, we had left room for dessert and chose the baked Alaska, which was probably one of the best desserts I have had in a while. The strawberry jam inside it was an additional taste bomb in our mouths.

I have to say, really made it a great start to the year, so I will go big - it’s a 10! Don’t make me change my mind and give each of us a second slice of bread next time!

First things first, and it would be awful if the first thing I tested was not a burger… So, here it is, the first review of 2025 - .burger!

Not too much seating in this place, but don’t worry if it is crowded, as there are multiple stairs to sit on in the area, including the beautiful scenery of Church of Spyridon - makes the meal more epic.

Now, when it comes to ordering, call me burger maxi, because I went all in - triple smash cheeseburger and triple smash Wagyu burger. You would think this account belongs to Luka Doncic with the way I collect these triple doubles!

Given I had a long walk over here (burning those calories before the meal, not after, Einstein move), I REALLY needed to check out the bathrooms. It was a pretty good idea to do it before the meal, because there is no way I would be able to squeeze through that narrow staircase after those burgers. Another thing to mention, if the sign above the toilet is not your kick in the butt to go and have an awesome 2025, I don’t know what is.

Yes, the burgers. While you would look insane for ordering a regular 3x-patty burger, it’s a different thing for smashed burgers, although you still want to be careful. These things are massive, and I beg you to not make the same mistake as I did - DO NOT open the entire wrapping, but rather keep it wrapped and eat it then, because I unwrapped, and on the first bite the entire burger slid out the back. The Wagyu experience was interesting, because the first bites were like “hmm, maybe Wagyu meat is not one for burgers”, but by the end of the burger I actually loved it. Although, maybe a bit too much truffle… The cheeseburger was nice, with the right amount of sauce, and again, be careful with three patties, as it is not a job for a small stomach!

Overall, I left very impressed, as this is definitely not your ordinary burger, and I love how the menu is not filled with a gazillion versions of burgers, giving me a headache than the morning after an ouzo party. Pretty democratic price wise as well, as the triple smash cheeseburger was only €10.

Ratings are cool, so let’s go with 9 to .burger, and you are a serious (k)nob if you don’t come to eat here!

Looking forward to visiting Borough Market on the Bank holiday? Pay attention to the below, and see for yourself if you want a taste of Black & Blue!

Supermarket food for a score I've often seen restaurant menus and thought "Surely, I can cook that at home for way cheaper, and it will taste better?", but never actually went to eat in any of those places. Recently, as we were really hungry and wandering the exciting and gastronomically intriguing area of Borough Market, we de...

Thinking about a beautiful night out? Read below about my latest experience at Lyaness, a London bar, that's also featured on The World's 50 Best Bars!

“55??? This is at least TOP 10!” - Gordon after his first drink It is well past due that I had to start exploring the list of The World's 50 Best Bars (and beyond), and thankfully I chose the right one as my first visit. On a very casual Friday night, we visited Lyaness, in South Bank, London, which is in 55th place on the list… The bar might be a bit differen...

Have you been thinking about a trip to Cēsis any time soon?

If so, check out our newest post about Kest by clicking on the link below!

KEST - a trip to Cēsis to please your tastebuds KEST by Maris Jansons - a relatively new set-menu restaurant in Cēsis, by a well-known and experienced chef from Riga

We are happy to announce, that Gordon Says finally has a website!

We promise to be keeping you informed on the best places to eat, and what was our experience.

In the near future, we will be writing from Latvia and the United Kingdom, and hope to expand to other countries and cities as soon as possible!

In the meantime, please see our fresh website below!

Gordon Says | Food Blog My name is Gordon, and I will be the one to tell you about the best places to eat and their food around the world!

Labrīt, dārgie draugi!

Šodien vēlējos jums sniegt jauku apskatu par vienu varen gardu beķereju, kuru atklāju šajā drūmajā pašizolācijas laikā.

Netālu no Rīgas centra atrodas beķereja Evo un Sieva, kuri cep gardāko siera kūku! Viņi jau kādu liku strādā tikai uz piegādēm, un par cik tas ir tieši tas, kas man šobrīd der, es ņēmu un pasūtiju...

Kūciņa atbrauca laikā, un lai apmierinātu jauko veselības speciālistu prātus, tā bija bezkontakta - kūciņa tika iestumta pa vārtiņu apakšu, un tad es tai aizgāju pakaļ.

Nu bet kūka... Mamma mia, cik tā ir sierīga! Mana mīļāka daļa šajā kūkā ir garoziņa, kura ir ļoti salda, un aiziet uz augšu ar mazu līkumiņu, kas nozīmē more garoziņa Gordonam. Un šokolāde lieliski papildina pašu kūku kā arī odziņu kopgaršu. Mana eksperta acs arī uzreiz pēc pirmā kumosiņa saprata, ka siera un mitruma attiecība ir perfektā 2:1 attiecībā!

Tātad draugi, ja pašizolācijā vēlamies gardu siera kūku, droši prasam man kontaktinfo, un es noteikti palīdzēšu kūciņai maigi paslīdēt arī zem jūsu vārtiņiem.

Gordons tagad dosies paskriet, lai atbrīvotu vietu nākamajam gabaliņam!

Dedziniet fondjū nevis dvēseli. ❤️

Hello, my friends and fans - oh, have I missed you!

Today we will take a look at a very interesting doner place in London. As you might know, social distancing is at it's finest, therefore even I have to take new measures in testing food around town, which is why I had a little help from Uber Eats.

Last week I was thinking about what to order on the app, and given that one thing I truly miss from Latvia is a quality doner place, I chose the following - GDK UK!

At first, I was slightly confused about the products that are available which quite weirdly also included a doner quesadilla (mix of cultures, I guess). Eventually, I decided to to go with a mixed doner, which included beef and chicken, along with salad and three different sauces.

Literally waiting while glued to the screen and watching the little scooter move down the map from the doner place in Angel, my doner was with me in about 25 minutes. Shoutout to the great delivery guy, who even brought the order up to my apartment and left it outside the door.

So, the unpacking started, and I quickly realised that the thing is just huge (that's what she said, I know). I have had a couple of bad experiences of doners in London before, and you have not seen them because I am really ashamed of myself that I even bought something there, and still want that business to go on, even though with my follower-base I would be able to bring down the house, hahaha.

The meat was literally falling out of this one, that's how much of it was there. What I should mention though, is that there was a lot more beef than chicken, I would say it was a ratio of about 80-20. The salad is stuffed right at the bottom with sauces, so you only reach that once you have slammed all the meat down your throat. Also, what's wrong with the bread? I was waiting for real pitta bread, while this one easily reminds me of a toasted white loaf?

The doner was alright, and maybe it should be the way it was served, as every doner place have their own way of making it, however, one thing that they all should keep in mind, is the quality of meat. I did not feel as if the beef in this one is good - tasted a tiny bit like cardboard...

Hope that the next doner place I try will bring me back into my fantasies of what a real doner should taste like, or I am gonna start putting some measures in place - don't mess with a man (or a woman, you have no idea who I am) who is desperate for a good doner.

GDK UK receives 6/10 points from Gordon, you can deffo do better guys.

See you next time!

Hello, my peeps!

I am back after a looong vacation (just kidding, I was super busy), where I got to enjoy many great restaurants and cafes around the world, so hopefully, you can bear with me on this storytelling wagon! In the upcoming weeks, I hope to tell you about lots and lots of different places and why you should or should not visit them! All aboard, the Gordon express leaves now!

A couple of weeks ago I had a very nice event coming up - my fiancee's birthday! We rarely can agree on a restaurant to go to and always try to go somewhere we haven't been. I mean, c'mon, we live in London, here you can have a different meal every time and you still wouldn't finish the list.

She had found a very nice restaurant not far from where we live, which looked good in the pictures, it had some intriguing looks, was expensive... Everything you need for a birthday meal! (Just joking, it doesn't have to look good in the pictures). So we booked Duddell's London 倫敦都爹利會館!

When we arrived we finally understood the beauty behind it and why it is actually so special. It is created within an old church! Yes, the whole restaurant is split into two levels, with some very nice interior design and even some of the attributes and artefacts are created to still have that church feeling.

I had booked a table upstairs, because, well, my colleague at work told me that he will never forgive me if I sit downstairs. He also told me that if I don't pick the whole Peking duck he would kill me (I did not and yet, here we are). Shoutout to Nick!

Before I tell you guys about what we picked for food, I have to tell you about our new friends. When we sat down, there was a lady downstairs who was sitting with her guy-friend, and started pointing fingers at us, and then waiving at my fiancee (jealousy alert). We thought that it might be my fiancee's dress that alerted her (yes, it was really sexy), but then we decided that it was probably because she thought I was Matt Damon...

Anyway, back to the food part. We chose the spicy almond soft shell crab, pan-fried chicken dumpling, and the truffle spring roll as appetisers. My fiancee went for a Monkfish with morel mushroom, garlic shoot
and crispy dough as an entree, while I had Cantonese roast duck with natural jus which we accompanied with Cantonese soya noodle.

A couple tens of minutes in waiting, drinking a very good white wine and ta-daaa! Our appetisers have arrived. One sentence for each appetiser:
1) Crab - not too spicy, but very soft and crunchy;
2) Dumpling - best one, good in size (there were 4), and very juicy;
3) Spring roll - the chef did not hesitate to put a lot of truffle oil, which is great, and you would not even think that it is a regular spring roll with truffle oil.

To be honest, I was very full after we ate the appetisers, which you normally would not expect when going to an expensive restaurant. You would think that the portions will be small and you will need a cheeseburger from Mickey D's afterwards... Not at this place!

When the entrees arrived, I smelled the duck and wanted to take it together with me to heaven. I am being completely honest and my mom might kill me because she makes a really great duck, but this was the best, the juiciest, the tastiest, the softest, the meatiest duck ever. When the waiter came after a moment to ask us how is the meal, I asked him can he do a magic trick where there is always one piece of that duck left on my plate. My fiancee's monkfish was also great, as it was soft and puffy and all around really tasty! Noodles - they were alright, I mean, you cannot really say anything good or bad about noodles.

After that, we even had a small surprise from the waiter, who had remembered my special occasion note when I booked the table and brought my fiancee a nice looking dessert! Kudos to that!

I think what created the best atmosphere in this restaurant was not the church feeling, the food or anything else. It was the service because we felt really welcome here and even though we go to this kind of restaurants on very special occasions, it really feels nice when people look like they are happy about what they are doing!

I hope to return to this restaurant very soon, even though as I am writing this right now, I pinch myself, because I made a promise to myself to not go to the same restaurant in London more than once!

P.S. Our new friends from downstairs said hello to us when we were going outside, and apparently, they thought that we had an engagement night... No - been there done that! It is nice to meet new and friendly people everywhere!

See you at the next place guys!