What’s for dinner: An artistic illustration of Astipalea island’s scenic Chora village appears at the top of the menu on the outside wall of the Astropelos taverna in Livadi. Below is one of our photos of Chora, shot during our May 2009 visit to Astipalea.
A view of the enormous Kastro (castle) that towers above Chora on Astipalea
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The unassuming exterior of Irene’s kafepantopoleio (café and grocery store) on the road that winds through Ano Meria village on charming Folegandros island
The small inside space doubles as a convenience store and restaurant
Famous food: You probably wouldn’t expect a convenience store to dish up some of the most delicious home-made pasta you’ve ever tasted, but then you probably haven’t been to Irene’s kafepantopoleio on Folegrandros, either.
I had never heard of Irene’s grocery-café until I read Greece’s Best-Kept Secret (Until Now), the cover story on Folegandros in the December 2004 edition of Condé Nast Traveler magazine. Writer Adam Sachs described celebrating his second wedding anniversary at Irene’s with a dinner meal of matsata — a local pasta traditionally served with rooster. “Irene made the matsata in our presence,” he wrote, “and as hoped for, it was a rich, gooey pleasure. It was cut into ribbons, and the texture was somewhere between a noodle and a dumpling. The rooster broth was poured over the matsata, the legs and breasts served on another plate.” The filling meal was followed by a dessert of “homemade goat’s-milk rice pudding with flecks of orange zest.”
I clipped the article and filed it away, not expecting that we would wind up visiting Folegandros three years later.
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There are more than 260 photos in the album, Mykonos 2012: Restaurants & Bars, which I have posted on the mygreecetravelblog.com Facebook page.
Seaside tables at Alefkandra Taverna in Mykonos Town’s Little Venice district
Restaurant roundup: Last month, I posted an extensive report about restaurants in the TripAdvisor.com Mykonos forum. What follows below is a slightly edited version of the same report, with photos.
This is a description of restaurants that I personally dined at, took a look at, or heard about while visiting Mykonos for 8 days in May. My list isn’t intended to be exhaustive by any means; in fact, there are dozens of additional restaurants on the island that I didn’t get the opportunity to visit, so there are plenty of places popular with other Mykonos regulars that aren’t even mentioned in my remarks. If I’d had a longer holiday (and more money), I would have been able to review more restaurants!
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Oregano Cook & Grill menu cover
Get outta Town! What follows is an account of restaurants located outside of Mykonos Town that I dined at, saw, or heard people talking about last month.
On the peripheral road around the town center
Gola, which was extremely popular the past several years, has closed. Word about town is that the Belvedere Hotel, which owns the property, will be opening an Asian restaurant in its place. Locals didn’t know if the new place will be as expensive as Gola (they’re hoping it will be more affordable) or when it will officially open.
Blue Ginger serves Thai and Chinese cuisine on a hilltop location with wonderful views of Mykonos Town and the sunset. Friends who dined there last year say the food is as good as the amazing views. (One of these friends used to live in Thailand, so if she recommends the food at Blue Ginger, then it has to be first-rate.)
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We stayed at gorgeous Grikos Bay on Patmos in May 2010 …
… and enjoyed meals at Stamatis taverna in the harbour area …
… at Flisvos restaurant on the hillside overlooking the bay …
… and at Ktima Petra on the road to nearby Petra beach
Fantastic food: There are two things we remember most about our first-ever trip to Patmos in 2010: the beautiful scenery at Grikos Bay, and the equally impressive meals we had at three restaurants in the Grikos area. In fact, while we were on Samos after our visit to Patmos, we kept commenting about how much we missed the food at Grikos. And to this day, we still talk about one of the delicious dishes we enjoyed during two different dinners: the roasted chickpeas at Flisvos restaurant. My attempts to recreate the recipe at home have failed miserably, so I’m hoping that some day soon we can return to Grikos and order them again!
Here’s a brief recap of our four memorable meals at Grikos Bay:
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Fotis Taverna sits beside a sharp bend in the road between Agios Prokopios beach and Agia Anna beach on the west coast of Naxos …
… and has three tree-shaded tables offering beach and sunset views just across the road — our favourite spot for drinks and dining
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Aktaion taverna in Firostefani village on Santorini
Local specialties: We haven’t been to Santorini in several years, but we still talk about how much we have enjoyed Aktaion taverna in Firostefani.
We discovered this little restaurant gem back in 2004 when we stayed at the Santorini Palace Hotel during our first trip to the island. Aktaion is situated just a short walk from the Santorini Palace, right beside the scenic clifftop footpath that links the village of Firostefani with the island’s bustling main town of Fira.
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