Cuisine of Spetses Island for gourmets. Places for dinner - best restaurants

If you want to know more about Greece, don’t miss a chance to try traditional Greek cuisine. You can visit local taverns and taste unique dishes which can be found only in Greece. There are no cafes and restaurants in Greece. If you are hungry- look for a tavern. Taverns differ with the dishes in a menu. Those who want to try original Greek cuisine should look for taverns with Greek clients which are far from touristic spots. These taverns are usually owned by the same family for several generations. A tavern is a special place for Greek people. They love to gather around the table with friends, drink local alcohol, have a meal and enjoy the festive atmosphere.

Souvladzikos serve delicious souvlaki which was known even in ancient times. It is a local variant of kebab. Souvlaki can be made of lamb, chicken, seafood and even vegetables. It is grilled on a skewer and usually eaten straight off the skewer. Souvlaki is often taken away and eaten on the go. Souvlaki with vegetables, sauce and fries in a pita is called gyro.

Be sure to try the horiatiki salad. It is known as «Greek salad» but Greeks call it «village salad». If you have found «Greek salad», you are in a tavern for tourists. Horiatiki salad doesn’t have a particular recipe. There are many variations of this dish, but it usually includes olives, cheese, tomatoes and pepper. The salad is not seasoned with olive oil, you can find a bottle of it on a table of a tavern and add it to your taste. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Don’t pass by tzatziki, a yoghurt sauce with garlic and cucumber which is usually served with mutton or pita. There is a wide choice of soups in Greek cuisine. You should definitely try fasolada, a traditional Greek soup made of beans and different vegetables. It was known at the times of the Trojan War. Vegetarians will definitely like chickpea revithia. The most popular fish soup is kakavia. A creamy avgolemono will be the best choice for those who want to try something exotic.

The best seafood dishes can be found in psarotaverns near the sea. Greeks cook not only mackerel, but you can also find monkfish and sea bass here. There are many types of fish on Spetses, but you should be careful with different indications in a menu, «*», «k» or «kat» indications show that the dish was made of frozen imported fish. While ordering a dish, ask a waiter about the price. The price can be specified for a portion, 100 grams or a kilo. Scrambled eggs with octopus, taramasalata, htapodia octopus, soupia, cuttlefish with rice and spinach and boiled shrimps with sauce and saganaki cheese are only a small part of seafood dishes on Spetses.

There are also many delicious meat dishes on the island. Some of them are stewed beef stifado, pastitsio (pasta with ground meat and bechamel sauce), loukaniko sausages, moussaka (a layered dish with ground meat, potatoes and eggplant) and dolma (grape leaves stuffed with meat). Moreover, you should definitely try stewed rabbit, roast rooster and louza, cured pork. Bifteki is ground beef burgers and keftedakia, fried meatballs.

Fruit and eastern desserts like baklava and lokum are popular here in summer. Greeks usually eat heavy desserts such as like keik me giaourti (a honey cake with yoghurt), galaktoboureko (custard baked between layers of phyllo) or Greek rice pudding rizogalo in winter months. Some Greeks prefer to eat yoghurt with honey, fruit and nuts for dessert. Coffee and juice are common soft drinks on Spetses, you can find them in every tavern. But tea is used only as a remedy for a cold. Don’t pass by local chilled retsina, Greek wine, anise vodka ouzo, grape rakia and metaxa cognac.