Some recommended restaurants in Greece
 

I'd like to share some brief remarks on restaurants I went to on a recent trip to Greece. Many of these I've also been to in the past. Most guidebooks will have exact addresses, or ask your hotel desk.

In Athens, Plaka:

DAMIGOS: This old favorite in a basement in the center of Plaka has been spiffed up a bit but still retains its old fashioned atmosphere (it's a century and an half old.) Very basic and informal, but excellent Greek food with their own private label wine. The thing to order is the fried cod with a side of garlic sauce, but everything is good. One of my two favorite restaurants in Athens. Closed during much of the summer though.

BYZANTINO - Very touristy as you might expect from its location at the epicenter of the Plaka tourist madness, but excellent traditional Greek food, served on a pleasant outdoor terrace which manages to be fairly peaceful despite all the tourists parading by.

ZEUS XENIOS - If you walk up Mnisikleous street, a narrow stepped lane leading from Plaka up to the Acropolis, you'll pass a series of tavernas with live music and packed with tourists rather self-consciously trying to do Greek dances. But if you ignore these restaurants' touts and keep going to the very top, you come to Zeus Xenios, the latest incarnation of a series of tavernas on this site which for some reason have always had "Zeus" in the name. The location literally in the shadow of the Parthenon is very romantic, though the view isn't as visible as you might expect due to the way the building is set up. Food quality is above and prices below average for Plaka, and the atmosphere is fairly quiet.

OREA ELLADA - A traditional cafe on Pandrossou street between Plaka and Monastiraki, daytimes only, not really a place for a full meal, but has drinks (coffees, ouzo, wine) and sweets and snacks. A wonderful place most tourists don't seem to know about, with great decor (old Greek posters and photos) and a very atmospheric location. (For guys only: the view from the men's room whizzer -- just turn your head to the right -- is the all time, hands down, grand champion best view from any men's room whizzer in the world.) The cafe is located in a shop selling traditional Greek crafts which is an excellent place to buy souvenirs: prices ar higher but quality and interest vastly better than in the tacky tourist shops all around it.

KARAVITIS: Very traditional, unpsoiled taverna in Pangrati district with few tourists, though there is an English menu. Specialty is veal stamnaki. My other favorite restaurant in Athens.

Elsewhere:

Hydra: TO KRYFO LIMANI: a little enclosed-garden place with friendly staff and excellent food.

Spetses: PATRALIS: one of the best fish tavernas in Greece. Can be packed at dinner, especially on weekends, but I like it better a lunch, when it's quieter and you can usuall get a table by the water so you can enjoy the wonderful view.

LAZARUS, also on Spetses, is a really old fashioned taverna with excellent old fashioned food. Braised goat is the specialty.

Skopelos: Restaurants on this island are generally of a high quality, but the best we found was KLIMATARIA, on the waterfront.

SIFNOS: LIOTRIVI, in Artemonas, is a severely traditional taverna with uncompromisingly authentic Greek food.

Also on Sifnos, in Kastro, is TO ASTRO, with some of the best food, and one of the most amazing views, in Greece.

Zeus Xenios is excellent. I ate there the first night of a five night business trip. Tried a different place every subsequent night and was never as pleased as I was with Zeus.