|
Hi Matt. Your Lesvos Guide is OK. But you
do not know everything there is to know
about eating out in Molivos.
My name is Mike and I have been visiting
Molivos for years and I am also in the
restaurant business at home and I know
good food. Molyvos has lots of great
restaurants and many different styles of
food. In fact you could devote an entire
page to just the restaurants in Molyvos.
So just to let you know there are more
restaurants than the ones Matt has eaten
at these are my favorites.
Horizontas
, down
near Olive Press, they always give me good
food, even if we have some communication
problems, nice traditional family run
Taverna, with very Greek dishes.
Sansibal
is not
very traditional, but one of the most
popular restaurants with regular visitors
in May and September when I often
visit,bit expensive and the portions
small, but excellent chicken curry.
The best value places are:
Tropicana
, up in
the village which has very varied menu, is
great for breakfast and alternative
atmosphere, is great place, I visit for
breakfast and lunch, really good place
Pizzeria
Galliano
at the
entrance to the harbour has great Pizza,
Pastas and Stratos maybe the owner, gives
the greatest service, place has the best
atmosphere for an evening with some buzz,
for half the price of eating in the
harbour. To alot of people this is
important, of course they want to eat
fish, and experience the atmosphere in the
harbour, but they also like to find the
good value places, which the last two
definitely are, and they offer a great
alternative to sitting at the waters
edge.
The other place that is fun is the
Grill
House
,
opposite
Christines
Bar
, for a
real Greek evening.
Those are my opinions, most of those have
been good restaurants the last 2 or 3
years.
Anyway there are lots of great
restaurants in Molyvos so don't just get
stuck on going to the ones that you have
written about again and again, or even the
ones I have mentioned. Especially if you
have to wait for a table. There are enough
good restaurants in town so that there is
no reason to wait if you are hungry. If
one restaurant is full then try another.
You may find something even better than I
have. See you in Lesvos
Mike
Hi Matt,
I visited Lesvos a thousand times
and I miss my favorite
restaurant!!! You know... this
small but traditional pita giros
and souvlaki shop at the main road
of Molivos called "Friends". They
really have the best pita giros I
ever eat in Greece .... and I
tried a lot!!! I also spoke to
Greeks from Athens, Thessaloniki
and Crete and they all agree with
me so.... update your list and it
is perfect. You can put Pita Giros
"Friends" at the main street of
Molivos, about 200m. after the
bank at your right hand sight. You
can recognise it by it's big signs
of "Pita" and "Giros" next of the
stairs going inwards.
Thanks,
Best regards,
Evelyn
Hi Matt
Steven
here from Manchester, England. Great
site but you are missing two important
words-
Ignatius Tsolakis and the Mithimna
Grill House
(that's
4 I know)! My wife and I have been to
Molyvos for the past 5 years and 8
times in total and it is the most
wonderful place on earth-even better
than Manchester! But please give Iggy
and his Grill House a mention on your
website. Underneath the Manta Bar-best
souvlaki and pitta giros in all of
Greece even if he is too modest to say
that!
Cheers!
Dear
Matt,
I was reading your reviews of the
tavernas in Eressos & the rest of
Lesvos that took up much of my time
yesterday! As we can't be there
this Christmas (house rebuilding not
started yet) it's good to reminisce by
reading your pages. For your
personal interest and perhaps your
site readers too, I wondered if you
had been to the taverna in
Liota. I don't know if it
has a name, but is the only one
there. You see the turning for
Liota on the left before you get to
Gavathas and not too far along the
road you come to a clearing with an
enormous plane tree shading a taverna
opposite an old (interesting
background) church.
It is a wonderful peaceful spot
for a lunchtime stop on the way to
Gavathas beach or harbour.
We've tended to eat just salads,
feta, tsatsiki, courgette or
loulouthia fritters washed down
with a beer or two, but they do
have an extensive menu of mostly
grilled food. We did have
some delicious small fishes
(indeterminate variety) when
Alekos (our 'Mr Fixit' and
'koubaros' when we got married in
Eressos in the summer) took us
there with his and
Terry's children in
June.
Just
a bit of an update - hope it is
helpful. Perhaps we'll meet up
in Eressos one day.
Dear Matt
Thank you for an almost perfect website.
At your next visit to Molyvos you should
try to turn away from the harbour and walk
up and away from all the noisy cars. You
almost can't miss getting to Restaurant
Tropicana situated in a lovely, small
square under a huge platan tree. The food
is nice but the atmosphere is
fantastic!
We stayed in Molyvos for 16 days and at
least 10 times we had dinner at Tropicana
(one time even breakfast). Saying goodbye
to the owner Christos and the other
waiters there brought tears into the eyes
of our children.
On the same square you will find a small
grocery store owned by Stavros who speaks
a very good English and knows a lot about
the different kinds of ouzo sold in the
store.
When you get there, please say hello from
"the big family" from Denmark and tell
them we'll be back soon!
Best regards
Anne Guldager & co.
Hi, Mr. Barrett,
Great site that Lesvos-site of yours
(and the other sites, like the
Athens Survival Guide
)!!
We just came back from a short
holliday in Petra and we discovered a
very good restaurant which, -we
think-, you should visit too and put
on your list. We were one week in
Petra and did eat there 4 times! We
also tried other restaurants (cheaper
ones and more expensive ones), but
liked this one the best. It's a
restaurant with traditional dishes and
that's why it's called To Paradosiakó
(The Traditional). It's in one of the
back streets behind the big rock, but
we don't know the name of the street
(It's the same street where Alice's
pottery is in). The family that runs
it is called Pappou E. Likaterini and
the tel.number is : 0253- 41058. You
can sit outside on the terrace where
they have their traditional oven to
prepare the garlic bread and the
dishes you get served in a clay pot,
like youvétsi, kokkinistó etc. And
when it's too windy, you can also sit
inside. The people are very friendly
and the food is very good and still
very Greek. They still put a lot of
garlic in the tsasíki and don't
"europe-nise" it by leaving it almost
out, like too many restaurants do
nowadays. Before your meal you always
get warm garlicbread and after,
everyone gets free icecream. If you
can't find the restaurant, send me an
e-mail and I'll send you their card
with photo and little map on it. (we
have not got a scan, otherwise we
would send it with this e-mail). We
wish you a lot of success with your
sites and will visit them again now
and then. We also recommend them to
other Greece-lovers in Holland.
Bye!
Marianne and Leo Oosterling, Gouda,
Holland
Hi Matt,
just returned to the UK from Lesvos for the 2nd time this year. We covered
2700 kms on the island this year and found a great taverna in Petra after a
tip off. Its frequently said if you choose a place where the Greeks eat you
wont go wrong and we often follow this advice but this place is an
exception. Its called The Lucky Horseshoe and the name alone would have put
us off eating here. We go to Greece for the way of life and the name sounds
very British. Its run by Takis and Youla and we ate here 3 times. The food
and service here are really good as are the house wines. The fish are
unbeatable. My favourite are Tsipoura or Giltheads in English and at 8 euros
with salad and potatoes its very good value. Takis always asks you to look
at the fish selection and points out the farmed from the wild fish,
obviously the wild are more expensive. The menu is extensive and there are
some unusual free treats like olives and peppers with ouzo before the meal.
The only problem here is getting a table both lunchtimes and evenings, its
not very big and its popular. Although we only found it this year its
clearly no secret so I really thought hard about advertising it, we want to
use it in future! I must stress its the quality of the food and service here
not the price or freebies that kept us going back. Sad to find our favourite
taverna in Gavathas closed when we visited at lunchtime, this was one of
your previous tips. I believe its changed hands and is no longer run by the
American chap. Keep up the great site Matt, I was really flattered to be
asked 'are you Matt Barrett' by a couple from Connecticut who asked me a
question and I was able to answer in detail, we had good laugh, regards, Bob
and Maggie Venison, Bucks, England
Hi Matt!
I
really enjoyed visiting your site
but was disappointed to not find
"Fournello" in the restaurant
section. If you ever tire of
souvlaki and typical Greek-fare,
make sure you visit Fournello in
Petra for amazing wood-oven baked
pizza and wonderful pasta
dishes! I became a devout fan
and ended up dining there the
majority of the time. They also
have incredibly delicious
appetizers, such as fresh
mushrooms that are stuffed and
baked with four cheeses, baked
potatoes with Rocford sauce and
visually impressive salads.
You
won't be disappointed! Last but
definitely not least, it's right
in front of the beach and offers
the most spectacular sunsets
between 8-9pm. Shouldn't be
missed...
Georgette
Hi,
Just been
reading your reviews and note that
no-one seems to have mentioned our
favourite bolt-hole from city life
- Skala Kaloni. Although I
know this is a keen bird watchers
paradise, I just wanted others to
know that we have spent the last 6
years visiting this resort and
have made many
friends. We
particularly wanted to mention the
restaurant we spend 99% of our
holidays in the Enigma, this is
run by Teri and Nikki with
assistance from their son
Kosta. Although we are very
biased as this family have become
very good friends of our ours,
please please if you're in the
area pop in there for a drink,
snack or meal, this family are the
most welcoming of people and
Nikki's cousin makes some
fantastic dishes, particularly
recommended is their Giovetsi and
Kleftiko, no matter how often we
go and how much we eat!! we still
never manage to try everything on
their menu, mostly because we
can't bear to just have something
just the once. The
restaurant is the first one you
come to on the beach road on the
left (or last on right!) and one
of most relaxing things you could
wish for is to sit
overlooking the Bay of Kaloni,
watching the sardines leaping with
a nice cold glass of
Boutari.
Enjoy
Sharon & Andy
Shaw
Dear Matt,
Thanks for helping make our trip
to
Lesvos
a) happen and b) happen wonderfully.
Armed with all that great info from
your website we felt confident
choosing it as a destination and then
striking out with 3 kids (ages 5-11);
and everyone had a great Greek
experience.
In
Skala
Polichnitou
, we had a fabulous lunch (our best
in
Lesvos
) at
T’Asteria
, on the water towards the north end
of town. It’s one of those typical
places with 3 generations visible, and
the proprietress is known throughout
town and beyond for her culinary
skills. We let them recommend to us
what to eat, and all we had to do was
enjoy. The fried squash blossoms defy
description. Add to that 2 puppies, 2
birds and another kid and our kids
thought it was one of the best parts
of the whole trip!
Hope this is useful to other readers.
Take care,
Carson Gleberman
Hi Matt
As mere youngsters in the ever returning Brits to
Sigri (only 13 years) can I possibly give you a quick update on the food
front?
The Italian restaurant has now been replaced by an
excellent meze restaurant run by the lady who used to run the cantina on the
village beach (however she still does sunbed hire). Well worth a visit if
you've had a full meal at lunchtime and only need something snacky - she does
full meals though - as is the Souvlaki bar between the harbour and beach run by
a lovely widow and her mother-in-law. Gyros on Saturdays and souvlaki
pittas amongst many other beautifully and quickly prepared dishes.
Pristine toilets!!!!
Blue Wave, as the Brits call it, or Cava di
Oro is still brilliantly run by the whacky Yianni and his lovely wife and the
new retriever pup!!!
Kavalouros tends to get overlooked as it is hidden
behind the other restaurants in the square but it still does very good food and
is a shelter from the winds and is also open at Easter. The two brothers
and their families alternate in running it annually - do not miss going in
there.
Plaza, on the beach, is also a good venue when the
northerlys are blowing and their gigantes are about the best I've eaten -
papoutsakia and moussaka also good.
One of my favourites has to be the Golden
Key. It is run by the wonderful Tsiknas Family. Yianni, the father
used to be the village clerk and his wife Nikki, and Pavlos, his
son (who owns the hotel Orama on the way into the village) are very
hospitable and kind. A lovely view from the balcony over the bay and
beyond and again, shelter from the north wind. His octapus in krasato is
"to die for", excellent bourekakia which my husband has for lunch sometimes,
horiatki and paithakia !!!!
On the drinks front can I mention Seguro (above the
Blue Wave) for a magnificent sunset over Nissiopi Island and the kind and gentle
Mikalis, as well as the Nissiopi Hotel Bar for good music, atmosphere and
a night cap - just alternate!!!!
Here endeth the lesson!!!!
Keep up the good job!!
Abby & Andy Price, Farnham, Surrey,
England
Matt,
Sad to see that you only mention two restaurants in Sigri. We (myself, wife and two offspring) have been going to Sigri since 1991 and have tried all but one of the restaurants (the owner and I had a small public disagreement about his vicious dog) and like yourself love the Cavo di Oro, or as we Brits know it, The Blue Wave. Yanni is a larger than life character who usually
greets us with “Hello British Tourists”. The food has always been good there but this
year it has excelled. Vivi, Yanni’s daughter, has been on a number of cookery courses and you can now get dishes that are best described as Nouvelle Greek, but large portions. The risotto we had there is one of the best I have eaten anywhere and the garlic mussels excellent.
Having said that, for us, Yanni’s is just pipped into second place by The Golden Key (Xpeiso Kleidi) where Nicky cooks plain simple Greek dishes that are superb. Her Briam, Moussaka, Pastichio, Oven Chicken, Sousoukakia, Kokinisto and Gigandes are all superb. There is also a good selection of fresh fish. If you can get a balcony seat as the sun is setting over Nissiopi, there
is no better place to be.
Just opened (where the Italian restaurant was) is The Lighthouse owned and run by Sue and Gab. This is more of an ouzeria with a great selection of small dishes, all excellent. A sort of Greek Tapas.
Finally Kavalouros on the square is a great place for vegetarians to eat. Marianthe’s Imam, Dolmadakia, Fasolakia and meatless Stuffed Tomatoes are a treat.
The other good news this year from Sigri is that the Kentro cafeniou has been reopened by Andonis Hiotis. The old men of the village now have somewhere to sit, drink coffee and put the world to rights, yet it also attracts the younger generation as Andonis has installed a wireless internet connection.
Keep up the good work
Regards
Peter Wallace
Liverpool
Hi Matt,
I was checking out your website for about the 100th time and this
time I decided to finally email you to tell you about this wonderful
taverna in Molyvos that I know you'll love.
Alonia Taverna, it's located just up from the Molyvos Stars hotel
and taxi station, on the left hand side of the main road to Eftalou,
just before the olive oil factory. The food is authentic Greek cuisine,
very fresh local ingredients in everything. Very well priced. The
owners are brothers, Antonis and Lefteris, who were both born in
Molyvos. Lefteris is a phenomenal cook but he also has a little help
from their mother Olympia who makes the best stuffed zucchini flowers
and dolmathes I've ever had. On Wednesday and Saturday nights they host
live Greek music which is an absolute blast. Antonis is incredibly fun
and friendly and is a wicked dancer, it's always a treat to visit with
him and share a bottle of ouzo. Overall, it's an experience that's more
then just great food. Locals love it, tourists love it and there's a
number of tourists that come back to Molyvos often (as you know) and
they spend every night at Alonia...myself included.
Keep writing,
Tara
|
