KASTELLORIZO
TA PLATANIA
TRADITIONAL GREEK CUISINE
Horafia
+30 22460/49206, +30 6974197062
Up to €25 per person
Open from June to October
Restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating.
One of the most beautiful traditional cookeries of the Aegean is located in the upper village of the island, in the middle of fields and on the leafy square of Agios Georgios, just a few steps from the unique architectural temple and very close to the Santrapeia School. Café chairs and tables are under plane trees, and cypresses are on both levels of the courtyard in front of the kitchen. Inside, a small group of people, like a finely tuned clock, preparing the same flavours they have done for decades... Stuffed onions with precisely "balanced" spices in the rice, dolmades with the suitable vine leaves, goat stew as they cook it in Kastelorizo and Karpathos, and whatever else is on the daily menu. Recipes made "by hand" are not found in a cookbook. Dishes are filled with passion and flavours that take you on a journey to family dinners of another era. It`s an experience worth savouring.
KOS
ALBERGO GELSOMINO RESTAURANT
MODERN BISTRO
1 Vasileos Georgiou, Kos
Albergo Gelsomino Hotel
+30 22420 20200
https://www.gelsominohotel.com/
€50-75 per person
Open from March to December
Restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, with its own parking or valet service.
Gikas Xenakis puts his stamp on the elegant restaurant of Albergo Gelsomino, renewing his culinary proposal. He always focuses on excellent raw materials, which shine even in "classic" specialities. Here, you will be won over by a high-end, exuberant and comforting delicacy, attentive service, and a beautiful atmosphere.
BROADWAY
GASTRO TAVERN
36 Megalou Alexandrou, Kos
+30 22420 27052
€25-50 per person
Open from April to October
Classic traditional specialities offered at one of the island`s most famous restaurants coexist with more modern and creative dishes invented by talented chef Giannis Papakonstantinou. His skill lies mainly in transforming his ideas into robust flavours that stand out for their Greek “soul” and excellent execution.
CUVEE
CONTEMPORARY GREEK CUISINE
Hotel Aqua Blu Boutique Hotel + Spa
+30 22420 22440
€75-100 per person
Open from March to November
Restaurant serving outside, restaurant with its own parking or valet parking.
Come back for Aqua Blu Boutique Hotel + Spa`s gastronomic restaurant under the high supervision of Gikas Xenakis this time. Petros Letsis executes, with great technique, a series of dishes of contemporary culinary concept, which stand out for their intense Greekness, their creative ideas, and their delicate taste.
MOSAICO GASTRO WINE BAR
CONTEMPORARY GREEK CUISINE
Mastichari
"Horizon Beach Resort" Hotel
+30 2242058800
www.horizonbeachresort.gr/mosaico/
Open from March to October
Restaurant serving both indoors and outdoors.
The cuisine of Dimitris Koulias at this modern restaurant is distinctive. Innovative ingredient combinations are enhanced by the chef’s excellent technique. Through a thematic tasting menu, this restaurant modernises Greek tradition with its original yet substantial style.
OROMEDON
TRADITIONAL GREEK CUISINE
Zia, Kos
+30 2242069983
www.oromedon.gr
Up to €25 per person
Restaurant serving both indoors and outdoors, with a special view.
At Oromedon, in the mountainous village of Zia, the Papakonstantinou family does an exceptionally commendable job. They focus on recipes from the local tradition and use locally sourced ingredients with exemplary professionalism. On top of that, at Oromedon, you will enjoy breathtaking views and unique sunsets. From the menu, we strongly recommend the goat with wild greens cooked in a wood-fired oven. They also have an excellent wine list.
LEROS
MYLOS BY THE SEA
FISH RESTAURANT
Agia Marina
+30 22470 24894
www.mylosbythesea.com
€50-75 per person
Open from May to October
Indoor and outdoor seating, seaside restaurant.
The unique location, the charming atmosphere and music, the welcoming warmth of the people there and the passion - and knowledge - of the Koutsounaris brothers are what lay the foundations of a unique experience for the guest and build the reputation of the restaurant they "inherited" from their parents over the last ten or twelve years, on the edge of picturesque Agia Marina. From there, an unprecedented series of small and big surprises begin that justifies and surpasses the reputation that Milos has built: the incredible quality of the raw material in the first place (ranging from fresh fish and seafood to vegetables from their bushel to masterful dry ageing of some big fish and "extremes" such as thirty-year-old aged soy or fresh wasabi rubbed on your table), the impeccable technique with which they manage everything, the inspiration and talent of chef Marios Koutsounaris that can be seen in some magical bites interspersed between more "quiet" selections, the excellent and highly researched wine list that hides hard-to-find diamonds and is curated by his brother George. All this gives him the jump to three stars and the first place in The List 2024!
RHODES
CESAR MEZE BAR
CONTEMPORARY GREEK CUISINE
Lindos
+30 2244031410
https://www.caesarslindos.com/
€50-75 per person
Open from March to October
Restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating.
Chef Stavros Koustenis presents an artful and highly refined version of Greek cuisine at the now-famous Cesar Meze Bar, inspired by the philosophy of meze but not limited to it. It repositions itself to the traditional dishes of the island and the rest of the Mediterranean, with simple and original combinations that "wink" at us.
HELLAS
CONTEMPORARY GREEK CUISINE
EO Lardou - Lindou, Pefki-Rhodes
+30 2244048316, +30 6947403346
https://hellas-pefkos.gr
€50-75 per person
Open from May to October
Judging from the traditional decor of the restaurant and its cobblestone courtyard, one cannot suspect what is about to follow. But as soon as one sits at the table and opens the menu, they realise that chef-owner Kyriakos Iakovidis, with a sound apprenticeship alongside Hector Botrini, presents a modern and flavourful interpretation of Rhodes cuisine. By masterfully transforming his culinary memories, he offers an updated dining experience.
ILIAS TAVERNA
TRADITIONAL GREEK CUISINE
Empona Rhodes
+30 2246041415
Up to €25 per person
Open all year round, daily: 12:00-23:00, Sunday: 10:00-22:00
Restaurant serving outside.
Suppose you don`t go "talking". In that case, you run the risk of passing by Ilias, the family tavern of Ilias Konstantinakis and Roula Piperis, as there is nothing to suggest that in a busy street of Empona - in the heart of the "tourist promenade" - there is such a tasty oasis, where you can taste dishes of the local tradition and even in their most well-cooked version, such as katimeria with salted cheese, xigopites, chickpeas with goat shank in the wood-fired oven, local pasta with dry pasta, handmade trachanas with partridge stew, and their exemplary roasted ribs.
LIMERI TOU LISTI
TRADITIONAL GREEK CUISINE
Provincial road Apolakkia - Profilia Profilia - Rhodes
+30 2244 061578
€25-35 per person
Open all year round
Restaurant that also serves outside.
The tavern of Savvas and Konstantin Papasavvas is located in a pine-clad hilly area of southern Rhodes, known for its platonias (the Dama-dama deer). On its open-hearted, green balcony, adjacent to a 16th-century chapel, you will taste delicious, traditional dishes of the island, such as the yaprakia, the lasagna with goat and bulgur, Rhodian chickpeas—pitaroudia—but also dishes that appeal to meat eaters, excellent kokoretsi, kontosouvli, and large pork and beef steaks.
MAGIROTECHNEO PARAGA
TRADITIONAL GREEK CUISINE
13, Apollona Street, Apollonas - Rhodes
+30 2246091247, +30 6946287309
www.paraga-apollona.gr
€25-35 per person
May - October: open daily, November - April: only on Saturdays and Sundays
Restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating.
The enterprising chef Giannis Efthymiou and his family use exclusively local ingredients and offer guests of this fine tavern an authentic interpretation of traditional rural cuisine. The meal is served in the beautiful dining room or on the shady terrace, using clay pottery crafted by local ceramic artists and hand-painted with traditional designs. Justifiably, this unique tavern is named "magirotechnio" (culinary workshop), as it serves as a model for reviving and preserving the local culinary heritage in a vibrant manner.
MAVRICOS
CONTEMPORARY GREEK CUISINE
Central Square of Lindos - Rhodes
+30 2244031232
€50-75 per person
Open from April to October
Restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating.
The family restaurant of the Mavrikos brothers has been hosted since 1933 in a beautiful, typically Rhodian courtyard, paved with white pebbles, under the shade of dense vine arbours that have created a green roof over time, forming a small oasis in this warm place. Both restaurant owners delight their guests - Michalis Mavrikos with his exemplary hospitality and Dimitris Mavrikos, the talented chef, with his highly intriguing interpretation of traditional Rhodian cuisine. Expect delicate and idiosyncratic dishes based exclusively on first-rate ingredients.
NOBLE GOURMET RESTAURANT
GREEK FINE DINING
Dodecanese - Rhodes - Kallithea
Elysium Resort & Spa
+30 2241045700
https://www.noble.gr/
€75-100 per person
Open from May to October
Restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, with its own parking or valet service.
At the rooftop restaurant of the Elysium Hotel, with its stunning panoramic sea views and elegant cosmopolitan atmosphere, Rhodian chef Giorgos Troumouchis and his team have modernised the island`s cuisine after extensive research into local recipes—an endeavour also captured in the chef’s book A Distant Aroma. They interpret and present the island`s cuisine in the best possible way. Excellent!
SAMOS
HORIZONTAS (HORIZON)
CONTEMPORARY GREEK CUISINE
Platanos
+30 22730 39457
€25-50 per person
Open from April to October
Restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, exceptionally charming location.
Although born in the Peloponnese, Vasilis Skourfountas (in the kitchen) and his brother Angelos (in the hall) took over this restaurant in one of the most mountainous villages of Samos ten years ago and have transformed it into one of the best in the southern Aegean. The view is fantastic ―like hanging over the Aegean Sea― their cuisine is delicious, and the wine list is outstanding. Combining all these creates an unexpected, yet most welcome, experience in the picturesque vineyard village of Platanos.
The arrow pointing up next to the awarded stars marks those restaurants that are moving towards the upper end of their rating and we think are more likely to move up to the next rating level in a subsequent review
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