Restaurant suggestions on santorini

[nccharlotte]

We are looking for restaurant suggestions on Santorini - for a local lunch, most likely at Oia or Ammoudi.

 

Thank you for the help,

Amy

[tom_uk]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'local lunch'. Santorini is almost 100% dedicated to tourism, certainly in Fira and Oia, so I don't think that any restaurant will be serving you local foods, such as the locals might eat....

 

That said, I've had a couple of good meals in Santorini. One was in Fira at a caldera-edge restaurant the name of which I can't remember. The second was at Kastro in Oia. This restaurant has a beautiful terrace overlooking the caldera, with sunshades, and good food - though probably not especially traditional. I took a picture of it:

 

One other thing: it can get surprisingly cold in these caldera-edge restaurants. On the first occasion we were quite cold by the end of our lunch; we'd even put sweaters on. As we walked back into the maze of alleyways in Fira, we could feel the temperature rising with each step. Twenty yards away from the restaurant we had to stop to take off the sweaters! In contrast the day in Oia was very hot indeed (about 100 degrees), and even under the sunshades we were sweating. But if it's anything less than very hot, consider packing a light sweater.

[Softball20]

When you say "not traditional," what do you mean? We, too, would prefer to find someplace with local food as the locals would eat. The picture you posted is amazing!

[tom_uk]

When you say "not traditional," what do you mean? We, too, would prefer to find someplace with local food as the locals would eat. The picture you posted is amazing!

 

I think the key thing I'm trying to say here is that Santorini itself is a long way from being traditional Greece, these days. In addition to the tourists there are many people from all over Europe working there, in the shops, restaurants and bars. The number of actual Greeks on the island is quite small (certainly as a proportion of total number of people on the island in summer), and a lot of them are the owners of the businesses that the other people are working in, and which the tourists are visiting. Their general policy seems to be to provide a comfortable and non-challenging environment for their customers, so anything on the menu with a Greek name will be biased towards an international taste. And there are whole swathes of the island that doesn't even pretend to be Greek - there is a lot of Italian food there, for instance.

 

So Santorini is very cosmopolitan. Really, a visit there is all about the location and the setting - it is definitely not traditional Greece or Greek. I suspect you'd have to go to an island off the beaten track to get a more authentic Greek experience. Somewhere in Athens away from the tourist areas, for instance, would provide a view into modern Greek living. An island such as Syros might also do it: it's actually the administrative centre of the Cyclades islands but comparatively few tourists go there, so I would expect that majority of restaurants, etc, on that island would be catering for local people.

[tom_uk]

Two final thoughts/comments:

a) to get an authentic greek meal, you ought to be looking for a restaurant with menus *only in Greek* - and I have never seen such a restaurant on Santorini;

 

b) Oia is actually quite artificial. It was almost totally destroyed by earthquake in 1956, the site lay deserted for a number of years, and it was rebuilt in the 60s and 70s, with a close on the developing tourist trade. Prior to the earthquake is was much more populous than it is today and was the islands major port.

[Softball20]

I think the key thing I'm trying to say here is that Santorini itself is a long way from being traditional Greece, these days. In addition to the tourists there are many people from all over Europe working there, in the shops, restaurants and bars. The number of actual Greeks on the island is quite small (certainly as a proportion of total number of people on the island in summer), and a lot of them are the owners of the businesses that the other people are working in, and which the tourists are visiting. Their general policy seems to be to provide a comfortable and non-challenging environment for their customers, so anything on the menu with a Greek name will be biased towards an international taste. And there are whole swathes of the island that doesn't even pretend to be Greek - there is a lot of Italian food there, for instance.

 

So Santorini is very cosmopolitan. Really, a visit there is all about the location and the setting - it is definitely not traditional Greece or Greek. I suspect you'd have to go to an island off the beaten track to get a more authentic Greek experience. Somewhere in Athens away from the tourist areas, for instance, would provide a view into modern Greek living. An island such as Syros might also do it: it's actually the administrative centre of the Cyclades islands but comparatively few tourists go there, so I would expect that majority of restaurants, etc, on that island would be catering for local people.

 

Got it; thanks. What I'm really hoping for is to not find just American type fare. An international flare is fine - hopefully capitalizing on fresh, local ingredients :)

[texancruzer]

We had dinner in Thira at a wonderful location overlooking the caldera...... and while it had a wonderful location - the food was only so-so. I agree with UK that the cuisine has been "tweaked" to appeal to the mass of tourists. That said, my gyro was definately edible altho the one I had on Mykonos at a little hole-in-the-wall place was y-u-m-m-y !!!

 

I do remember a Samantha Brown show where she ate at a restaurant below Oia where the owners purchase the seafood right from the boats.....can't remember the name tho.....might check the Travel Channel website and see if you can locate that show and watch it to find out..... Just an idea.

 

JUST CHECKED THE TRAVEL CHANNEL WEBSITE: The Sunset Taverna in Ammoudi Harbor. That is where I would go !!!

[Podie]

I have not been to Sunset Taverna but I can tell you from experience that the fish will be sold by weight and will be expensive. Lunches more than 100 euro are not uncommon when seafood is involved! So enjoy - but be careful!:)

[~Fianna]

Got it; thanks. What I'm really hoping for is to not find just American type fare. An international flare is fine - hopefully capitalizing on fresh, local ingredients :)

 

I wish I could remember the name of the place that DH and I ate in when we were there in November. Benefit of cruising off-season (we were told that we were the last ship expected for the year) is that a lot of places were already closed for the season, so the places that were open were the places where residents would go.

 

We found a PHENOMENAL restaurant that had very fresh housemade taramosalata. We got to talking with the owner and asked about wine on the island and he ran in the back and came out with a fantastic, light, fresh red for us to try. It was very good and when we told him so, he said proudly, "That's MY wine!" and brought us out a pitcher full.

 

We ate Greek-style there, with a few different mezzes (light cold appetizers) and a shared plate of roasted lamb with orzo.

 

If you wander back through the streets away from where the tourist shops are, you'll find something. People do live there (about 10k in Thira), so wander until you find an area that looks like a neighborhood, not like a strip mall.

 

~Fianna

[misspupule]

hi amy

someone on this board gave me the name of this restaurant fanari-restaurant.gr.

you can google it and see what it has and where it is. (i think fira) we will be on the gem october 9 to the greek isles and doing research as to what to do and where to eat when we are in santorini (4pm to 11pm) hope this help and any other suggestions are welcomed

[Softball20]

I wish I could remember the name of the place that DH and I ate in when we were there in November. Benefit of cruising off-season (we were told that we were the last ship expected for the year) is that a lot of places were already closed for the season, so the places that were open were the places where residents would go.

 

We found a PHENOMENAL restaurant that had very fresh housemade taramosalata. We got to talking with the owner and asked about wine on the island and he ran in the back and came out with a fantastic, light, fresh red for us to try. It was very good and when we told him so, he said proudly, "That's MY wine!" and brought us out a pitcher full.

 

We ate Greek-style there, with a few different mezzes (light cold appetizers) and a shared plate of roasted lamb with orzo.

 

If you wander back through the streets away from where the tourist shops are, you'll find something. People do live there (about 10k in Thira), so wander until you find an area that looks like a neighborhood, not like a strip mall.

 

~Fianna

 

Sounds really good. If you think of the name, please post!!!

[jocap]

We have eaten fish by weight at Ammoudhi, which has several fish tavernas, and fish kebabs at Korfos, on the island of Thirassia, across the caldera.

In the beach resort of Kamari, we stay at the Poseidon, and the taverna food is cooked by the mother of the family. There was always Greek food on the menu, esp. octopus.

Jo.