Mary Irvine's Greek Blog: Some tips on eating out

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Mary Irvine’s Greek Blog: Some tips on eating out

Have been away for a couple of weeks. Needed some sunshine. Remember sun? It’s a great yellow ball in the sky…

Did rather a lot of over-eating, mostly in private homes. If the Greeks like you they ply you with food. Come to think of it, they ply all guests with food so maybe I’m not as special as all that! Thought I’d pass on a couple of recommendations for eating out for anyone thinking of holidays.

Meze Meze on the island of Poros in the Argo-Saronic Gulf in Greece is one of those gems which, when discovered, makes you want to share it with everyone.

Finding it from the main port area is easy. Stroll along the sea front for 10/15 minutes, keeping the sea on your right. Away from the busy-ness you’ll come to the eatery about which I’m enthusing. In the summer there are tables on the sea front. I was last there in early March, with Greek friends. We sat inside but the French windows were open along the front so were able to enjoy the warmth of the sun whilst being sheltered from the cool breeze.

The menu was extensive – a veritable plethora of Greek meze. The prices ranged from unbelievably cheap to very reasonable. Service was charming, courteous and helpful. The food was attractively presented and some of the best I’ve tasted – and I lived in Greece for some time, travelling the mainland and islands extensively. Even the bread which accompanies all Greek meals was so pleasing to the eye we almost didn’t want to take any – almost!

Katerina and Demos are the waitress and cook respectively. Both speak very good English and are welcoming without being effusive. They and their tavern/restaurant are highly recommended in all respects.

τα κύματα (The Waves)

If staying in the area of New Epidauros (not to be confused with Old Epidauros which was actually built after New Epidauros – it’s a long story) then a visit to the family-run beach taverna of is an absolute must. From the village you can walk to the beach. Following the road is one way but a more picturesque/adventurous route is cross country. Depending on your fitness and speed of walking allow 1+ hour. I always stop to take photos of the changing scenery as I have been a fairly frequent visitor at differing times of the year. A car will get you there in 6/7 minutes.

There is a roofed, open-sided, outside bar with comfortable seats. Ideal at any time of the day or night for relaxing and watching/ listening to the lap of waves. No large ferries or hydrofoils here to disturb the peace. Some of the outside tables are on the veranda and there is a seating area inside. The taverna is open all year round.

I like to sit at the beach tables – unless it’s actually raining! My several visits there in early March of this year resulted in our sitting on the beach, with me in t-shirt and cotton skirt soaking up the sun and my Greek friends resplendent in their winter clothing as ‘it was still cold!’ They‘ve yet to visit me in Scotland!

The food is traditional Greek, pleasantly presented and served by Nikos. It’s freshly cooked, very tasty and good value with prices being cheap by British standards. I’d pay a bit extra for the views but I’m not telling Nikos.

‘The Waves’ is much frequented by the locals so what better recommendation can you have.