Cuisine of Thessalia Region for gourmets. Places for dinner - best restaurants

You should have no problems with food in Thessaly, as, indeed, in any other region of Greece. First of all, it is the agricultural center of the country, and almost all fruits and vegetables are grown exactly here. And secondly, all food service companies monitor the quality of dishes and the freshness of their products very strictly. Concerning Larissa, there is a huge number of restaurants, cafes, and taverns, which are always ready to offer you the traditional local dishes or the European menu.

Before everything else, we can recommend the restaurant called En Larisi. Here you can try their amazing grilled meat in combination with a fresh vegetable salad or a traditional Greek salad. For a snack, you can drop into a restaurant with a challenging name of Kimatothrafstis. Visit a restaurant of Italian cuisine, for example, Nonna Rossa restaurant or a pizza restaurant called Pizza Neapoli. But still, being in Greece, try the local cuisine, it is regarded as one of the most delicious and healthy in Europe. You can go to the following restaurants – Adamos or Kitrina Gantia, and try the traditional moussaka or any other meat dish.

In order to try fish dishes you’d better go to the coast. If you are a sweet tooth, we can recommend Kelesidis Sweets, they serve excellent ice cream and delicious desserts. In Trikala, be sure to try the local dairy products. It seems fair to say that this city is a center of dairy production in Thessaly. Feta produced in this region is considered to be the best cheese in Greece. Greek yogurt, mizithra and galotiri (cheeses made of sheep milk) are also worth trying. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

In this country of cattle breeding, it is also necessary to give proper respect to meat dishes; for example, you can try local sausages, which contain a lot of spices, and their flavor makes the taste absolutely amazing.

In Volos, a great part of the restaurants and cafes are located on the seafront, and the pedestrianized street is almost filled with tables. In the city, you can eat at the places next to any hotel or directly at the hotel restaurants. In the afternoon, you can visit any branch of Mezedopolis, which specializes in the traditional tapas and refreshments called meze. They can be prepared with vegetables, meat or fish; and, of course, olives, cheese, and olive oil will be served here. For sure, you should try fish meze in Volos. Every day the local fishermen provide fish to the restaurants here. In addition, drop into one of the pastry shops on the seafront, there are plenty of them here, choose the one according to your preferences.

Another peculiar type of eateries in Volos is tsipouradiko; they are taverns specializing in fish and seafood. All this seafood diversity should be washed down with tsipouro – a local strong alcoholic beverage made from grapes. This is a kind of alcoholic trademark of Thessaly, everyone loves tsipouro here love and the locals are really proud of it. Moreover, annual feasts and festivals dedicated to tsipouro are held in many towns and cities of Thessaly.

One more colorful feature of Volos, as well as of many other coastal towns and cities of Thessaly, is the food trucks called “kantina”; there you can try meat snacks, gyros, kebabs, and French fries. Having made an order, you can enjoy a great evening sitting at a table with a bottle of wine or local beer. By the way, it should be pointed out that if you order strong spirits, as a compliment you will receive snacks that can be ordered again and again; this system is similar to the traditional tapas bars in Spain.

Among the restaurants of Volos, we can draw your attention to Monosandalos, it might be one of the oldest restaurants in the city. Its uniqueness is that the tables are located above the water. The restaurant called Ta Palia Kalamakoia offers excellent refreshments made of seafood and sea fish. One more place to visit is Zafiris Restaurant (8 Kondaratu Str.), where you can try rather cheap meals with wine from the wood. Ly Marina is also an extraordinary place loved by the locals. This is a restaurant with traditional appetizers and strong beverages like ouzo and tsipouro.

In Pelion you can become familiar with the most unusual cuisine of Thessaly. Such dishes as stewed goat meat (order it as “gida vrasti”) and a specific appetizer made of pickled wild pistachio shoots (“tsitsiravla”) are considered traditional for Pelion. Extraordinary cheeses with the addition of herbs and spices, stunning walnut jam with rose petals, which is prepared mostly by hand, and the best honey in Greece are produced here.

As for drinks it is worth trying the wine from the local vineyards in Thessaly. The climate of the region allows planting and growing excellent grapes, therefore the wine here is of very good quality. Buy wine from the vineyards of Mesenikolas, they are excellent DOP red wines. Unique wines are made in the town of Kalambaka; if you want to buy a bottle for dinner or bring it along as a souvenir, choose wines with the IGP regulatory label. For those who prefer white wine, we can recommend the PDO Anchialos wines, which are produced right there on the coast, in the PDO Anchialos zone. Also, note the IGP Tyrnavos wines that honor the municipality of Tyrnavos. You can participate in the excursions and trips organized to the vineyards, where you can see the wineries, taste the wines and buy the ones you like.