Cuisine of Kos Island for gourmets. Places for dinner - best restaurants

On the island of Kos, there are enough old taverns that started functioning long before the tourists came down here, as well as new modern cafes and restaurants that take into account the wishes of travelers and offer not only traditional Greek but also European and Asian dishes. Despite the fact that in most hotels breakfasts, lunches, and sometimes even suppers are already included in the cost of living, it is still worth it to spend a couple of evenings in the restaurant you like, because you cannot say much about the inhabitants of the country without getting acquainted with its cuisine.

By the way, if you want to try the Greek dishes exactly as they are usually cooked by the Greeks themselves, then go to the taverns away from all the famous tourist attractions. In a small mountain village, the chances to taste souvlaki or moussaka according to traditional recipes are much higher than in the center of the capital. By the way, please note that portions here are very decent, so it is often worth asking the waiter for two sets of cutlery and order one dish for two. In addition, you should better not take any garnish at all to moussaka, meat with eggplants, minced meat, tomatoes, and sauce – otherwise, you risk not to finish the whole portion. To souvlaki kebab, stifado, fried in wine meat or mutton ribs-padiques, you should order fried potatoes.

When buying food in a Greek tavern, keep in mind that the tips here are not usually included in the bill. Usually, they are at a rate of 10-15% of the order amount. When paying, pay attention to all positions in the check – in some touristic places it may turn out that they "accidentally" counted a dish that you did not order. Also, you should not agree to the vegetables and fruits offered as a "gift" from the establishment – they may not be very fresh, but you will still have to pay. If you want to try a fish course, it's better to go to any of the seaside taverns, where the haul is always fresh. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Do not be surprised at the high prices for seafood courses – most often the cost is indicated per kilogram, and the real portion is likely to be much less and, accordingly, will be cheaper. If you want, you can specify, which fish you want to be cooked for you among the available ones. The assortment of seafood courses on the island is huge – from grilled octopus and shrimp with lemon sauce to cod, stewed in its own juice. Fish here are dried, fried, stewed, cooked on the grill, added to salads – in a word, they make a lot of wonderful courses from it.

Be sure to try on the island the salad, which in most places outside Greece is called "Greek". Here, in small cozy taverns, this dish is often called "homemade salad" or "village salad". Although the recipe itself is unchanged, yet the taste of this dish in different taverns will vary due to the different proportions of the ingredients. By the way, in most cases, you need to fill the salad with olive oil yourself. Also, it is worth ordering cheese halloumi on the grill at least once. In the "raw" form, this delicacy will probably not impress you, but you will definitely like it grilled.

In any tavern you will find soft drinks, including freshly squeezed orange juice and cold coffee – frappe. The latter can be found in variations with a small amount of sugar – metrio, with a lot of sugar – glycol, and without sugar at all – keto coffee. Among alcoholic beverages, it is worth trying local beers of the brands Mithos, Fix, Alfa, vodka ouzo, grape vodka raki and Metaxa cognac. Be sure to pay attention to the local wine, because Kos is famous for its vineyards. The most popular varieties are Moscato, Retsina, Assyrtico, Mandilaria, Moschofilero. Retsina, by the way, is often sold in transparent bottles with an iron lid, like the ones, in which lemonade is usually bottled.