The backbone of Greek cuisine is local, seasonal ingredients at their peak of flavour and freshness, served raw, or cooked simply – on a grill, flash-fried or slow-baked. Greeks have relied for centuries on staples like olive oil, wild herbs, seafood and lamb or goat’s meat, along with abundant fresh vegetables, fruit, pulses and nuts, accompanied by local wine. The traditional Greek diet is one of the healthiest in the world, and prices in our selected establishments offer reasonable value for money. The prevalence of vegetable and dairy dishes makes eating out a delight for non-meat-eaters.
Where To Eat
On Rhodes you will find a range of eating establishments, often family-run, each type emphasising certain dishes; don’t expect elaborate oven-cooked casseroles at a seaside grill, or Europeanstyle desserts at any eatery. However, many island restaurants offer bland fare aimed at the tourist palate; for more authentic cuisine, the best eating establishments are listed in the recommendations section. Some may be in the backstreets away from the pretty views, but the food is superior.
Among establishment types, the psistaría offers charcoalgrilled meats, plus a limited selection of salads and mezédes. The tavérna (written TABEPNA in the Greek alphabet) is a more elaborate eatery, offering pre-cooked, steam-tray dishes known as magireftá, as well as a few grills and bulk wine.
An ouzerí purveys not just the famous aniseed-flavoured alcoholic drink, but also the mezédes dishes that complement it – thus the increasingly popular alias, mezedopolío. Oúzo is never drunk on an empty stomach: octopus, olives, a bit of cheese or a platter of small fried fish are traditional accompaniments, but there are various other hot and cold vegetable and meat dishes to choose from.
Relaxed drinks with a view over Anthony Quinn Bay
Britta Jaschinski/Apa Publications
The kafenío is the Greek coffee shop, traditionally an exclusively male domain, and still so in the Rhodian countryside. Usually very plainly decorated (though tables and chairs are smarter of late), they are the venues for political debate and serious backgammon games. In most cases, only drinks – alcoholic and soft – are served.
When To Eat
Rhodian resort tavernas open for breakfast, lunch and dinner (many offer a full English breakfast). Traditionally, Greeks don’t eat breakfast – a coffee and friganiés (melba toast) or a baked pastry is about as much as they indulge in. English-style breakfasts are only available in the major resorts and fancier hotels. Lunch is taken between 2.30 and 4pm, followed by a siesta, before work begins again at around 5.30pm. Dinner is eaten late – usually from 9.30pm onwards, and some establishments will take last orders as late as midnight.
If you want to eat earlier, some tavernas begin their evening service at around 6.30pm. You will probably have your choice of table if you eat before 7.30pm, but the atmosphere is definitely better later on when locals come out to eat.
Some tavernas close on Sunday evening and part or all of Monday.
What To Eat
You will usually be given an extensive menu (often in both Greek and English), where available items have a price pencilled in beside them. The menu is most useful for checking that the taverna is in your price range (especially for more expensive items like meat or fish), and a more reliable account of what is actually available that day can be obtained from your waiter. A good way to familiarise yourself with the various dishes is to order straight from the steam trays or chiller case based on what looks most enticing.
All restaurants impose a cover charge. This includes a serving of bread and is rarely more than €1 per person.
Appetisers
Carefully selected appetisers (mezédes) can constitute a full meal in Greece. Shared by the whole table, they are a fun and relaxing way to eat – you simply order as few or as many platters as you want. Ouzerís/mezedopolía have no qualms about taking orders for mezédes-only meals, bringing your choices out on a dískos or tray – though they also serve hot main courses.
The most common appetisers are tzatzíki, a yogurt dip flavoured with garlic, cucumber and mint; yaprákia, vine leaves stuffed with rice and vegetables – sometimes mince – which can be served hot (with avgolémono sauce, made of eggs and lemon) or cold (with yogurt); taramosaláta, cod-roe paste blended with breadcrumbs, olive oil and lemon juice; gígandes, large beans in tomato sauce; kalamarákia, fried small squid; mavromátika, black-eyed peas; tyrokafterí or kopanistí, two kinds of spicy cheese dips; and hórta, boiled wild greens. Saganáki is yellow cheese coated in breadcrumbs and then fried, while féta psití is feta cheese wrapped in foil with garlic and herbs – often spicy ones – and baked. A particularly Rhodian appetiser is a plate of pitaroúdia – fried patties of flaked courgettes, chickpeas or mixtures of the two; each village has its own recipe.
Horiátiki saláta, the traditional Greek salad
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Greek salad or horiátiki saláta (usually translated as ‘village salad’) consists of tomato, cucumber, onion, green peppers and olives topped with feta cheese. Cruets of olive oil (ládi) and wine vinegar (xýdi) are found with other condiments on the table.
Fish
At fish tavernas you choose from the day’s catch, displayed on ice inside a chiller case. This is then weighed, uncleaned, before cooking – check the price as seafood is almost always a relatively expensive option. If the seafood is frozen or farmed (very likely from June to September), this must be stated on the menu – though often rather cryptically. The idiom for wild, free-range fish is alaniáriko.
A lunch of fresh fish
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Larger fish are usually grilled and smaller fish fried; all are served with fresh lemon and ladolémono (olive oil with lemon juice). Most common species are barboúni (red mullet), xifías (swordfish), tsipoúra (gilt-head bream) and fangrí (bream) – the latter two often farmed. Drákena (weever fish) is outstanding, either grilled or in soup. Another cheap Rhodian springtime speciality is germanós (leatherback), an exotic from the Indian Ocean, served fried. Marídes (picarel), gávros (anchovy) and sardélles (sardines) are also served crisp-fried. More elaborate seafood dishes include ktapódi krasáto (octopus in red wine and tomato sauce), soupiá (cuttlefish) with spinach rice, or garídes (prawns) in a cheese sauce (saganáki).
Meaty snacks include gýros (thin slices of pork cut from a vertical skewer and served with tomato, tzatzíki and lettuce in pitta bread), or souvláki (small chunks of meat cooked on a skewer). Rotisseried chickens, sides of lamb and pork are all cooked to perfection. Brizóla – either pork or veal – is a basic cutlet; lamb or goat chops, however, are païdákia. In these economically fraught times, sykotákia arnísia (lamb liver chunks) are inexpensive, tasty and increasingly common.
Greece’s most famous slow-cooked oven dish is moussakás – layers of sliced potato, aubergine and minced lamb topped with a very generous layer of béchamel sauce. It should be firm but succulent, and aromatic with nutmeg. Pastítsio is another layered dish with macaroni, meat and cheese sauce. Other common casseroles include giouvétsi (meat baked in a clay pot with riceshaped kritharáki pasta) and stifádo (braised beef with onions).
For a hot meatless dish, gemistá are tomatoes, peppers or aubergine stuffed with herb-flavoured rice; alternatively, melitzánes imám (aubergine stuffed richly with tomato, garlic and oil) is reliably vegetarian, as is briám or tourloú (ratatouille). Yaprákia (stuffed vine leaves) without meat are called gialantzí (‘liar’s’, ‘fake’).
Cheeses
Greek cheeses (tyriá) are made from cow’s, ewe’s or goat’s milk, or often blends of two. The best-known cheese is féta, popping up in every Greek salad or served alone garnished with olive oil and oregano. Graviéra is the most common hard cheese, varying in sharpness; there are also many sweet soft cheeses such as manoúri, myzithra and anthótyro.
Dessert
Most tavernas bring a plate of fresh seasonal fruit (froúta; see box) as a finale to your meal, or perhaps a serving of semolina halva (simigdalísios halvás). For something more substantial, the zaharoplastío (sticky-cake shop) dishes out some of the more enduring legacies of the Ottomans, who introduced incredibly decadent sweets: baklavás, layers of honey-soaked flaky pastry with walnuts; kataïfi, shredded wheat filled with chopped almonds and honey; galaktoboúreko, custard pie; or ravaní, honey-soaked sponge cake. If you prefer dairy desserts, try yogurt with local honey or ryzógalo, cold rice pudding at a galaktopolío (dairy shop). A quality ice-cream (pagotó) cult is well established in the Dodecanese; on Rhodes, head for outlets of the Stani chain (central branch is at Agías Anastasías 28 in Neohóri), while on Sými Nikolas is famous for its gelato.
The market in Rhodes New Town
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What To Drink
Greek winemaking goes back at least three millennia; quality, especially at certain mainland vintners, has risen dramatically in recent decades, but owing to limited export – many boutique wineries produce fewer than 20,000 bottles annually – you are unlikely to have heard of even the best labels.
Rhodian wine (see box) is more than respectable, served mostly bottled, but also available more cheaply in bulk – hýma or varelísio. Bulk red, white or rosé are offered in full, half- or quarter-litre measures, either in pink or orange metal cups or glass flagons. Quality varies considerably; if in doubt, order a quarter-litre to start with as a test, plus a can of soda water to dilute it.
Favourite fruits
Fruit platters after meals typically include watermelon or Persian melon in summer, grapes or pears in autumn, sliced apples with cinnamon in winter and citrus fruits or maybe some luscious strawberries in early spring. Greece imports just a few temperate fruits from Italy, Argentina or Spain and relatively little tropical fruit, so this is pretty much the full repertoire.
Retsína has been around since ancient times, when Greeks accidentally discovered the preservative properties of treating wine with pine resin. It complements the olive-oil base of oven-cooked dishes perfectly, but can be an acquired taste and should be served well chilled.
Oúzo is taken as an aperitif with ice and water; a compound in its anise flavouring makes the mixture turn cloudy. Although Rhodes makes its own oúzo, the most popular brands come from the islands of Lésvos or Sámos. For a digestif, Metaxa is the most popular brand of Greek-produced brandy, sold (in ascending order of strength and aging) in 3-, 5- and 7-star grades.
There are nearly a dozen beers produced in Greece (mostly, however, by one brewing conglomerate), as well as imports from Britain, Germany, Belgium and Ireland. Foreign brands made under licence in Greece include Amstel, Kaiser and Heineken. Popular Greek beers include Alfa, Fix (reckoned the best), Mythos and Pils Hellas. Rhodes has its own microbrewed pale lagers, including Magnus Magister and one made by the local soft drinks factory, VAP.
Non-Alcoholic Drinks
Hot coffee (kafés) is offered ellinikós or ‘Greek-style’, freshly brewed in copper pots and served in small cups. It will probably arrive glykós (sweet) or even varý glykós (very sweet) unless you order it métrios (medium) or skétos (without sugar). Don’t drink right to the bottom, as that is where the grounds settle. Instant coffee (called ‘Nes’ irrespective of brand) has made big inroads in Greece; more appetising is frappé, cold instant coffee whipped up in a blender with or without milk (gála), especially refreshing on a summer’s day. If you prefer a proper cappuccino or espresso, numerous Italian-style coffee bars will oblige you.
Rhodian Wine
Rhodian farmers always produced wine for domestic consumption, but under the Italians the local wine industry assumed commercial proportions. Today, there are some excellent producers and a good range of labels to choose from. The 1928-founded co-operative CAIR is the major player, but several smaller private wineries, such as Triandafyllou below Petaloúdes and Emery, Merkouris or Alexandris in Émbona, often exceed it in quality. All can be visited, and their products sampled.
Mass-market CAIR table wines include the dry white Ilios, the red Chevalier de Rhodes, and a very light retsína; for a superior label, try their Moulin Sec red, Rodos 2400 white, or Oreinon Ambelonon from athíri grapes. CAIR also produce several sparkling wines: 10-year-old Brut, Brut and Demi-sec, fermented by both traditional and Charmat methods.
Triandafyllou make some of the best rosé on Rhodes, as well as a semisweet white Muscat and a dry red Cabernet. Recommendable Emery products include their dry white Villaré and their heady red cava, matured in oak barrels. Emery also produce three oak barrelaged sparkling wines (méthode champenoise) in their Grand Prix series.
Soft drinks comes in all the international varieties, while juices are usually from cartons rather than freshly squeezed. Bottled (enfialoméno) still mineral water is typically from Crete or the Greek mainland mountains. Souroti or Tuborg are the most widespread domestic sparkling brands.