Matt's Favorite Restaurants in Kea

Rolando's Ouzerie in Ioulis

This is my primary hangout and I have eaten here probably a hundred times and I hope I will always be able to eat here. Located at the top of the main platia, Rolando and his wife Krissa serve specialties from the island and from the island of Corfu where he comes from. His mezedes pikilea that he serves with ouzo is one of the best anywhere. Also highly rated are his fried small kalamari called gonos, fried gavros(anchovies), rooster in red sauce, rabbit stifado, beef tongue, sofrito (a corfiot meat dish), beef in white or red sauce, katsiki (goat) in lemon sauce, and the best keftedes(meatballs) in Greece. Delicious red wine and white wine and more recently retsina as well as Ouzo Dimino from Lesvos and Tsipuro. For lunch or breakfast ask for his super-omelet. Nobody fries or grills fish as well as Rolando and he goes all the way to Lavrion to get the freshest. Our staple is the vleeta (the world's best boiled greens) and the kolokithakia vratsa (boiled zuchinni smothered in garlic and olive oil), badzaria (beets) with scoralia (garlic sauce). Get the fried aferinia (very small fish)with extra onions and you will always come back for more. Also grilled sardines either whole or filet and kolios (mackerel). Rolando makes the best mousaka in Greece and for vegetareans he has bozakos which is a meatless mousaka. For meat eaters, all the goat, lamb, and beef comes from Kea. This is where many of the X-pats who have houses in Kea eat and hang out and Rolando has become something of a spiritual father to them.

Oinozythestiatoriaon Kalofagadon in Ioulis

If I am not at Rolando's chances are I am eating here, and on some nights I am at both places since they are right next to each other in the main square. Yannis is one of the best grill cooks on the island if not in Greece. Come Saturday night for roast suckling pig and kondosouvli(pork roast on a spit) or any night for paidiakia (lambchops), steak, roast pork, and excellent oven dishes. Great local red wine and wonderful atmosphere. Favorite of many of the locals and any Athenians who have the willpower to make the climb. Good place for celebrity sightings too. I love the spanakopita which I have for dinner and then order another to take home and have for breakfast. The manindaropita (mushroom pie) is also great as is the kolokithopita(zucchini pie). I love just about everything here actually. I could eat here every day if there were not other great restaurants in hora. Nikos is the hardest working waiter on the island though nowdays you can only catch him on busy Saturday nights. Frankisco and the rest of the boys do most of the heavy lifting now. In the winter the restaurant only opens on weekends. Try the local red wine which depending on who you ask was either made by Yiannis himself or someone else on the island. It doesn't matter. It's good.

To Steki in Ioulida

To Steki is a small traditional family run taverna that is on the way to the Lion in Ioulida. They feature pretty much the same food as the other tavernas in Ioulida with a few minor variations but the service is friendly and as all the restaurants in Ioulida the food is good and the location on the edge of the village on the side of a mountain can't be beat. Try their strapatsada which is like scrambled eggs with tomatoes, peppers and feta cheese. Stuffed kalamari, goat in lemon sauce, and a sort of eggplant parmesian like mousaka without the fluff. Son Yiannis is a great waiter and wonderful personality and is not shy about recommending dishes or explaining what they are. If you come on Saturday night and the other restaurants are full then just keep walking up the steps and have a quiet meal here.

The Piatsa in Ioulis

The first restaurant you see when you come through the gate of the village is owned by my Facebook friend Yannis Piaouris. The restaurant has a small outdoor seating area of about 5 or 6 tables and is an excellent place for an ouzo and meze as well as a whole meal. Yiannis is and excellent cook and serves a delcious lamb in lemon sauce, soutsoukakia, beef in red sauce, vleeta, lots of salads and many oven dishes. One morning I had the best cheese omelet I have ever eaten. The Piatsa is very small so chances are by the end of the night you will be friends with whoever else happens to be eating there. Good wine. Good island atmosphere and the only restaurant in the hora that is open every day year-round and very cozy in the winter with some good island tsipuro.

Magazes in Korissia

This is one of the best restaurants in the port, if not on the whole island, and has a wide and varied menu with an emphasis on fresh fish. Food is reasonably priced. Try the moschari kokinisto-krasato, the kalamaria, or the roast leg of lamb. The big surprise is the maroulisalata (lettuce salad), absolutely traditional with with minced scallions, anitho and lemon rather than vinegar. I liked the rega-salata (herring salad) which tastes similar to the rega-salata I love so much made by Aglia Kremezi who it is rumored gave some of her recipes when the restaurant opened. Some people will only eat in this restaurant. Owned by my pal and fellow Deree alumni Stefanos, a Greek Californian and along with his brother the best spearfisher in the Cyclades. (He can stay under water for 3 minutes on one breath of air... and he smokes!!!!) Click on the photo to see it full size. Stefanos and Tim caught this fish in Otzias Bay with a speargun! A week later he caught another and he will happily show you his fish photos if you ask him. This is the place to eat if you are catching the ferry or if you are arriving at dinner hour and want to eat before checking into your hotel.

Philipos Psistaria in Korissia

One of my favorite places to eat was Philipos Psistaria in the port of Korissia right at the intersection of the road to Ioulida and the road to Vourkari. On weekends he usually roasted an entire pig but any night you could get paidakia, steaks, good wine that does not give you a hangover most of the time and a really terrific atmosphere. Don't let the picture scare you. This place is great from 10pm on but he lost his lease and is now up on the hill between Korissia and Galiaskari. We have eaten there a couple times now and the view is spectacular and the food is as good as ever. If you want the whole roasted pig or lamb or kokoretsi you may have to wait for weekends in August, but you can go any night and get grilled paidiakia (lambchops), loukaniko (sausage), brizoles (beef and pork steaks) and best of all for some people, their fried zuchini and eggplant with sadziki and their grilled peppers. And happily the big building that the owners of Philipos original restaurant kicked him out to build which they hoped would be rented by a bank has been empty ever since.....

Odale Cafe Restaurant

..... Remember that place on the corner of the road to Otzias where Filipos used to have his psistaria? It is a new cafe that has some of the most amazing pastries I have ever seen or tasted. Plus it has salads, pastas, mezedes, ouzo, beer and coffee. Andrea is a pastry chef and her husband Odysseous is a chef and they both worked in Michelin Star restaurants in Paris and London before coming to Kea to open their cafe-restaurant. For those of you not familiar with Korissia, just follow the harbor to the beach and it is right on the corner sort of between the two supermarkets. They have amazing salads, and their entrees include pastas and a burger and lots of stuff you don't associate with a Greek island. Those of you on sailboats who have Kea marked as your last stop and have possibly had your fill of Greek food this cafe should make you ecstatic. Nice place to come in the afternoon for coffee or after dinner for desert. Not only do they carry my two favorite ouzos, Baba Tzim and Pitsalidi, but my favorite beer as well Gulden Draak. This really is an exceptional place. Come check it out.

Otzias Taverna

The Otzias Taverna, owned and run by Yannis Stefas, is the best example of what a sea-side fish taverna should be one one of the most popular beaches on the island. Fresh fish, grilled, fried or baked, and also plenty of meat dishes too. Try their Greek salad with Xinoutiri (like feta but creamy like cottagecheese) and their eggplant emam. Be sure to order their koukouvayo(owl) salad. It is not really made with owls. Its like a dakos or Cretan salad with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, olives and capers on a husk of dried barley bread topped with xinoutiri. This is one of my favorite restaurants in Kea especially for lunch. I recommend their grilled sardines or fried gavros, or both. Its quiet most nights but go anyway, especially if you are staying in Otzias. In the afternoon they play a nice mix of tunes put together by son Giorgos who is a Greek laika/rembetika singer and has excellent taste in music. He runs the small beach bar in front of the restaurant. After lunch or dinner Yannis may offer you a glass of delicious rakomilo which is raki with honey. For those staying in Otzias for variety just up the street is Anna's which is a little fancier and is open year-round. They serve delicious meat and fish dishes and vegetables too. They even have saligari (snails). Very cozy in the winter with the fire going.

Karthea Taverna in Kato Meria

Chances are you won't find this place but if you do you will agree that the Karthea Taverna makes some of the best food you will eat in Greece. Located far away from the port, and from anything except the area known as Kato Meria which is on the way to, well, nowhere really. But they have great food for lunch and dinner and many of the celebrations, baptisms and religious festivals end up here. You will need a rental car or you can take a taxi and arrange to be picked up later. Try the goat cooked in paper and the excellent local wine. Lots of salads and oven dishes. If you are here in the day you will be pretty much alone and probably you won't have time to eat here if you are only on the island for a week. But if you happen to be here on a Saturday night in August it can get pretty festive here.

Simos Ouzeri

Finally someone took over the old wood-working shop in the Piatza of Ioulida by the bus stop and taxi stand and made it what it was meant to be: an Ouzeri. Simos is owned by the son of the owner of the Karthea Taverna and has the best view of any ouzeri that is not in Santorini. They carry a number of good ouzos, not just the Mini and Plomari which seem to have a stranglehold over most of Greece and several different tsipuros and rakis and a number of nice wines too. Its also a good place for coffee while waiting for the bus or a taxi. On a clear day you can see all the way to Athens. My only complaint is that if you only have a couple days here and you stop here first you may not be hungry enough for Rolando's and Yanni's above. But if you spend more than a week in Kea every summer then you are thankful for this new restaurant.

The Best of the Rest...

Lagoudera is one of the first restaurants you will come to when you get off the ferry. They serve a large variety of cooked dishes and really interesting salads and pitas (pies) especially their kremidopita (onion pie), rivithia (chickpea stew) and grilled meats. This is also the best place to eat when you are leaving the island because you can wait til the last possible moment and just cross the street to get on the ferry as they bring up the ramp. Kalomira is on the turn-off to Otzias just beyond Vourkari on the left. If you need proof that this is a good restaurant let me tell you that famed chef Aglaia Kremezi has the farewell dinners for her cooking seminars here and its also where the ducks hang out.... In Koundoros right as you enter the 'town' there is a sign that leads you to a fancy cafe-restaurant right on the peninsula with great food and a really nice swimming spot on the paved rocks below. I think it is called Cavo Punto or something like that... there are also a pizza place in Ioulida on the road to the Lion that serves pasta and salads as well. There are several souvlaki shops on the island. One in Ioulida, is next to the En Lefko Cafe, across from the Piazza Dellapitsa giant chess board. There is an Albanian owned souvlaki shop in the port and another more fancy souvlaki shop in Vourkari, past where the yachts and sailboats moor that is supposed to be the best. Akrogiali Restaurant in Pisses is a nice little beach taverna with simple food and friendly service and its a great place to watch the sunset or take a later afternoon swim. Christoforo Taverna, also on the beach at Pisses serves traditional food from Kea and like most restaurants is family run and friendly. In Galiaskari beach Kolimbontas beach bar has a Mykonos beach style menu with pastas and Greek foods as well as mezedes for ouzo. New restaurants seem to be opening every summer so if you see one that I have not listed it does not mean that its not any good. It may just mean I have not been there yet. But I will get there eventually.

For Cafes En Lefko in Ioulida is a great place for espresso, icecream and doubles as a bar with mixed drinks and beers both Greek and imported and a large screen TV for important games. Further up the street the Panorama Zacharaoplastion can't be beat for watching the sunset or having an after dinner desert. Excellent Greek traditional sweets and ice-cream and amazing view by day or night. In the port there is a nice cafe in the long stone building right where the ferry comes in which is the least stressful place to have a coffee while you are waiting to take the boat because you can watch the last car drive on and still have time to run and jump on board before it sails away. You should probably pay your tab as soon as you get your drinks if you plan to live dangerously. Coffee, tea, espresso, beer, traditional deserts, yogurt with Kea honey and nuts, rice-pudding and ouzo and mezedes make Korissos Cafe a good place to be while waiting for the ferry boat as well.

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