There are many cosy restaurants on Karpathos in Greece, with really good Greek food. Here we tell you about some nice restaurants that we visited on our recent trip.
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Restaurants in Karpathos
It is not really difficult to find restaurants on Karpathos. There are small tavernas and eateries in every corner of every village, as well as on most beaches, sometimes even in remote places where you hardly expect to find a restaurant. We recommend a few restaurants in Karpathos where we had really good experiences.
1st Maxim, Pigadia
Maxim is one of the many restaurants along the waterfront in the main town of Pigadia. Here we got a table at the far end, with a really nice view of the water and all the evening strollers.
The food here was very good. For starters we ordered baked feta cheese (so good that we tried to make a repeat of this when we got home to Sweden!) and fried courgette croquettes. Peter had prawns for his main course, which was served with a very good sauce and I (Helena) chose the dish pastitsio, which can be described as Greece's answer to lasagne.
2. Oraia, Pigadia
Another evening we ate at Oraia restaurant, which is also located in the centre of the waterfront in Pigadia. Here we chose the "Carpathian salad" for starters - a salad common on Karpathos, which includes potatoes and eggs. For the main course we chose two different dishes with prawns, which may not have been completely thought through as they were a bit similar, but both tasted excellent. The tastiest version was "Prawn Saganaki", where the prawns were served in a frying pan with a very good sauce.
At Oraia, the wine was served in a small metal mug, along with a smaller sized drinking glass. It was common in many places to get the wine this way, and we came to like it. It also made a good ouzo here!
3. Sofia's Place, Pigadia
A third restaurant we can recommend, on the waterfront in the centre of Pigadia, is Sofia's Place. We liked this place a lot, partly because of the food but also because of the lovely and energetic owner (Sofia we guess?) who provided a lovely atmosphere.
We "only" ordered a few starters when we were here, but it was a lot of food anyway. The plate with fried little pies, cheese balls and courgette balls reminded us a bit of Lebanese food, which we love. The best part was probably the baked cheese, yum! To finish it off, we had small deep-fried dough balls together with fresh and sweet watermelon.
4th Maistrali, Pigadia
In Pigadia, we can also recommend the Maistrali restaurant, located on a nice beach, at the northern end of the town, not far from the large Konstantinos Palace hotel. This is a large restaurant that now, at the end of the season when the charter hotels started to close down, was a bit half empty. But oh what a beautiful location, and what good food!
We were extremely happy with everything we ate here. For starters we had tzatziki, honey baked cheese and fried aubergine sticks (oh so good!). For the main course, Peter chose octopus and I chose the Greek meat stew stifado.
5. to Votsalo, Agios Nikolaos, Spoa
Less than an hour north of Pigadia is Spoa and the small coastal community of Agios Nikolaos. Here you'll find the restaurant To Votsalo, which offered one of our very best dining experiences in all of Karpathos. The place is run by the lovely couple Pavlos and Popi, who helped to make the visit pleasant and personalised.
But above all, we were served incredibly good food here! The restaurant has a special focus on seafood, and most of it is caught from their own fishing boats, right off the coast. We got to try tiny tasty prawns, squid and a really good fish cooked in a sauce with tomato and onion.
Other highlights of the meal included a tasty Greek salad, well-prepared vine leaf dumplings and yellow pea 'fava'. The meal ended with a Carpathian version of baklava. Don't miss this gem of a restaurant, where you can also stay overnight!
6. Rahati, Diafani
When we visited the northern part of Karpathos, we stayed two nights in the resort of Diafani, from where you can do boat trips to Saria Island. Down by the water, the cosy restaurants are next to each other, and it is not easy to choose. We had dinner one evening at the Rahati restaurant, and here we sat with an incredibly nice view of the water.
This evening we wanted something simpler and we started with tzatziki with pita bread, which was very good. The restaurant also offered three other small dishes, which were very good and perhaps the highlight of the meal. The mousse cake was not the best we had, but we were still satisfied with the visit.
7. Blue Garden, Olymbos
Not far from Diafani is the incredibly charming the mountain village of Ólymbos, which offers traditional culture and, especially during the day, attracts tourists to its winding streets, inspiring shops and charming taverns. There are many eateries to choose from, but we were very pleased with our choice to eat at Blue Garden.
The restaurant has a nice view, and the food is good. We accepted the suggestion to order a kind of "tasting" plate, which means that we got to taste many Greek and local specialities at once. Both interesting and good!
The plate included fava beans, tzatziki, Carpathian macaroons with caramelised onions and cheese, chicken and fried balls with courgette and tomato. Afterwards we had Greek yoghurt with honey!
More great restaurants in Karpathos
Are there more good restaurants on Karpathos? Yes, of course there are, we haven't had time to try them all... In the centre of Pigadia, we were curious about the restaurant Acropilis. We spent some time talking to the owners, and they seemed so incredibly committed and knowledgeable about food. You might have to try it and let us know if it's any good!
More food and drink experiences on Karpathos
The very first evening we arrived in Karpathos, a small gourmet festival was organised right next to our hotel. Because we arrived so late, we only had time to experience a little of it, but we immediately got the feeling that people like good food here.
What about the wine in the photo? Yes, it comes from a local vineyard in the village Menetes, which from this year welcomes visitors for wine tastings.
More to see and do in Karpathos
In addition to restaurants on Karpathos, there is of course more to see and do on this Greek island. Above all, it is great to discover all the Karparhos beaches. It is also an experience to driving on Karpathos' winding mountain roads.
Agnieszka Nowak says:
It was wonderful time and wonderful memories. We are very glad to share with you some nice experience on Karpathos. With warm greetings from Poland. Agnieszka & Leszek 😚
06 October 2024 - 10:24