Kos Restaurant Tips by steventilly Top 5 Page for this destination

Nikos & Kontessa: Roadside Taverna

This was a wonderful little roadside taverna that we stumbled across while we were cycling from Kos town out past Psaladi. It's hard to describe exacly where it is except to say that it's past the big 5* hotel complex at Psaladi and past the water park too (maybe 2 or 3 km past) on the right hand side.
The eating is indoors or out (in the weather we were having outdoors was the only sensible option!) and is nicely arranged with well spaced tables. It overlooks the car park and raod a bit, but that's not too much of a detraction. Traffic is light here and there were more people on bike & foot.
The staff were weird and whacky, a bundle of laughs, but not too much "in your face". The food was simply the best we've had.

Favorite Dish: Typical Mezze fare: Saganaki cheese, hummous, fried aubergines, tzatziki, frappes... It was only a light lunch but it was sooo lovely!

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

Sea-View Picnic

Our other favourite place to eat a picnic was on one of the shady benches just off the beach along from the bakery. Lovely sea views, nice bit of shade, great cakes. What more do you want.

Favorite Dish: Cakes!

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

Ancient Agora: Picnic Spot

The Ancient Agora makes a great ready-made picnic spot. We often bough lunch (from the bakery mentioned above) and went to eat it in the Agora. There's lots of rocks and grass to sit on, and shady trees to sit under. If you lucky you'll find a few cats wandering around too who will enjoy the odd titbit from you.

Favorite Dish: Cakes!!

Rating: 5

Theme: Street Vendor

Complete Blow Out

This was one of the best places we've ever eaten at. For a start it's a very attractive little corner of Kos town, just up off one of the little square in front of the harour area. It's hard to miss (so long as you hit the right square) - the steps and walls of the alley up to it are painted blue and white in the typical Greek way. It's twee but very attractive. Seats are arranged alongside and behind the taverna and seafood is the speciality here, though thankfully for us they do great mezze too.

Favorite Dish: We had all sorts here. We ate twice and had different stuff each time. The second time was our last meal on Kos and we ordered rather too much - it was a struggle to eat it all. Amongst the things that I can remember having are:
Warm hummous mixed with sauteed peppers, onions & tomatoes.
Saganaki cheese
Fried Aubergine
Friend potato
Greek salad
Beetroot in garlic (I love it, wife hates it)
Skodalia (as above!)

Comparison: about average

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

Various Places: Marina Restaurants

Kos Marina is a very pleasant spot if you like yachts and nautical types. The basin is filled with yachts of all shapes and sizes - there's some money here that's for sure - and the marina facilities are first rate. There's a couple of food & drink shops, chandlers merchant, a host of cafes & restaurants and even shower facilities. We stopped here a couple of times on our treks along the Psaladi seafront, but only for drinks. The food looked good, and a decent price, but we were never there at a suitable time.

Favorite Dish: Frappes

Directions: Don't confuse this with the marina by the castle in Kos town. This one is along the seafront from Kos Town towards Psaladi.

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

Waterside Taverna

I have no idea what this place is called, I don't think it even said so on the menu board. See below for how to find it.
The taverna is right on the beach at Psaladi with a lot of tables out the back, some under a canopy to keep off the sun and some right out in the open, whichever is to your liking.

Favorite Dish: The usual for us, mezze dishes which on this occasion incuded Giant Beans. The food was really lovely and the setting by the beach was very pleasant. Out to sea in the mid distance we were entertained by a Greek warship buzzing to-and-fro around some sort of civillian craft. I don't think this sort of entertainment is laid on every day though, we just hit lucky.

Directions: Go along the seafront from Kos to Psaladi. After you pass Kos Marina there is a strip with an abundance of private beaches. After these peter out you get to a stretch of the road with occasional tavernas by the sea. This is one of those.

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

Avanti: Fantastic Crepes

Favorite Dish: The desserts at Avanti are as wonderful as the main courses. This was a bailey's, chocolate & biscuit crepe and although on this occasion it was just for Wife, it was aomply big enough for two. On this occasion I had a waffle with apple & cinnamon, and it too was big enough for two. On our subsequent visit we just had a crepe to share.

Address: Vasileos Georgiou

Comparison: about average

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 5

Theme: Italian

Avanti: Superb Italian

Avanti is directly opposite the bakery mentioned in the previous tip. It sits beside a busy road, so the outdoor tables can lack a little of their ambience, but this is more than made up for by the food and the service.

Favorite Dish: Don't bother with starters - the inclusive cover is a lovely garlic bread with a marinated tomato relish and is ample to put you off while you wait for your main course.
My favourite main dish here was the carrot risotto, absolutely beautiful.

Address: Vasileos Georgiou

Comparison: about average

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 5

Theme: Italian

World's Best Bakery

This bakery shop is on the main road that runs along the Kos Town harbour/seafront (the street is called Vasileos Georgiou). It's a little further along from the tourist info building and it has THE most wonderful selection of pastries (both savoury and sweet) and cakes. Our favourites were the various cheese "pies" (we'd call them pasties), the spanokopita and cakes such as baklava and Kataifi ("shredded wheat cakes"). Many other cakes & desserts looked absolutely scrumptious but not so suitable for transport to a picnic site!
We ate from here every day after we discovered it and even brought some pasties home to have for tea and lunch the next day.

Rating: 5

Theme: Bakery

Quiet Cafes

The various squares and streets of Kos Town are littered with lovely outdoor cafes. Some are busier than others, especially during the day - it seems to be night time when they really come to life. I like a nice quiet cafe in a shady square to just sit back with a cake and a beer and relax, maybe reading my book for a while.

Rating: 5

Theme: Local