Restaurants To Head For In Skiathos Town

One advantage of Skiathos town being so compact is that you're never more than about 20 metres from a taverna (just as well the way the Greek bikers are. Tavernas are used as sanctuaries from the madness outside as much as for providing food and drink). The first decent one we found was on the Sunday and was at the end of flight after flight of steps next to a quaint chapel called (I think) Agios Nikolas. It is also known as the Shepherds' Chapel. From up there you have absolutely breathtaking views of the town all around you with the distant mountains behind and the Aegean, the islands of Marago, Arkos and Tzougriaki and the Greek mainland in front and to the sides. Our Lunch stop, the Final Step has equally stunning views (and the food's not bad either). Doreen tucked into a fullsome dish of Spaghetti Carbonara which, interestingly had sliced mushrooms in as well as the usual ham(bacon) and cheese. I opted for the Penne with Mozzarella, stringy, elastic and very tasty. Service was efficient and friendly, the food well cooked and presented but the real attraction was the setting with pomegranate and walnut trees just outside and the mingling aromas of seafood, chicken and onions cooking gently in the background. And not a damn motorbike in sight (or ear shot)!

Another great place we stumbled across (almost literally because we'd just come out of the Old Port House, an English bar with large draught Mythos on offer at 1.5 Euros!) was in the backstreets to the west of Papadiamantis. It is called Varthalamis and we knew it would be good as soon as we saw some of the locals eating there. Like a lot of the eateries here it seems to be family run operation with the mother taking charge of the cooking while her son waits on. On our first visit we went a little crazy and ordered starters as well as a main course, always a dangerous thing to do in Greece! Doreen's starter was cheese fritters, five of them, the size of tennis balls! My cheese pie was not the usual dainty triangles of filo warpped cheese and spinach, not even the 2x2x3 slice from a larger pie but a great spiral of sausage shaped pie which filled the plate! Needless to say what I could manage of it was delicious but with mains already ordered, grilled sardines for Doreen, Moussaka for myself, I didn't want to let the side down. The sardines, on the small side admittedly, were nonetheless scrumptious and very more-ish. The moussaka was (thankfully) in a smaller dish than imagined and was again packed with flavour from the aubergine, onion, tomato and mince. It was drier than the moussaka generally served in British Greek restaurants and wasn't swimming in gloopy cheese sauce thank goodness. A complimentary dessert, a sesame seed flavoured moist cake, was a lovely afterthought but ensured that the return to the apartment was by taxi. Yes, walking would have been the healthier option but we were incapable of it by that stage! A second visit a few days later saw us wiser from experience - we steered clear of the starters and just opted for a main course each.