Sherif – Platani
A Turkish influenced tavern run by a family of several generations. Our Airbnb hosts were regulars here and pointed us here on our first night. We were treated so well and returned several times afterwards. They have traditional Turkish meals as well as Greek, over the weekend this place was full of locals and had the loveliest atmosphere. I loved their collection of football scarves on the back wall too.
We ate: Mixed sharing kebab plate for two, mixed sharing grill plate for two and pork skewers
Elia Tavern – Kos Town
This place was a top pick in my Lonely Planet guide but when we visited we found ourselves as the only guests – to be fair it was the first week of the shoulder season. This made the atmosphere very dull but the place was decorated fantastically and I spent most of my time staring up. They had a fantastic menu and although the dish Lonely Planet recommended wasn’t available we still loved the food we had. I would imagine in summer with a busy atmosphere this place would be fantastic.
We ate: Stuffed peppers, saganaki and the boy had a leg of lamb.
Teos – Kardamena
This lovely little restaurant is open plan and on the waters edge – the perfect location for catching some sun as you enjoy your lunch/dinner. The menu was mostly seafood and catered for an array of budgets (thankfully – as we were desperate for seafood but didn’t have a huge budget). Again we found ourselves as the only people in the restaurant so the atmosphere wasn’t much but given the reputation Kardamena has I would imagine this water front would be buzzing mid summer.
We ate: Garlic Bread, saganaki shrimp and squid.
Kalymnos – Kos Town
I think this has to be my favorite of all, a seafood tavern on the water’s edge in Kos Town. It has a large inside of seating as well as some seats outside by the water. The menu is huge and the prices are so reasonable. The waiter was also incredibly friendly, helping us with food selections and just generally chatting to us about England and football. Even in this first week of the season this place was busy.
We ate: Greek salad, feta saganaki, moussaka, stuffed peppers, tzatziki, olives, bread and dips.
Kazouli Square is in the heart of Kos Town and was our favorite place to sit in a cafe, people watch and drink beer. We had tried each cafe at least once by the end of the week, some just for drinks others for a full meal. Each one was slightly different but enjoyable in its own way, there wasn’t much different in prices either. My favourites were:
Gossip Cafe – We would recommend the savoury crepe – the one with all the olives, feta etc. Oh and beer here is the cheapest.
Aiyla Cafe – The sharing mezzanine plates here are delicious
After a few days of eating in Greece we got the idea of ordering lots of small dishes to share and try instead of one big thing each. I loved having tzatziki and bread with everything.
If you are after a local beer then Mythos is the best choice, loved by locals, most often the cheapest and my favorite of all the ones we tried.