KALI OREXI!  (Bon Appetit)

There are many tavernas and restaurants within Ermioni, as well as the surrounding areas, all of which serve really good food.  Greek cuisine itself has a large variety of wonderful foods, as some people still think that it is only souvlaki, moussaka and Greek salads, and nothing else.  If you are vegetarian, there are so many items to choose from the range of Greek cuisine.  The problem might be that as a visitor, you usually read the menu and don't recognise or know what is on offer.  The good news is that most menus in Ermioni are written in Greek and English, as well as other popular European languages in some of the tavernas.  There are many starters that are delicious and can easily make up your whole meal, without having to order a main-course dish. Enjoy all the fresh vegetables, especially seasonal ones, the taste of fresh tomatoes and onions are incredible.  The local wines go well with all the food, and the olive oil produced around Ermioni is amongst the best in Greece. 

What to eat:  Greek Mediterranean food is one of the healthiest diets in the world, the food is generaly served simply, without rich sauces, where the taste of the food itself is most appreciated.  Most foods will be prepared with extra virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon as an addition.  Although meat and fish are readily available with accompanying salads, vegetarians will have a wonderful and wide choice of various fresh vegetables, pulses, salads and cheese dishes to choose from.   

Tips:  Don't just stick to the main menu if you are in a taverna.  As a rule the Greeks themselves don't generally read menus, they usually ask what is available that given day or in some cases go directly into the kitchen to choose.  Sometimes certain foods or meals are not even written on the main menu, therefore, ask the owner or waiter for recommendations of their 'specials' of the day. 

Fish and meat are usually ordered and charged by the kilo, but this does not mean you have to take a full kilo.  Fresh fish is usually more expensive than the meat dishes, but check the various grades of fish before you order, some can be surprisingly inexpensive.

Greek habits:  The Greeks don't usually order individual dishes for themselves, as they order numerous starters (mezes or mezedes) and drinks and share them amongst family and friends. This usually leads to over-eating, as the starters are so delicious and tasty, that one is more or less full by the time any main meal arrives.  It used to be the Greek habit to serve food lukewarm, as Greek people believe that hot food is bad for the stomach, but most restaurants and tavernas have adapted to international visitors requirements and serve food hot.

Fresh bread is automatically brought to your table, as it is considered part of the cover charge, whether you eat the bread or not.  Listed below are some delicious suggestions of popular starters, main dishes and desserts that you may want to try.

STARTERS

• Horiatiki Salata - Greek village salad, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, peppers, oregano, olives and olive oil
• Lahano Salata - Cabbage salad, fresh grated cabbage, grated carrots, olive oil, lemon
• Dakos Salata - A Cretan salad, pieces of feta cheese and tomatoes served on an olive oil soaked barley crust
  
• Horta - Boiled natural wild leafy greens, olive oil, lemon
• Kolokithakia tiganita - Crispy fried slices of zucchini 
• Melidsanes tiganites - Crispy fried slices of eggplant
• Kolokithokeftedes - Deep fried zucchini balls, mashed zucchini and feta
• Feta cheese - Goats milk cheese, used extensively in Greek cuisine
• Tzatziki - Greek yogurt, cucumber and garlic - extras can be dill, mint or olives
• Taramasalata -  Fish roe, olive oil, lemon juice, grated onions and bread
• Hummus -  Mashed chickpeas dip - ideal with pitta bread and carrots
• Fava - Yellow split peas puree dip served with chopped onions                                                                                      
• Saganaki - Fried hard cheese served with lemon
• Tirokeftedes - Fried cheese balls
• Dolmades - Stuffed vine leaves with rice served with a lemon sauce or olive oil
• Melidsanosalata - Mashed eggplant salad
• Skordalia - Mashed potatoe with garlic, or can include bread
• Saganaki garides - Shrimps cooked in pan with tomatoes and feta cheese
• Bakaliaros - Battered-fried salted cod bites, ideal with Skordalia         
• Gavros - Fried small fish
• Mikroula - Even smaller fried small fish
• Spanakopita - Spinach pie
• Tiropita - Cheese pie

MAIN DISHES

• Grilled fish - Many varieties and grades of fresh fish (ask to see the selection available)
  
• Octapodi  - Grilled or boiled octopus
• Kalamari - Grilled or deep fried squid 
• Grilled meat - Most kind of grilled meats - usually pork, chicken or lamb - beef is available in selected tavernas
• Kleftiko - Slow-cooked lamb with potatoes wrapped in parchment paper, in a wine sauce with tomatoes and onions
• Stifado -  Traditional beef stew cooked with tomatoes, onions, cinnamon, red wine and a variety of spices and herbs                  
• Souvlaki - Cubed grilled meat, pork or chicken, on a metal/wood skewer with peppers, tomatoes and onions
• Kalamaki - As Souvlaki, but plain pork or chicken cubes on a wood skewer, and smaller in size
• Brizola - Pork chop, usually served with chips or rice and a salad garnish
• Beefteki - A large 'beefburger' using real meat, served plain or stuffed with a choice of melted cheese 
• Pitta gyros - Spit grilled pork or chicken wrapped in pitta bread with onions, tomatoes, tzatziki and chips 
• Gyros merida - The same as a pitta gyros wrap, but larger portion of meat and served on a plate
• Paiydakia - Grilled lamb chops, or chicken in a lemon mustard sauce, by the kilo/half kilo, or a single portion
• Moussaka - Eggplant, minced meat, béchamel sauce in layers, slowly baked in the oven
• Pastichio - Minced meat, pasta noodles, béchamel sauce, slowly baked in the oven with cheese
• Pasta Kimas - Minced meat topped on pasta with optional grated parmesan cheese, as Spaghetti Bolognese
• Soutzoukakia - Baked meatballs in tomato sauce served with chips/fries or rice
• Gemista - Stuffed tomatoes and peppers, with rice, onions, herbs and usually ground meat baked in the oven
• Pizza - Various selections on offer. Try the 'Greek' pizza - with feta cheese, tomatoes, onions, peppers and olives
• Loukaniko - Greek sausage, which the Hellenes believe are better than any of the German or Italian sausages

SWEETS & DESSERTS

• Yoghurt - Natural 100% Greek yoghurt with honey and walnuts, or optional fresh seasonal fruits
• Galaktoboureko - Milk pie, like semolina
• Kataifi - Traditional sweet with walnuts and honey
• Baklavas - Traditional sweet (puff pastry) with walnuts and honey
• Risogalo - Rice pudding served with cinnamon
• Tsoureki - Sweet Easter buns
• Loukoumades - Similiar to doughnuts, deep-fried & served with honey and cinnamon
• Revani - Semolina cake
• Cafe Ellenikon - Greek coffee - order sketo (without sugar) metrio (medium sweet) gliko (very sweet)

WINES  There are many delicious Greek wines, but sometimes it is not easy to choose the right one.  Not all the tavernas in Ermioni have a large selection of wines to choose from, usually it is their own home-made house wines, which are either lefko (white), rose (pink), or kokino (red).  These local or home-made house wines usually compliment the local cuisine.  Bottled red wines from Nemea and Macedonia are popular with locals and visitors, but the traditional Retsina is only found in the super-markets.

BEERS  There are a number of Greek beers available in Ermioni.  Fix, Mythos and Mamos are the most popular Greek beers found in the restaurants and tavernas, as well as some popular European beers like Amstel, Heineken and Kaiser.  Alpha and Vergina can be found in a few tavernas and cafes, but mostly in the supermarkets. Some tavernas also offer draught beer.  A few Greek speciality beers can be discovered in selected restaurants and some surrounding villages of Ermioni, which include Zeos, Neda and Bios5.

FRUIT and VEGETABLES  Buy local fresh fruit and vegetables, as they are extremely tasty.  Especially delicious are: pomegranates, watermelons, honey-melons, grapes, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions.  The small grocery stores in Ermioni usualy offer freshly picked local produce, which can also be found in greater quantities and varieties in the larger super-markets.  Most visitors and local residents in Ermioni buy all their fresh produce at the weekly Thursday morning farmers market.

POMEGRANATE FESTIVAL  There is an annual pomegranate festival held in Ermioni, last weekend in October. It celebrates this 'ancient fruit of the gods' as it has been grown in the Ermioni area for thousands of years.  Local tavernas and bakeries produce an amazing number of fresh recepies for visitors to sample, all beautifully displayed at the Limani harbour waterfront, accompanied by folk dancing and live music.  Fresh pomegranate juice has become big business in Ermioni recently, with a healthy developing export market. 

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